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Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports by Cookie


cookie129

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Yesterday went really well. Going back to just taking your time and not being in a hurry taught to me by cousin Pete, my mentor. First stop was to stop and get my gas can from Rodger as he needed gas when he arrived Monday night. He also gave me a 20 for auguring 8 holes after we added on a extension. That's 2.50 a hole.  I also gave him a good ask chewing about the liter I found where his house was last year. He said he could not figure  out how that could of happened. I was a little harsh and then it flip flopped and I felt bad? Oh well I do not think there will be any liter by his house this year. My second stop was opening up a  road to a area I have had my eye on. Again cutting a trail with the red baron was like cutting butter with a butter knife. Slow and easy taking care of my equipment, next stop was cutting another trail through that pile of broken sheet ice. I think it sounds worse then it is as your slowly moving along and the v plow is cracking and crunching,  the plow itself is jamming, hopping , binding but crunching through with next to no effort. My trans temp gauge is on the blink so I have to be carful as I do not want to burn up the tranny for the 4rth time. The plan was to set the house up on this sheet ice but after driving two cites blocks I hit smoother ice . A quick hole drilled to check the depth and I had found a nice area to set  the gang up. After a half tank of prep work I was off to dig out and move florida and old Minnesota. Every thing went smooth other then the snow was quite wet and heavy. As I banked the houses when I would back away the snow would be shaped like the front of boss plow. I really piled on the banking. I then retrieved  montana which was just sitting on the road. Once I had her blocked and banked I prepped a area for north Dakota and hauled her into place. That plan also changed a bit but I still think it may be a very fishy area.  Ken and Chris had good fishing but are going to move over by us for the weekend. Ken decided to wait for tony boy to help move the house today. He was like do you know how hard it is to move a house on your own? I moved 4 houses yesterday, banked and blocked 3 and augured two. I thought it was kinda funny? I had Lee set up fairly close to where florida did so well 4 of 5 nights on the same spot? There's only a handful of times they get fished in the same spot more then a couple days and it was interesting to see fish caught. For some reason that little area is very fishy. We got shell chick and the gang checked in last night around 10 30 pm. A little reorganizing things this morning and I'm off to enjoy another day on such a grand lake

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Being a perfectionist has some draw backs. I have our houses dialed in as the way I like them when I check in customers. I have come to the conclusion  and reality that having great fishing every time is impossible and something I just have to except. Mother nature has such a huge roll and I can not beat her. Be leave me I have tried out there. A perfect example, I set up Montana facing  old Minnesota and Florida. Banking all the houses on the clean sheet of ice left little snow cover around the houses. Mother nature rolls around and turns the snow into  mush.  Now 24 hours later and there's standing water on glare ice all around the houses. Bad planning? Its really just the way it is, Jeff forgot his boots so he got wet feet yesterday. I went out side of old Minnesota to snap a pic of the sunset and was warring shell chicks boots and they were not water proof. OOPS ! I attempted to have the perfect set up. All most but mother nature had to throw  a wrench in things. Oh well I'll try again . On a side note, the snow has turned to mush and it is so fun to drive threw. The only way I can describe it. Its like driving through mashed potato's. Last night you could drive right through a 2 foot snow bank.  There's also plenty of standing water on the ice. Buddy Hillmens highway will be in great shape as its now down to glare ice and when it get cold again any snow with wind will blow right across. For some reason the areas that have white ice seem to soften up more and causes some rutting and pot holes. I have no clue what causes theses areas of white ice. Now when the temps drop again all those old snow banks will become rock hard. Mother nature at work again. now for a quick fishing report. Dan and Andraea had some good action in florida and had 6 nice keepers on the ice by 8pm. They also landed some really dandy perch. the hammer and I fished with shell chick and jeff in old Minnesota. The hammer was marking fish that refused to bite. Jeffs rattle wheel went down and with a good hook set the line broke. 15 seconds later and shell chicks rattle wheels line moved across the hole. I reached behind me as she stood up to come check it .I felt a fish and set the hook landing a nice keeper. Sorry shell it was just instinct. the shell chick set the hook and landed a smaller one. Mike and Neil rolled in just after dark for montana ,they caught a few right away once they were set up. I then went to check on north Dakota and they had only landed one 19 incher. so far. I was positive they would have fantastic fishing. I have 8 different wheel houses out there and will be seeing what kind of action they have had the last 16 hours or so. Not much has changed. Its just been a grind to land on any big numbers of fish. If you fish hard you can get your limits. Oh well every season is different and this year is again completely different then last year. Who knows maybe the rattle wheels went nuts last night as we have had some good action after midnight in the area just to the south of where were at now

