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2020 - Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports (URL)


Rick

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Hey Windowpane! Small world huh? Don't get me wrong, you had every right to keep your lunker. I just know that URL is losing a lot of big pike, but as you can attest too...they are still in there. That fish has some beautiful markings and awesome color, congrats to you again. And you are welcome to use my tape measure any time. grin

We set up on Lake Bemidji this weekend, we had about 25 family members from my wife's side. It was a blast, although I didn't get much fishing in as I was busy with grilling, keeping the kids in fresh holes, etc. It was fun though. Good luck the rest of the season.

Buck

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Went up to Upper Red Lake on 26th and 27th ended up catching 44 total. 40 walleye’s one pike, two perch, and one 15-inch crappie for the weekend. We went out of Carsella’s and Jerry of Battle River rentals was our guide for the 2nd time this year, and I can’t say enough good things about Jerry’s guide service. Thanks again everyone had a great time

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Well my wife Wanda, brother Wes and myself got up to URL midafternoon on Friday. We headed west on Hillman's road trying to decide where to start. Thought about heading far west to a few areas that have produced for us in the past but a bunch of houses had moved into that area and we decided to hit another chunk of open space. We didn't have a lot of time before dark so we spilt up and started drilling, checking and fishing. I was only spending 2-3 minutes per hole looking for a few active fish. After abouot 15 holes I found one with some slabs in it willing to hit a power minnow jigged above them. I put 3 on the ice and it died down and I went to get the house set up and called Wanda and brother over to see if we could get a few more. By the time we got the houses set up and fishing it was close to dark. We picked off 3 more before it was over. Here's Wanda will a couple of nice ones from Friday night. She always seems to get the big slabs. smile

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Me with a couple from Friday as well.

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Wes and I hit it hard again Saturday and we tore up that same general area and worked a few slabs and landed a couple as well. Here's Wes with a nice daytime URL slab taken on a Gulp Minnow.

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We saw the action pick up right at dusk and die off quickly once it got dark. During the day we saw lots of little walleyes and a few crappies but many of those would give you one shot. If they missed the bait or you didn't a hook in them it was over. At least we knew they were there and you're stuck with do we wait them out of look for active fish. We chose to wait them out and ended up with a total of 9 crappies and 1 walleye to show for it. Drilled over 150 holes and and pulled crappies out of 5 of them.

Should be better in a couple of weeks. We plan on being there for it.

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Nice report! We also found some slabs but didn't have to work as hard as you luckily! wink We got out there on Saturday and they were just waiting for us. Ended up with 16 total. This was the best picture I could snap the old man was cleaning them already when we got home and I came out of the house.

[img:left]Crappies.jpg

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Sometimes it works that way Brady. Congrats on finding some active ones.

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Borch- Great report and pics! Did you stay long after it became dark? I usually stay out there til 11-11:15 pm to make the drive back home in Bemidji so the bite is pretty spotty to good.

I'll be out this weekend and hope to find a few of them!

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

We stuck it out until 9:30 Friday night and little after 8pm on Saturday. So maybe it fired up later but we were done by then. We did have a 20 minute period where the crappies became more active around noon on Saturday. We didn't do the early morning thing.

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borch how big were those your wife was holding? i managed 1 crappie on fri morning about 6:30 am 14 inch.. then sat morning about 7:00am a 13 inch.. i lost one ine the hole that had to go 16inches.. about 8 years ago i caught a 17inch on low. fell out of the freezer and the dog ate it it.. now i have been trying to get another big one.. and the 14 inch i got this weekend i was thinking about mounting, im just iffy about it its a nice fish but i dont know how long it will be before i get another 1 that size. what do consider a size to mount a crappie?

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Stealth- I have two crappies that are over 14 1/2" on the wall from URL that were caught 2 years ago. Boy, a 16"er would be a really nice fish! I always think every crappie that comes up the hole has to go 15" but always end up in 13 1/2-15" range.

Borch- I've never done the morning fishing either. When will you be back up there? I hope to make it a couple more times after this weekend. Maybe we'll see eachother on the ice!

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Hey Brady did you find them out of beacon harbor or were you mobil out of hillmens. Were having our get together in two weeks and it be nice to have a strating point?

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Good post! In all the years fishing on URL I have received only one hot tip. The rest of the time it was drilling holes and moving. Drilling and moving. Sometimes you could figure out which way the bite was shifting by studying the "body language" of how the houses were set up and where they had been moved to but it was all trial and error. If I had several houses out on the lake on a daily basis I would have a pretty good idea where to go as a starting point. At least where not to go. grin Everyone is looking for the "mother load" and because we were spoiled by the easy bite of years ago we want it to happen again but not invest much effort to find it. I would take more satisfaction out of discovering them on my own.

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Easy guys! Over the years I have come to know Cookie fairly well in meeting him out on the ice a couple of times and talking on another forum so I don't mind him asking me that at all. He is one of the few "nice" guys that welcome you and treat you well even if he's not making a profit off of you out there. It seems like most other guys I run into on that area of the lake will rip you a new arse hole for driving on the road that they plowed if you did not come out of the resort they run out of.

