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2020 - Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports (URL)


Rick

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Just got back from fishing Friday through Sunday. We went to the end of the Westwind road and then went out from there on snomobiles, about a mile. We had 6 guys. 20 fish Friday afternoon 1-430, 45 Saturday all day, and about 35 Sunday all day. Didn't seem to be much of a pattern on bait - caught them on a variety of jigs and colored plain hooks. Tyler from Bear Paw Guides was really good to us and pointed us in the right direction to fish. We weren't totally sure where to go. Ran into these guys at the end of the road and they gave us the tip, which proved to be very productive. Thanks to Bear Paw for the good advice.

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Fished last weekend out of Westwind rentals. 10'FOW and it was super fun. The bite was extremely light. Missed a lot of fish. In a day and a half we had 45 plus hits. Got 28 on the floor and went home with 4 full limits and an in house fish fry. Best bait was glow demons & a full fat head from 3pm to about 7:30pm. We had to keep them glowing and about 3 inches from the bottom. Dead sticks, rattle reels and jigging all were productive. Had a camera down and watched them circle and circle the bait and then slowly pick up the bait and just sit there. Too big a bobber and we would not have seen it move, they bit so lightly. Great time up north.

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Managed to do a little fishing to day from about 12:30 to 2:00 I was out near center bar, caught a few with a red rattling flyer, had fish on the graph non stop. the ones i managed to intice to bite were slowly jigged off the btm 3-4feet . only 1 was caught off a dead stick and that was after I lost him jigging. seems to be a very fincky bite. the best reports i've gotten have been from guys fishing all off on their own in about 10ft of water (rocks). most of those fish were caught jigging also with minimal success dead sticking it. good luck and spread out.

Matt

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Matt, the Cook boys and the crew (2 of us were in the USMC that met you last year) are coming up to see you and the oldman next weekend. We expanded to 3 houses this year. Whens the little boy due? Congrats guess you wont be out on the lake a whole lot after he is born.

Make sure if you have a chance you stop by and give some fellow Marines some tips that weekend.

Rob

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I was up with a couple pals this weekend. The bite was very finicky with most fish hitting and spitting out the deadlines before you even got to the rattle reel. Marked a lot of fish but tough to get them to do more then come look at the bait. Probably the toughest weekend I have ever fished red.

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I will definitely second the tougher bite but still did get some ok action. We ended up with 6 keepers and 1 throwback from saturday afternoon to sunday morning between my wife and 2 kids. Probably lost at least twice as many trying to get the kids to learn how to hook fish on their own. From talking to others today, it sounds like we did better than alot of people so we feel pretty fortunate for what we got.

It's amazing that even on a lake as good and productive as Red how a good cold front can still shut them down. I know Red is starting to spoil me when 7 fish and about 20 or so bites is considered "tough" fishing.

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We had so so fishing this weekend.The carlsons from Grand Rapids went home with 10 but I gave them two that Kellie caught saturday night and Jake gave them his 3.

Chad,John and Pat did good thursday and friday and left the house in top shape Thanks guys.

David caugt a pike in the mid 40's Saturday afternoon and made his trip. A quick pic and it was released. I told them to stop at westwind bait store and get his pewter pin for releasing such a wall hanger.

Tony and Nev did the best and went home with 8 sunday morning.We spent more time getting Jakes van going then him fishing so that kinda stunk.

I have three sleepers open next weekend. where are all the fishermen?

frank and turk spent the day on center bar and Frank got 18 while turk only landed 5. they also said they missed a ton of fish

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fished from 9 pm thrusday to 10 am saturday and only caught 1 eye and 1 perch. missed a few. all i will say is that was a rough bite. fish down there basically the whole time. that was the slowest bite ever! im blaming it on that super awsome wheather! ill redeam myself next weekend:)

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im headed up tomarrow morning. guna fish until friday night. got some things to do this weekend at home so i gota come back. when you guna be up?

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Heading up Sat morn til Monday some time gonna watch superbowl up there. i sent you private message with a phone number.

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Fished by 3rd bridge (LRL) and North of Ponemah (URL) yesterday. had one bite, it got away. Limited out on Crappies though, lol, Just kidding-I don't have a limit on slabbers. Seriously though, I haven't heard of anyone catching a Crappie this Winter. But I could count on one finger the amount of people I know who target them. Bite is extremely slow, can't even catch a Sheep Plisskin (lol), I see gators (Walleyes) down there but they snub my lures. Crappies are all over the Outlet and Sandy bridge in the Spring but there is so many good lakes for monster panfish (Sunfish,Bluegills,Crappie) on the rez that I wouldn't target them on Red. I go to Fullers or Bass when I want panfish. This weekend I'm going to Green Lake in Redby to drill some of them 20+pound Lakers.