 

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My son and his buddy are set up off of Hillmans road.  White/black wheel house and a new SUV.  Lots of lookers, but they have managed 4 eyes and 3 perch, so not a total bust.  

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The old adage time flies by when your having fun could not be any truer. Just 7 days of the game fish season left. Wow where did it go? Man did the fishing flip flop from Friday to Saturday. North Dakota only landed the one 19 incher when I checked on them saturday morning. old Minnesota and florida had there keepers. Mike, Neil and  Kayla had 7 .Mikes plan was to eat them all so they could try for a limit to take home. Randy and his crew in there wheel house did really well. It sounds like Randy is going to come up this summer and let me take him and his wife fishing in" Imagine That" our 20 foot tyee. The greek named the boat . Grandma use to say uuu EEEmadgen dat in that  strong Swedish accent.

Lee and his crew in there wheel house did not do that great and moved down a little closer to where we were. They only had a little better fishing Saturday in to the evening . I plowed a spot for Matt, Jeromy and Matts dad  and they did not do well at all Saturday night? Randy just 100 yards away did well all day into the evening. That's twice this year that Randy as done real well and I'm thinking he may be one of them blessed fishermen that just has a nact for catching fish. I set up Chuck and Kathy  to the east of us and they had there 6 by 8;30 pm and went to bed. Chucks son came up with his portable Saturday and they only scratched out 5 more fish un tell the called it a day. Chuck and Kathy got 2 yesterday morning and I will see how they did last night later today. That will be the third night on the same spot as he did not want to do a cookie shuffle and move 25 yards on to fresh ice. Lonnie and family with there wheel house went to where we had gotten a total of 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier in the year. When I talked to him they were moving as they had only landed two walleyes. I also talked to another guy that was fishing in the same area and he said they pounded the fish Friday but Saturday was not very good, No elusive upper red lake crappies.  I did ask him if he caught any  small walleye scufitts and he said they sure did? Adam landed on 5 keepers Friday night into Saturday morning and packed up to move out by us where they did real well just east of us with Justin landing a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie sunday morning. Lonnie called sunday morning to say where they moved to was not that good and they only landed two keepers. He did say that quite a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught in the area with a portable landing 15 or so? Turns out they new some one in a rental and fished by them so there families could hang out. Tammy, Tanner, Taylor and Randy tried in very shallow as I had a hunch a few weeks ago that that's where the bigger fish are hanging out. They had action all weekend missing quite a few fish. Randy said  there was no night bite at all. I expected that's when it would  of been the best. Stupid fish. They did take home 7 with 4 over 17. I would love to have all my houses in that area but its so close to shore fishermen think there getting ripped off when the road goes out 10 miles. If the fishing is good then you look like the hero but if its not there like why are all those houses out there? That happen earlier this year when I was out a mile and half and we had poor fishing.