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oh boy, ditto to all of that brady,

man, cookie asks a simple question of an area, and not a X marks the spot, and POW, right in the kisser. and i agree on the friendliness of cookie and a few others, compared to some on that side of the lake, the finger pointing and head shaking are all to common, and the road that goes straight west like it has for 30 years, yea right, more like the last three or four years, ever since jeff offered free access if you bought bait or beverage from him, they had to find a way to stop the south trafic from going past them and to the northshore. oh well, enough said, by the way bradyd, how is the fishing?

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

borch how big were those your wife was holding? i managed 1 crappie on fri morning about 6:30 am 14 inch.. then sat morning about 7:00am a 13 inch.. i lost one ine the hole that had to go 16inches.. about 8 years ago i caught a 17inch on low. fell out of the freezer and the dog ate it it.. now i have been trying to get another big one.. and the 14 inch i got this weekend i was thinking about mounting, im just iffy about it its a nice fish but i dont know how long it will be before i get another 1 that size. what do consider a size to mount a crappie?

Her biggest was just over 15" . As far as mounting goes I'd like a few 15" craps mounted with driftwood. If Wanda catches them they have to be 15 1/2 though. wink

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Easy guys! Over the years I have come to know Cookie fairly well in meeting him out on the ice a couple of times and talking on another forum so I don't mind him asking me that at all. He is one of the few "nice" guys that welcome you and treat you well even if he's not making a profit off of you out there. It seems like most other guys I run into on that area of the lake will rip you a new arse hole for driving on the road that they plowed if you did not come out of the resort they run out of.

Gee bradyd it was just a couple of years ago that you left your house on the north cribs until it became drifted in and flooded. Your Dad called and asked me if I could get to it and get it out of the water for him which I did all alone even when it was 1 1/2 miles away from any road. Then when neither of you could come up and get it I pulled it 7 miles to shore for you. In fact that was the 2nd time that winter that I plowed out your house for you after it became drifted in. If I remember right I charged you $20 total. Well at least your Dad appreciated it.

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I got to the lake for the last weekend of walleye fishing this season. I was there from wednesday through sunday morning and Portavilla plowed me a spot out. Ended up with roughly 75 walleys fishing either just me for three days or with one buddy. Too bad you can only bring four home but the fishing was good and it was a good way to end the season:).

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You are a guide....Go find them!

Wow! A whole web-site devoted to sharing fishing information and this guy gets upset over that question. You cant go two post's without someone asking when, where, how deep, what color, what bait. So, why are you on this site Scotty-Z ?

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This is my starting point when searching for crappies. grin

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Nothing is better to find crappies then a mile stretch of holes with no neighbors.

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It would be cool if the ax grinding got left on the shoreline. Isn't this supposed to be a place to share info and the experiences we have in the great outdoors?

It does appear that the crappies are becoming more frequent now which is to be expected this time of the year. But has anyone caught a "small" crappie? Wonder if they've had any success in recent hatches.

Buck

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

No small crappies this year, (smallest was 12 1/2"). But past three years we've caught several under 11".

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I've very seldom seen a smaller one. Once years ago Dad and I got into a bunch that were all about 9 inches out towards the middle of the lake while most of the lake was getting far bigger ones. It's my gut feeling that the little ones end up in deeper water over the Line and return when they mature enough to spawn.

As far as where the best fishing is I've usually found that it is at the last out of many holes that I've drilled. grin

addition

I do know where Borch was fishing last weekend tho. wink

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

I do know where Borch was fishing last weekend tho. wink

Careful where you walk. Kinda like a mine field. wink

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I just find it funny that a guide is on here asking for fishing spots. I know Cookie, and I know his reputation of finding fish with his binoculars rather than doing the work like most of the other guys on the water everyday. I am on this site because I enjoy reading all that is going on. I have no problem sharing or asking for info. I just found this one funny.

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As a guide you want to learn from the best and kelly has some great information and knows the lake better then most. He can be very witty and has some great stories to tell.

jonny P is a gifted writer and has been chasing pike on this lake since he was a kid. Another person a guy can learn from. Buddy Hillmen builds a ice road like no other again a great person to learn from. I guess its how you want to look at it. I never planned on being a guide and kinda fell into so we could keep this property in the family. I have always loved coming here as a kid and caught my first fish in the tamarac river when I was 6 years old. Once we were rescued on the lake when I was 8 years old by the coast gaurd. We did not even know we were in trouble as we bobbed around on the lake. Man did I get a spanking. I use to get sea sick fishing with my dad and chum for him.

We never came up and ice fished as my kids played hocky so we were very busy in the winter. My dad died in a car accident leaving waskish. Grandmas brother drowed in the river by moose bank. My mentor up here has been my cusin Pete he has seen it all. I have never hiried a guide and have been winging it since I started. I'm all about customer service and want every one that comes to waskish to enjoy there stay. If I tell someone to go fish the north shore out of a certain resort I do not see that as a problem. Once there out there my hands are tied on where they fish. There going to go down ice roads trying to get to the best fishing.

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"Careful where you walk. Kinda like a mine field."

I wish Patsy would drill me that many holes to scout in. Your wife works hard. gringrin

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