fishing reports 2020 - Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports (URL)

[SHANTY]

The first trip with PORTAVILL. I highly recommend these guys to anyone. They have the best prices on the lake and they will make sure u are on the fish. They keep the roads clean, stop by to check on ya and give u fish reports. These guys definatly know what they are doing and are very nice guys. Can not say enough for potavill.

Fish Portavill

[SHANTY]

[H0LE HOPPER]

what a ggator !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how did you manage too get it up holy.

[lovetoicefish]

did it go back down as quick as it came up?

[SHANTY]

Biggest fish i have ever caught. took me around 15 min to get up. was real tricky to get his head through the hole. as u can see in the picture he just sat at the bottom of the ice. i let them sit there for a while to calm him down then i slowly backed him up and got he nose pointed up... as soon as he started to come up he saw me and went crazy! but he was way to big to turn around in the hole. so the only direction he could go was up. bare handed him up.... heck of a fight!!!

[Bigbartguy]

nice fish!

[kelly-p]

did it go back down as quick as it came up?

The Upper Red Lake Area Assn. has a very good Catch and Release program. If the person you are renting from is a member of the URLAA they can get you the form to fill out very easy. All you need to do is fill out a short form and have a picture of the Pike. In return you get a very reduced price on a fiberglass replica.

[Allensbaynewguy]

Is there a free or cheap way out onto the ice? Also, do the resorts let u pay per shower? 4 days = stinky ice house!

[shaky legs2]

I would like to thank Kelly for bringing up the URL Association. Not many people know about the group (me included until recently). They were responsible for putting in the cribs that many fisherman enjoy plus many other things like helping local schools and community organizations with projects. They are dedicated to maintaining a quality fishery. Anyone can join the organization and your $25 annual membership fee will be money well spent. I don't have their web address at hand but if you Google in URLA you should be able to find it.

[SHANTY]

good to know! he did go down down the hole after some nice pictures. i already have to big of a taxidermy bill from deer hunting. i do have nice pictures and measuremnts. maybe i will see if i can get a form. any idea how much one would cost.

[Zemp]

Fished the south side with Chad Benson last week, 12-15th with my brother and brother-in-law. What a blast. We housed 140 walleyes and two perch in about 70 hours, and missed about 60 fish. The mornings from about 7:30 til 9:30 were best but obviously it was all pretty good. Most fish came on deadsticks and fatheads, probably only caught 5-6 jigging.

If anyone is looking for a house to rent give Chad a call. I can't say enough about how great he was to rent from (again). Great guy, checks in often, and works to keep his customers on fish.

[Aces In The Hole]

Fished last weekend out of Westwind. Was only about 2 miles out. Fishing was slow. Caught 18 eyes and one 11" perch between 4 guys. I caught 12 of them myself and 1 got even got blanked..LOL.. Must of my fish came on a pink glow fatboy jigging. Only caught 1 on the deadstick. What a nice weekend out there though. We were able to drive all over the lake with no problems. My buddy even went out with no shirt on a fished for a half hour. Hope the fishing picks up again. Seems like the fishing has been getting slower and slower as each year passes by. Will be up there again in Febuary. Crossing my fingers.

[canman]

4 of us fished from the south side. Fishing was pretty good. Both my daughters caught their 1st walleyes!!!! We ate well and brought home enough to eat. Man, did we miss many over 40 in 2 days of fishing. 1 huge crappie also. All on fatheads and a dead stick, no jigging needed.

[Will]

Fished the south side from fri at noon until 9:30 am sun. The three of us caught 62 eyes and missed/lost half that many. We were able to jig in about a quarter of them. We marked alot of fish but they were not overly active. Fatheads worked better than crappie minnows. Red, pink, perch and gold worked best for us.