Ken, Tony boy, Chris and Leah also moved down by us to the north Friday. They had horrible fishing and moved to the other side of old Minnesota where they only landed 5 more fish Saturday. Mike,  Neil and Kayla ate all 7 of there fish and went home with zero as they could not buy a fish Saturday night. Crazy. Dan and Adrea had good fishing all weekend in florida 200 feet away. Tony Boy helped me moved North Dakota over towards us for Mike and his crew and they were a 100 yards from Randy's crew doing well and they hardly caught any thing. All though Mike did catch something lol. All and all not to bad of a weekend, spent some quality time with family, had a ton of fun and didn't have to work to hard. Today its back to work as the hammer is going to drive the red baron out so I can have both trucks to move florida for Dave and his crew arriving later today. I did have four locals from blackduck fish florida yesterday into the evening where it was a little slow. Forth night on the same spot.  Ron did land a elusive yet still catchable 15 inch upper red lake crappie his biggest ever and his first walleye through the ice. I was really hoping to see a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies as I have shifted gears and am on the hunt for the mother load, with walleyes now the secondary fish. I have a huge area to shift all the houses to for the up and coming week. With two caught the mother load could be just a few 100 yards away. Right now my plans are to hunt them down and spend some quality time in old minneosta with the hammer. Jake and his crew will be up march 10th 11th as well as Don and his crew. They will all be bringing portables and enjoying there evenings relaxing in the house's and who knows maybe even catching a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies out of the houses. It happened last year, there should be no reason we cant doing it again. I assume Buddy Hillmen  will also have some houses available the next few weeks. The stores number is 218 647 8504. I'm never ready for the season to end as its so much fun and I so much enjoy working out there. As most of the resorts start pulling house off to the east,, there I am every year? towing houses to the northwest.

 

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Thanks bturck. I sure enjoy sharing our adventures out there, not so much the bad fishing reports but as Shorty Hillmen, Buddy Hillmen"s dad told me 13 years ago you have to be honest with the fishermen and it stuck into my little brain. The first  year or two trying to rent the cabins and know one was calling in the summer. It dawned on me every time someone would ask about the summer fishing I would tell them that the winds can keep you off the lake? Now I just tell them how good the fishing can be and do not even mention the wind unless they ask.

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The hammer, the trooper. Yesterday morning needing the red baron and blue thunder on the lake I recruited the sweet hart to drive blue thunder out. She could relax in old Minnesota and watch a movie and do a little fishing while I moved Florida for Dave and his  crew arriving later in the day. Dave rolled In around 2 and I checked them in and we headed off the lake as we had to be in Bemidji before 4 30. I forgot to hit the toggle switch for the heat on blue thunder and the hammer got a little cold driving in. The same thing happened to Andrew earlier this year when I had him bring blue thunder out on the ice. OOPS! I have to remember that when I let some one drive her. We arrived home fairly late and I was not able to go out and Check on Dave . I did shoot him a text and he said 2 perch and 2 scuffit walleyes. I just do not get it.  Chuck and Kathy  got there limit sunday a couple hours after dark   and headed home. I moved florida just a bit beyond where randy did well friday and Saturday, and Chuck and Kathy did well the first night and the third night. Just like that and the area is fished out? Oh well the hammer did mark a couple of fish while I was working but did not land anything. Old minnesota had good fishing  the first night and slower the second with fishing it during the day the third time not producing anything. Will see how Dave and the boys did this morning and maybe I will have to move even further with the houses for the up and coming final weekend of game fish. If the weather man is right it should be a glorious day on such a grand lake that as the old timer Dave said" It owes me nothing! nothing! The plans are to take my time and dig all 3 houses out of there icy tombs and stage them for the next big move. Florida will have to be moved again after Dave leaves tomorrow. Montana will be set up today then  be moved after Rick leaves Friday morning. The hammer and I will be fishing old Minnesota off and on all week and will be moved on fresh ice before Friday, but I want to see what happens if its fished a couple more nights on the same spot. All them fish are becoming very elusive?

