Red Lake report

[Dahitman44]

We made it up there on Monday evening atr about 4 p.m. and were fishing by 4:30. The fishouse was a decent one and the guide said they were catching a few out of there. A few what? forgot to ask him that.

We caught about 12 eyes that night and they were all nice sized. Some in the 19-inch area others in the 15-16 inch area.

The next morning I caught the first two crappies of the trip. First one on a red angle eye and the second was just 20 seconds after the first on the bobber and glow red jig.

We caught some more eyes throughout the day.

The next morning I caught the other crappie.

We finished with about 30 'eyes, 3 crappies and one perch. We also had a lot of beer, told a lot of stories, laughed a lot and ate some GREAT meals.

Yep, it was a fun trip and great to get away -- i just wish the crappies would have been hungry.

[DEADhead]

nice to hear you had a good time hitman. obviously with the walleye population recovered on URL, the crappies will slowly begin to disappear. Other than that remarkable year class of crappies that has produced trophy fish, there hasn't been much of a solid year class since. Be grateful that you were able to enjoy it while you did. Those crappies will soon become an old campfire story...

[Dahitman44]

Dead --

That is sad. Do you think the two can live together? Or is it one or the other?

[Skitterpop]

It is more of a competition for food and good spawning seasons for the crappie. There will always be big crappies in Red Lake; just not the numbers we enjoyed these last 7 years. If you move away from the crowds and punch holes and search you can find some big schools. I would definately recommend going up there in May during open water.

[Dahitman44]

Skitter -- I am curious -- tell me about May? I had heard they go into the "forbidden Zone" during april/may.

Is that true?

Have you had luck during the spring?

[Paul]

A friend of mine's father owned a resort on Upper Red back in the day. He told me storys of 14lb walleyes and 3lb crappies when he was a kid. Guess we as a socitey are just too good at catching fish now because it will never be the same.

[Skitterpop]

I usually go out of the south end during May. Last May we found crappies mixed with the walleye in as shallow as 4 FOW. One trip we couldn't keep the sheephead off of our lines. It is fun reeling in those big crappie as they fight along the surface. So easy to tell if it is a crappie or walleye by how they fight. I use the same thing for both. A slip bobber with a fathead. The further from the bottom (2-3 feet up) the more likely to find the crappie. Just don't go up when it has been really windy and the water is all churned up. The clarity can be amazingly bad like the Red River at times. Winter is soooo much clearer. Red Lake is such a great fishery!

[Dahitman44]

S-POP --

Thanks. Makes me want to skip out of work, speed up the calender and hit Red.

[dragon81]

Fished Red on Friday, saturday this past weekend. Dont know if it was the weather or what, but 12 of us in four houses only managed three crappies total and just a small handful of other fish. Hope everyone else has better luck. Maybe with the weather change it will be time to hit em hard.

[Dahitman44]

Dragon --

I am not surprised. I think we need to get up there when the snow is off and temps are mild. In my experience the crappies like those conditions.

That's a bad deal to go all the way up there and not get much. Spring should be better.

BTW -- remember -- each year it will get worse and worse till they are mostly gone. Then you will have to look at them as bonus fish.

Hitman

[hanson]

Quote:

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BTW -- remember -- each year it will get worse and worse till they are mostly gone. Then you will have to look at them as bonus fish.

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I've been saying that for a long time and each winter continues to amaze me that the fishing can be as good as it is. The last 2 winters have been amazing compared to 3 years ago for me. With what I've seen this winter, I would expect next winter to be much of the same.

The thing with the crappies on URL right now is there are small schools that swim around. They are swimming around chasing food and escaping fishing pressure. They don't stay put. If you happen to land right on top of them, the fishing is amazing. If you don't land right on top of them, you'll pick up a few fish here and there.

Every trip I've made this year I've learned from, like usual. 3-4 crappies per guy/ per day is pretty typical if you are in the area. If you move and refine your location and pinpoint them, you'll pound them. Thats what happened when Borch & I caught 42 of them a few Saturdays ago. That same spot 1 week later produced no crappies at all.

The proper weather conditions are also critical when making a trip up there. If you hit the weather wrong, you won't be able to pay a crappie to bite, no matter what you try.

The other thing I noticed this year is timing. The morning bite is "on", a daytime bite is so-so, and you'll have a little flurry before dark and then they shut down. Most winters, they don't start biting until dark and then you can catch them until 9pm. That is not the case this winter. They are biting during the day and especially morning. Get out and move around during the day and your odds will go up.

Being successful on Red for crappies means 1 of 2 things now- you are darn lucky, or you worked your tail off. For me, there is much more satisfaction catching crappies on Red now than say 5 years ago. It was almost too easy "back in the day".

[Dahitman44]

Hanson --

Back in the day -- two years ago it was a little easier. We were fishing in a guide's house and we caught them from about 4 pmish till about 10 pmish.

The funny thing was the people around us got nothing. Zip.

We had great luck and action -- we actually got top throw some small ones back.