[steeplechaser2]

Jon and Kelly Petrowske did it again...my two boys and I headed up for the weekend. We managed about 80 walleyes and 4 pike. The vast amjority of our walleyes were in that 15 to 16.5" range....perfect for catch and release into the grease!!!! We also managed about 8 over 20"...the largest being a chunky 22"...also lost one around #5 at the hole

The bite was a bit difficult during the evenings...4 hours of relatively uninterrupted sleep...then 3AM hit, and so did the walleyes...not a frenzy, but steady until 6:30 AM. The fish took time off for breakfast, then spurts throughout the day.

Jigging was a must...not because you'd catch them jigging, but the rattling and banging on the bottom seemed to bring them in. Then, they'd spook from the jig and run to the bobbered bait lines....pretty strange stuff.

Jon, the boys were awfully impressed with all the cool equipment you lugged around...the toolbox, spare parts, Marcum camera, copper wire for an antena, i-phone, digital camera, cool two-tone truck, mukluks, and fancy fishing suits. They were thinking about applying for a job until we thought about the resume requirements.

Wanted: qualified guide who can find the fish, plow the road to the fish, show customers how to catch the fish, tolerate the customers who do not show on time (or at all). Applicant must be a qualified plumber, heating and AC man, with experience with diesel and gasoline engines. Applicant must be website and internet savvy, be EMT certified, and generally not be interested in a social life or sleep. Successful candidates may enjoy driving a $30,000 boat or $500 truck. A successful candidate may also be called upon to keep the peace on the ice and at local establishments.

Thanks for another great trip. Stay out of the hospital!

[Random guy]

Wanted: qualified guide who can find the fish, plow the road to the fish, show customers how to catch the fish, tolerate the customers who do not show on time (or at all). Applicant must be a qualified plumber, heating and AC man, with experience with diesel and gasoline engines. Applicant must be website and internet savvy, be EMT certified, and generally not be interested in a social life or sleep. Successful candidates may enjoy driving a $30,000 boat or $500 truck. A successful candidate may also be called upon to keep the peace on the ice and at local establishments.

Thanks for another great trip. Stay out of the hospital!

Ya, I should have read the contract closer when I applied.

It does take many aptitudes to do what we do on the ice and as the boys seen we have to be ready for everything. With just what I have in my truck I could lift a house, salvage a vehicle, keep a highway clear, build a Empire Furnace from spare parts, keep an eye on incoming emails and client requests, run a small towing service, have the gear to go fishing at the end of the day all while leaving enough room to drive with Mickey Boots or Mukluks on.

Oh and don't forget you get to be a sewage and refuse specalist! Bonus!

Glad you guys hammered on them again, it does pay concentrate on the fishing.

[SHANTY]

does fishing on the red usually pick up or slow down as it get later in the winter? Thinking of making a mid feb trip

[kelly-p]

The area we fish on URL is so huge the latest "hot" bite just moves around the lake as do the fish and fishermen. Sometimes the fishermen and fish are in the same place. Everyday out there somebody is getting limits and somebody is getting skunked. The next "hot" bite will most likely be at a place where no one has fished yet. We have only fished about 1/3 of the ice yet so it is just a matter of finding where the fish are, or are not. Right now I can tell you a lot places where they are not.

[KOTTKE]

Red and I have a love hate relationship. Fished Fri-Monday with my kids and kept 7 eyes. Very tough bite for us. Marked fish, but could not get them to hit. Fished from 2.5 to 4 miles out, all on Hillmans road. Did manage a 38" amd 33" northern. Headed back again this weekend will update. This lake always amazes me when you get back after a trip and check here for updates, its seems there are always someone having the trip of a lifetime and folks that are shut out. Either way you will not find better bunch of folks on the ice anywhere, always eager to visit or lend a hand, or offer fishing tips.

[laportian]

Yes we punched a hole in on the East Boundry Road out onto the lake with a bobcat on Sat.

[SrBrits]

lap,

just where is this located at and are you going to keep it open?

and if so and it works out, will you have a drop box so we can help pay for your efforts?