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Crazy Fish is all I can say. When I arrived out to Florida the boys had kept 7 nice keepers over night. I had to ask Dave in Florida a favor? If he would give me a ride to shore to get the red baron. It was snowing like a banshee. I did not see that coming. Accu weather said flurries. Heading in and it was coming down so hard you could not even see the southern berm? Then just like that heading back out and the snow tapered off with a cool north breeze. I dropped a line in old Minnesota while I made my plan and darn if I did not get a nice keeper on a new pinkish rattling flyer at 10 30 am. The hammers dinner. Digging out Montana and north Dakota went real well and are now staged for the next move. After the hammer and I had dinner in old Minnesota last night I will be moving old Minnesota today. I wanted to see if the fishing could or would get better? We were set up at the bewitching hour and had a nice run of keeper perch landing 5 as the sun went down. Then one small scuffitt walleye and not another bite. The hammer did mark a couple fish but would not bite? We headed in around 8pm. A quick stop at Florida and the guys hammered the fish just after dark. They  even landed two pike a 30 and 40 after the sun set. A wheel house set up to the south west of us and I heard they had 5 before dark. A very fishy area to end the game fish season. How sweet is that. I was hoping to see at least a couple more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies in the area so I could fine tune where they may be hiding. Kimmy Joy and Tim also rolled in with there wheel house around 7pm and I set them up right in line where the two elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught sunday morning and sunday evening. So far we have only caught 16 for the season out of the houses and every single one has been at the crack of dawn or just after sunset? At this time I must have 3 square miles of un fished area to try and find them. The red baron will be getting a good workout  as I plow every which way I want? I guess I will be the rouge plower. Tyler was out there yesterday looking for a few fish and said he augured 140 holes and only found one elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. He also said I was real close to where we pounded them years ago when I introduced him to Spence as his gps said Spence and cookie. I remember the first time I met him and his dad. Spencer was playing high school hockey . Now he is out of collage and a full time guide all over the Midwest. Tyler and him have become very good friends.
I have a couple wheel houses coming up this weekend and will be plowing them a few trails looking for the mother load. Casey in North Dakota is going to pound the ice looking for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and be using  the house as a home base? This is not the first time I have heard this and once they check in its like you know its kinda cold out and were awful comfortable right here so we will see. Maybe if I pay them as scouts? I'm going to set up Tammy and Randy  where we got the 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier this year. There is a wheel house in the area and he came back after taking his grandson home. I did talk to him and he is having action with quite a few small scuffit walleyes? Again a very fishy area. Florida had such good fishing I would like to leave it where its at but I can not have it set up the way I like if its not on fresh ice so it will  be moved today once the boys leave. Rick King is coming up today and I'm still not sure what house I want him in. Even though it will just be him I will more then likely have to move it Friday morning . I can tell him not to fish it hard but that does not make a whole lot of sense lol. I want all the houses on fresh ice for the final game fish season so that will be the plan.
All the house will be moved after sunday even though none are rented un tell our crappie get together on the 11th and 12th of march. I will be vacationing out there looking for the mother load enjoying all the comforts of home in our favorite house old Minnesota. Any fishermen out there looking for a little more fishing time give me a shout. Who knows,last year we had some magical moments  after the game fish season ended. I would love to see that happen again.