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fished in 9.5ft of water earlier today from 11:15am to about noon.

was graphing alot of fish with just lookers and no bites tried big fatheads and just the head of fatheads and small crappie minnows then crappes minnow heads. I was thinking they were just perch down there so i dug in my truck and found some berkly gulp maggots (green) and caught every fish I graphed caught a limit of eyes and a couple nice perch with a lindy rattling flyer tipped with a bit of gulp. had to be very aggresive with my jigging close to the btm once i caught their attention I slowly jigged them up anywhere from 1ft to 2.5 ft of the btm. I also was sporting a white frostee tipped with a fat rainbow 1ft off the btm dead sticking with no luck

full-17441-5435-walley.jpg

walley

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Thanks for the report battleriver1. I have been fishing in 9.5ft all year and the last 2 weeks have had the same problem, plenty of fish but very few biters. Tried everything like you said. This week I will be taking some gulp and maybe some waxies.

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Silkworm is Green Lake on the Reservation ? Or can anyone fish it I have never caught a Lake Trout and I do get up to Red Lake a few times a year I wouldnt mind trying it.How many lakes in Minnesota have Lake Trout in them besides Superior.

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Silkworm, I'm jealous, you have to many oportunities. grin

bearbait,

Here is an article by Brad Dokken of the Grand Forks Herald about the smaller lakes on the Red Lake Reservation.

Outdoors

Small lakes in Red Lake Indian Reservation provide high-quality

fishing opportunities

Published July 13 2008

REDBY, Minn. — The fish twisting and turning some 20 feet below the boat clearly

was a lake trout, and it wasn’t the least bit interested in our company on this

sunny Tuesday morning in late June.

“I hope they’re biting,” Al Pemberton had said less than half an hour earlier as

he launched his 16-foot Lund off a sandy beach at the base of a grassy hill

leading to the lake.

They were, and the proof danced several feet below us at the end of Pemberton’s

12-pound-test line. Splashes of sunlight occasionally caught the laker’s silvery

flanks, giving the fish an almost eerie sheen.

In the crystal-clear water, the fish appeared close enough to reach out and

touch. After a near-miss with the net by Pemberton’s awestruck fishing partner,

a 5-pound lake trout, the perfect size for eating, flopped in the bottom of the

boat.

That didn’t take long.

We could have been fishing a remote Canadian lake, catching lake trout

surrounded by pine, spruce and birch trees, our only company loons and eagles

and other assorted wildlife.

We were, except for the Canadian part.

We were fishing a small lake in the heart of the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

Relatively unknown

It isn’t well known, but several small lakes on the reservation are open to

nontribal members by special license. Visitors also must hire a tribal guide

registered and licensed through the band.

The opportunity doesn’t extend to 152,000-acre Lower Red Lake or the 60,000

acres of Upper Red Lake that lie within reservation boundaries, which are open

only to Red Lake Band members.

But the smaller lakes provide some impressive fishing opportunities.

According to Pemberton, 54, director of the Red Lake Band’s Department of

Natural Resources, that includes everything from bluegills and largemouth bass —

species vary by lake — to the lake trout we catch on Green Lake, an 80-acre

jewel near the town of Redby.

“There’s quite a few lake trout swimming around out here,” Pemberton said.

Small before big

No wonder, then, that Pemberton, of Redby, spends more time fishing the smaller

lakes than he does on the sometimes-treacherous waters of Lower and Upper Red.

“Why should I when I have all of this in my backyard?” he said.

Pemberton, who also serves on the Red Lake Tribal Council, says he takes maybe

seven or eight people a year fishing on the small lakes within the reservation.

Most outsiders, he says, think Red Lake’s restrictions also apply to other

reservation lakes.

“It would be good for the tribe if they got more people, but I don’t think a lot

of people realize (the opportunity) is there,” Pemberton said. “They’re

surprised. Just the thought of going out and catching two or three different

kinds of fish during the day, they like that.

“You don’t have to fish the big lake.”

Pemberton on this day plans to show off two of the reservation’s lakes. We’ll

spend the morning testing the waters of Green for lake trout. After lunch, we’ll

hit Bass Lake, a shallower lake well off the beaten path that teems with pike,

panfish, bass and some big walleyes.

Our first stop, Green, has a natural herring forage base, and the band stocks

lake trout every few years, using adult fish from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service’s federal hatchery in Wisconsin.

The fish don’t reproduce, Pemberton says, but they do well in Green.

“It’s pretty good they let us have them,” Pemberton said.