[laportian]

Southeast boundry, the rez line. If were up there fishing it'll stay open. We were up fishing the boundry area 5 days over the last week and a half. Too poor to pay to drive on!

[laportian]

Carsella's far west ice road is pretty close the line. If you stay off those nice fee roads you should be fine. Me I just can't see paying to access public use lakes all winter long. Especially when I'm on the water so much.

[kelly-p]

"make an immediate right to get off reservation water"

If you go onto ANY URL water that the Red Lake Band owns you could have everything you have along confiscated and you could go to jail in Red Lake, MN.

From MN DNR

State anglers: The actual boundary is not a true north-south line. To simplify, it is recommended that State anglers stay east of the longitudinal coordinate of 94° 43’ 12.0” W to ensure they are on State waters.

Everyone fishing near the boundary is responsible for knowing his/her location.

[SHANTY]

Originally Posted By: lovetoicefish

did it go back down as quick as it came up?

The Upper Red Lake Area Assn. has a very good Catch and Release program. If the person you are renting from is a member of the URLAA they can get you the form to fill out very easy. All you need to do is fill out a short form and have a picture of the Pike. In return you get a very reduced price on a fiberglass replica.

I check the upper rded lake assn website all up and down and did not see any info on this? could some one send me in the right direction.... interested in a good replica

[laportian]

Point taken. It was a Red Lake Band Member that brought his bobcat over and punched the landing out. I was fishing with them. They were on the reservation side and I stayed on the east side of the boundry in state waters. The week before I noticed several non native people accessing the lake from further on the reservation from what is known as "Old Indian Camp Landing". Which is clearly 3 or 4 miles on the reservation. They were driving onto the lake there and driving back to state waters to fish. But anyway I dont want to get anyone in trouble or cause any controversy.

[kelly-p]

I know that they were working on the Catch and Release program at the meeting last night. It will be coming up on the website soon. Westwind and Roger's should have the forms to fill out now. Jon is more up to date on this right now but he is at the Docters today deciding when to do the surgery on his back. When he gets back tonight I'll see if he can bring us all up to date on what was decided at the meeting last night.

For now send me an e-mail with a picture of the fish and your address and I'll get the form for the replica sent to you.

Nice fish by the way. This past weekend one house had 8 rattle reel lines snapped off in one day.

[moose099]

Kelly, will be heading up Thurs. to the inlaws, let's do some scouting Fri thru Sun. You must have a few more areas you want scoped out.

Give my best to Johnny, I know what he's going through. Had that operation twice, the second time they fused L5 S1 and it has been perfect since with no loss of motion. He won't like the down time though, but it is necessary.

Say hi to Patsy, I will call you Fri on the lake around 2pm.

Later.

[kelly-p]

Moose, head right to the area you scouted for me last trip and go deeper.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Just returned from Red today from a two day, two nighter. Would like to thank Kelly and Jonny P for a very good time and some hilarious red lake stories. Sounded like it was a tough bite where we were so we were very happy with our results. We will be back again for sure! My buddy and I fished from tuesday afternoon to thursday morning. Fish caught- 21 Eyez, kept 10 over a two day period. 8 were too big and 3 were very small. Biggest was 20" and we had a giant that would have gone mid 20's plus snap a rattle wheel line about 5:00 am thursday morning. We also missed around a dozen fish. Also caught 1 nice 13 and half inch crappie(and missed another), 3 perch, and one TINY 10" northern. Almost EVERY fish was on a slip bobber or rattle wheel. Jigging didnt do much of anything when we marked fish. Jig color didnt seem to matter that much. Midnight to 9am and 4 to 6pm the bite was steady. During the daylight it was dead! As a matter of fact, we didnt mark hardly a single fish from 11am to about 9 or 10pm wednesday. AND we went outside the house searching for them!

Thanks again Jonny and Kelly, Brian and I had a great time and we'll be back again!