Crazy Fish is all I can say. When I arrived out to Florida the boys had kept 7 nice keepers over night. I had to ask Dave in Florida a favor? If he would give me a ride to shore to get the red baron. It was snowing like a banshee. I did not see that coming. Accu weather said flurries. Heading in and it was coming down so hard you could not even see the southern berm? Then just like that heading back out and the snow tapered off with a cool north breeze. I dropped a line in old Minnesota while I made my plan and darn if I did not get a nice keeper on a new pinkish rattling flyer at 10 30 am. The hammers dinner. Digging out Montana and north Dakota went real well and are now staged for the next move. After the hammer and I had dinner in old Minnesota last night I will be moving old Minnesota today. I wanted to see if the fishing could or would get better? We were set up at the bewitching hour and had a nice run of keeper perch landing 5 as the sun went down. Then one small scuffitt walleye and not another bite. The hammer did mark a couple fish but would not bite? We headed in around 8pm. A quick stop at Florida and the guys hammered the fish just after dark. They  even landed two pike a 30 and 40 after the sun set. A wheel house set up to the south west of us and I heard they had 5 before dark. A very fishy area to end the game fish season. How sweet is that. I was hoping to see at least a couple more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies in the area so I could fine tune where they may be hiding. Kimmy Joy and Tim also rolled in with there wheel house around 7pm and I set them up right in line where the two elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught sunday morning and sunday evening. So far we have only caught 16 for the season out of the houses and every single one has been at the crack of dawn or just after sunset? At this time I must have 3 square miles of un fished area to try and find them. The red baron will be getting a good workout  as I plow every which way I want? I guess I will be the rouge plower. Tyler was out there yesterday looking for a few fish and said he augured 140 holes and only found one elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. He also said I was real close to where we pounded them years ago when I introduced him to Spence as his gps said Spence and cookie. I remember the first time I met him and his dad. Spencer was playing high school hockey . Now he is out of collage and a full time guide all over the Midwest. Tyler and him have become very good friends.
I have a couple wheel houses coming up this weekend and will be plowing them a few trails looking for the mother load. Casey in North Dakota is going to pound the ice looking for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie and be using  the house as a home base? This is not the first time I have heard this and once they check in its like you know its kinda cold out and were awful comfortable right here so we will see. Maybe if I pay them as scouts? I'm going to set up Tammy and Randy  where we got the 14 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies earlier this year. There is a wheel house in the area and he came back after taking his grandson home. I did talk to him and he is having action with quite a few small scuffit walleyes? Again a very fishy area. Florida had such good fishing I would like to leave it where its at but I can not have it set up the way I like if its not on fresh ice so it will  be moved today once the boys leave. Rick King is coming up today and I'm still not sure what house I want him in. Even though it will just be him I will more then likely have to move it Friday morning . I can tell him not to fish it hard but that does not make a whole lot of sense lol. I want all the houses on fresh ice for the final game fish season so that will be the plan.
All the house will be moved after sunday even though none are rented un tell our crappie get together on the 11th and 12th of march. I will be vacationing out there looking for the mother load enjoying all the comforts of home in our favorite house old Minnesota. Any fishermen out there looking for a little more fishing time give me a shout. Who knows,last year we had some magical moments  after the game fish season ended. I would love to see that happen again.

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having trouble on the site here? seems to be fixed now. Its been a very hectic busy weekend.  Plus I wanted to do a little walleye fishing for the last weekend.

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I hear ya Cookie.  The site has had a mind of its own the last couple of days.  Still messed up on my end. Hope you end the season on a high note

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I love your reports Cookie, thank you for sharing your adventures. I met you last year when you sent me in the right direction for walleye and crappies. I was wondering, do you keep notes or a book on where you put your houses year to year and how the fishing was in each spot, plus weather condition and such? Probably a lot a work but would be interesting to compare year to year. You could call it Cookies almanac. Thanks again for your post and maybe I will come up and chase some elusive but still catchable you know what's.

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Sorry to miss you on the way out Cookie. You looked to be on a mission and my copilot was also in the hurry up mode. Not sure if she looks forward more to the Shooks Shake or the last trip off the ice. Glad you saw where we were. Pretty sure I had another one flip off at the bottom of the hole and saw a lot of marks on the Vexilar that brought back memories from the pre-walleye era but they were tight lipped like the majority of the fish we saw on 3 trips this season. GPS full of old way points just north of there.. 

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Seems like every time I hit the lake I'm on a mission. Crazy elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies are scattered all over the place. I have 10 days befoer our get together to get the houses close then the boys will hit it hard with there portables on the 11th 12th. Jake is so jacked up he has crappies dancing in his head. 

