Border Country Outdoor Adventures

Ryan Schmidt owns and runs this northern border operation from a property on County Road 93 outside International Falls. He first hired on as a walleye guide the summer after finishing high school and later built that seasonal work into a year round business, which now books six or seven days a week and reports repeat customers filling about eighty percent of the calendar. Larger parties are handled by a roster of seven guides, all local to the border country, each with more than twenty years on Rainy Lake. The fleet is made up of new Ranger 621VS deep vee fiberglass boats, and rods, reels and tackle come with the booking. The company is not limited to open water: winter brings ice fishing and ice house rentals, autumn brings grouse hunts, and sightseeing boat tours are offered alongside the angling.