Hot take on Canada’s Rainy Lake

Boasting more than 2,000 islands, fish-filled Rainy Lake sits about 70 per cent in Ontario, the rest in Minnesota. Fish can’t discern the international line. Neither can fishers, unlike the U.S. Border Patrol — as if I’d know much about that.

Well, not much.

Four or five hours from Winnipeg, Rainy Lake stretches east from Margie’s and my cherished hometown of Fort Frances — “The Fort.” Discover LaVerendrye Parkway, Betty’s, Northwoods Gallery, the Flint House, Hallet Brewing. And arriving through Emo, find the wonderfully eclectic Emo Feeds store offering “Rainy River District” fridge magnets showing a hayfield against the Rockies.

The Fort abuts the U.S. boundary. The town’s recent tagline: “Boundless.” And it is, right up to the boundary. Across the Rainy River lies the city of International Falls, Minn. — “The Falls.” If a resident says, “I live in The Falls,” you exclaim, “You must get soaked!”