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My good friend Wayne decided to stay for the final evening sunday night. After 3 nights of horrible fishing I suggested I move old Minnesota to the corner where we have found a few crappies the last 10 days. He was like for get that its to much work just leave it here. The hammer and I would be joining him for another evning of fishing, card playing, dinner,music and just having fun. With 6 lines down and the hammer working her vexlar a few fish showed off the bottom but it was again terrible fishing. I had a tip up set with a sucker for all most a day and then switched to a huge golden shiner and never had a flag. Around 10 pm it started to snow and the hammer had to work in the morning so we called it a night. I was driving the red baron while kellie was driving her trail blazer. Not a mile in to the trip off the lake and its was a full blown blizzard. With the way my plow lights are aimed and the giant snow flakes It was like driving with your high beams on in a snow storm. I could not see 2 feet in front of me. Keeping to the northern edge of hillmens highway just out my drivers window with the window down we made our way home. I tried crossing over to the southern edge thinking I could see the snow bank better? Nope with the way the snow was drifting at a angle you could not see that edge at all. After a very slow ride I called kellie and told her to come up a long side of me to see if that would help. I then tried with my lights off? Nope no good. We them finished our trip home side by side. The hammer was again a trooper. Its amazing how much comfortable she has become on the lake considering years ago she was all most petrified to even ride on a lake. The 10 mile trip took us close to a hour to get home and I'm not kidding we pulled into the drive way and the snow quit? Monday morning and there was not a stitch of snow on either vechicle. Mean while back in old Minnesota while we were driving away the crazy fish decided they were hungry. Using the golden shiners that the Goose had left us Wayne caught fish after fish for over 3 hours. Just like that he got his final 3 for the season. He also had two line snappers. He said once the snow stopped the wind came out of the nw like a freight train and the fish kept biting. Every time he tried to lay down the rattle wheel would go off. Then he could not sleep as with the high winds the window screen was banging ,the stove pipe was making all sorts of crazy sounds and the wind was that whistling sound . When he did get to sleep around 5am once the wind laid down he got a few hours of sleep. he awoke around 10am when I arrived. About two hours later he realized his fishing pole was gone? To funny. He thinks he remembers a splashing sound and he looked around and fell back a sleep.
We only got a quick 1/2 inch of snow but with them high winds there's plenty of plowing to do the next couple of days as we re clear Hillmens highway. The one nice thing is the snow was a very light fluffy snow in stead of a warm wet type. I have 4 foot drifts around the houses but its not a huge deal as the snow is very light and moves out of the way pretty easy at this time. The plan today will be to move all the drifts away from the house's and start  getting them out of there nest as Buddy hillmen call them. Then a big move as I start my journey  looking for the mother load of the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. At this time all the houses are wide open and un rented un tell the 10th of march. I should have them all set and ready to fish by the weekend in traditional crappie grounds. Once old Minnesota is set the hammer and I will be spending quite a bit of time out there the next 10 days  as that is my vacation again this year. Yes its a working vacation but still its a vacation

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You can always tell people that ask if you're going south for the winter ...." Yup, but only a 100 yards"........ Gods Country USA......hope you find some crappies and enjoy what's left of the ice

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Well it was back to work yesterday. Buddy Hillmen's highway is again wide open 10 miles out after a day of dragging and plowing. I talked to Buddy  briefly and he plans on pulling two more of his houses to shore as just like that and the phone calls have all most came to a end. I 'm never ready to pull the plug when those beautiful elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies are starting to put on there feed bags. The best report I have heard so far is 22 fish landed by a group of 4. With one person landing on the honey hole and reeling  in 14 of the 22. The area I just left had a little corner  of around 20 acres that produced a few over the last two weeks. Remember a few? A few in fishing lingo  is 12 to 16. Not the mother load by any means but just landing one of these very elusive fish you get the feeling you landed a trophy. And that my friends is a good feeling. Looking for them on the other hand can be a tremendous amount of work on such a big body of water. If you get just one there's a reason he or she was there and as we all know crappies travel in schools? The crappie highway is still out there and still very active in my book. That's where I'm headed.
Yesterday after plowing for two hours I was off to the area I have ruined, With the wheel houses I set up we managed to ruin at least  100 acres of 48,000. We did manage to get a 7 elusive upper red lake crappies though out the weekend. Plus numerous walleyes, perch and a couple big pike .
Buddy said he thinks some pike have moved in to the area he was working  as the elusive upper red lake all of a sudden became very elusive? If anyone can find them again it would be Buddy. I tried to get a hold of Tyler from bear paw as he can also find these very elusive fish. No answer though? Glad it was not a emergency. Yesterday after taking care of the road I was off to start the manual labor of digging out the houses. Florida was only sitting on 19 inches of ice where I had it and the water had oozed out and made quite the mess of things. Montana and North Dakota were sitting on well over  two feet of ice? Those three house are now staged for there next destination. I will be heading out to dig out old Minnesota later this morning. I did wet a line a couple times while I was out there yesterday. When I dropped a forage minnow tipped with a minnow a big wide red line came charging up from the depths only to hit the breaks three feet off the bottom and slowly drift back to the bottom. My first thought seeing such a wide line was here we go a elusive upper red lake crappie. I may never know what it was though as it took a couple more looks and then it was gone. I'll drop a line when I first get out there this morning while I prep old Minnesota for its journey. Jake is pretty excited about getting up here on the 9th of march and is chomping at the bit. The passion he has for fishing is second to none , If he is not fishing he is watching fishing ,reading about fishing, talking about fishing, getting a fish tattoo, pretending he is fishing and in general wishing he was fishing. Tyler also has that passion and that's all they do if hunt and fish. Buddy Hillmens another one, when the ice leaves the lake he will be heading to Alaska where he is going fishing. Its fishing for a living but its still fishing. Wayne is another. He is a little different though as he has caught so many fish it really does not matter its more about the relaxation it produces for him. Its just tranquil to him, it reminds him of all the time spent fishing with his dad. Now me I love the comradery of fishing, I want to fish with people and catch the biggest? Not the most just the biggest. I find it hard to fish by my self. All though once I get the line wet I'm fine . Taking out the boat by my self can be a chore ,but once I'm out there its very relaxing. Pre fishing for a guided trip ? I have been catching fish on this lake since I was 6 years old puking out the side of the boat with my dad egging me on. I still think he did it on purpose ? The greek was born to fish. If I could paint pictures one that stands out in my mind is a year I talked the greek into leaving his boat on the water un tell the last day possible. We had to pull a boat and a pontoon at the last minute as a big storm was coming with below zero temps to follow. I was standing at the end of the dock with the wind blowing 20 miles a hours out of the north east. With white caps in the back ground and that little boat bouncing off the dock the greek jumps in and was leaned over pulling the rip cord to start it. Giant snow flakes were going down his open collar with his jacket un zipped, waves splashing over the boat and he was right at home . Yes I would love to paint that picture. Where is the greek now? Spending time living on a boat in florida un tell he heads back to Alaska to do what?  Time to get to work as I'm on a mission. The hammer wants to fish tonight and if any one can catch a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie out of old minnesota it is her.
 

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Some days things do not click as you would expect. Old Minnesota was the last house I had to dig out. I have a system that works pretty good as long as you do not try and take short cuts. I can uu bank which ever side I'm towing from and one side of the house. In a pinch I can hook up and give it a good jerk/tug and she will break loose. The better way is to jack up the end I'm towing from dig out a small opening over half way under both sides and stand a 2x4 on its edge on both sides. For some reason I guess I got lazy and only put a 2x4 under one side. As you lower the house  back down it cause a titter todder effect and the weight of the house breaks the other end  loose. Then its just back up, hook up the chains and off we go. Old Minnesota is our heaviest house but with this procedure she comes out of the hole pretty easy. When I'm working alone once I pull out I stop and go retrieve the blocks and any other things that may of gotten left under the house. I walk back chip out the blocks and turn around and to my surprise the snow packed around the rack for the propane  holding tank has half way torn out of the wall and also ripped the bottom 2x4s off and there are the 100 lb tanks held up off the ice by the lines. I quickly turned off the propane and evaluated the situation. I was able to stack a few 2x4s underneath the tanks to take the pressure off the lines and remove  the lines and tanks. It was a little tough lifting them straight up though as they are heavy. I was then able to repair the rack with a good old hammer and re install the tanks. No its not quite over though. As I said it was one of those days. I go to grab my phone and darn if I can not find it? After spending quite a bit of time looking for it in both trucks ,kicking the snow around and I just could not find it. What a crappy feeling when you loose your phone. back to the project at hand and off I went towing old Minnesota to its new area. I would come back for the red baron later in the day. Once I arrived to the new area I had to un hook the house and prep a area with blue thunder instead of the red barons v plow. Then back to retrieve old Minnesota and pull it in to its spot. As I was blocking it up joel came over to see if I needed a hand. I said no I got it but I could use a ride back to the red baron as I had forgotten to grab the auger. I had transferred it into the red baron after I had opened up the edge of Buddy hillmens highway Tuesday. It was caked with snow when I put it in there and I had planned on bringing it in  the shop to dry it off .  When we arrived joel called my phone but we could not here it ringing and it did not go to voice mail so I new it had to still be somewhere warm. Once back to old Minnesota we again rang my phone, still could not here it. I then walked in to old Minnesota and there it was laying on the bed. What a relief. I prepped the house for auguring the holes and warmed up the augur and luckily I started where two holes go side by side because as I finished the first hole Number two augur kept running at full speed. Trying to handle a raging auger with a 18 inch extension can be a handful. I was able to get it back down on the ice and let it start drilling the second hole so I could turn it off. Wow what a day. I then headed home to pack up our gear for a night of relaxation fishing with the hammer and preparing a nice meal. Cornish game hens, mixed veggies and pasta. We watched a couple movies, lost a few fish that I think may of been elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies? I think I fell a sleep around 10 pm . The rattle wheels went off every couple hours all night long with a couple misses and a couple walleye landed.  While making coffee Thursday morning just as the sun was coming up and the hammer landed a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. We had to pack it up soon after as I had some business in Bemidji. Tammy and Randy arrived out there yesterday afternoon as well as Duke last evening so I will see how they have done as I haul the rest of the fleet into the area.  I'll need both trucks out there again so I will see if Randy can give me a ride back to shore. Nothing is rented un till Monday but the hammer and I will be having dinner and movies out there every night all weekend long looking for the mother load.

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Just wanted to say, I really enjoy reading your reports cookie. Don't fish Red nearly enough, but may need to search out some crappie during late-ice this spring. From what my friends have iced this year; they certainly are gaining trophy status again.

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hey Tom Thanks, Yes the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies are is thick as 2x4s. Shell chick got a 17 last year. quite a few hogs were caught last year and I have seen a few this year as well. The hammer gets giddy and giggles when she catches them. She would rather eat them  then the best tasting walleyes in the state of Minnesota. If we keep 3 there so big that's enough for a meal and some times a piece left over.

Trolling with old Minnesota? I told the hammer I will be moving old Minnesota on to fresh ice today. Tammy and Randy were up to 7 elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Duke was up to 5. Another group got 3 last night out of the same hole. Other then that there were less then a dozen fishermen  hunting for these very elusive fish. Yesterday on my working vacation I headed out on the lake with blue thunder.to bring the rest of the fleet down the mile road I made to get to the area I wanted to fish. The reflection of the sun causes the one side of the shacks to melt into the ice a bit. each house had to be broken loose but that was not a big deal. As it started to snow. Every thing went smooth and I had them all over there in short order. I then ask randy if he could give me a ride to shore to get the red baron as both trucks are required to prep areas. The snow had picked up quite a bit. It had to be coming down  more then a inch a hour. When we arrived onto Hillmens highway it was a full blown white out.  Realizing it was dangerous and impossible to see we quickly turned around and headed back where I would be taking a nap in old Minnesota while wetting a line. Duke and his buddy were going out searching for the mother load and stopped by but they said I was sleeping like a baby. I did not sleep long and the rattle wheel awoke me. A couple misses and another elusive yet all most catchable upper red lake crappie was lost at the hole. Educated another one. It was then time to get back to work. Once I arrived back to old minnesota with the hammer I got back to work prepping a new area for montana as Marty and his sweetie shell are headed up this morning. Once I had montana blocked banked and all set up I headed back for another evening of movie watching, cooking dinner and maybe catching a elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. When I stepped in the house the hammer was not happy as a fish got her new 6 dollar lure. She tried the rest of the evening to re catch that fish and get her lure back with no avail.  Once marty arrives we will be heading out to augur out a couple holes in montana and I will sniff out a new spot for the hammer and I to enjoy another evening of fishing with friends on such a grand lake.

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jeez Cookie your workcation must be going nice as it has been since Saturday morning when you last enlightened our lives with what's happening on beautiful Upper Red's east shore...Hope you are enjoying every minute of it as you deserve it!!!  Good Luck

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Yes thanks for the detailed reports as always Cookie. How is the ice looking up there right now? You or buddy still letting trucks out?

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