The screen on Pemberton’s depth-finder shows most of the lake trout are holding

in 35 to 40 feet of water. Green and other trout lakes on the reservation are

limited to electric motors, and we troll deep-diving crankbaits far behind the

boat.

The lures might not dive to 40 feet, but the lake trout can see a long ways in

the clear water.

‘Trout drought’ ends

In the way lake trout fishing often is, there’s a lull after Pemberton catches

the first lake trout, and we troll for nearly an hour before he begins to mark

concentrations of fish.

We spend the time making boat conversation, covering everything from fishing to

Minnesota high school hockey.

Pemberton also is a devoted Minnesota Vikings fan, which by default qualifies

him as an optimist. He has the same outlook when it comes to fishing. If we’re

lucky, Pemberton says, maybe we’ll tie into a real lunker. Lakers weighing 15

pounds aren’t uncommon — his grandson, Brennen Pemberton, 13, caught one just a

few days earlier — and bigger fish lurk in Green’s depths.

“There’s one that’s 25-30 pounds,” he said. “I thought I had him a couple of

years ago.”

Pemberton says he fought that fish more than an hour, only to discover when he

got it to the boat that he’d foul-hooked a lake trout in the cheek.

No pressure, I joke, but I haven’t caught a lake trout since a 2005 fly-in trip

to northern Manitoba.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

“They’re showing up on the depthfinder,” Pemberton said. “Now, if we can just

get them to bite.”

The words are barely out of his mouth when I feel the smash of a lake trout.

There’s no guessing when these fish hit.

Then I see it far below, doing the lake trout dance. It barrels for the depths

at the sight of the boat, and I hang on and enjoy the ride until Pemberton

sweeps up the 5-pound lake trout in his net.

After three agonizing years, the “trout drought” is history.

I keep the fish for the grill. Half an hour later, I catch another that’s too

big to keep. Barely 10 minutes after that, another lake trout slams my line, and

I eventually land a fish that we estimate weighs 10 to 12 pounds.

Three lake trout in 45 minutes; all, once again, is right with the world.

“We know where they’re at now,” Pemberton says.

Career switch

A lifelong hunting and fishing fanatic, Pemberton took over the helm of the Red

Lake DNR six years ago. As director, he oversees a department of about 80

employees who work in such areas as fish, wildlife, forestry and waters.

It was quite a change from his old job as a forestry technician taking inventory

of timber stands for the tribal DNR.

“I was happy where I was,” Pemberton said. “You’ve got to like being out in the

boonies to do that. I liked timber sales. It’s a lot different being the boss.”

Still, he makes time to get outdoors.

“I like it all,” Pemberton said. “Ducks, geese, partridges or deer.

“I was hooked on fishing a long time ago,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. My wife

did it for awhile, but she said I stayed out too long.”

There’s no such thing as staying out too long on a sunny day on a beautiful lake

where the lake trout are biting, but there’s new water to explore.

We’ve landed seven lake trout, releasing all but two, when we break for lunch

after four hours of fishing.

Hungry pike

If the lake trout were cooperative, the northern pike were downright voracious

on Bass Lake, which Pemberton reached after we bounce in his truck through the

woods on a maze of roads less traveled.

Several places would be impassable after a rainstorm.

Pemberton’s grandson and frequent fishing partner, Brennen, joins us for the

afternoon, and we release perhaps 50 pike in about 2½ hours casting weed lines

with small jigs and spinners with twister tails.

Most of the pike are 5 pounds or less, but we land a half-dozen 30 inches or

larger.

Pemberton catches the biggest, a thick and healthy 38-inch northern that casts

an imposing form in the water.

“He hit and didn’t move,” Pemberton said. “There’s bigger ones in here. I let

one go in here that was 24 pounds.”

The lake has bass and walleyes, too, but that will have to wait until next time.

There’s not another boat — or person — in sight.

Most band members, he says, prefer to fish Red Lake walleyes.

“Can you imagine how many people would be in here if this was on the outside?”

Pemberton says, referring to areas off the reservation. “These little lakes

don’t get bothered too much.”

Grand Forks Herald 375 2nd Ave. N., Grand Forks, ND 58206-6008 | Phone: (701)

780-1100

© 2008 Forum Communications Co. — All rights reserved

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What a great day, got all my renters in around noon one and even plowed spots for four private houses. I went back into the office and ate lunch with the gf. I was then off to plow a spot for some prefishing tomorrow. After checking on my houses the slow house had 4 fish and the hot house had 8. I then went over and checked the private houses with the slow at 5 fish and the hot house had 11 with one 36 inch northern. The hot hook none, hot bait was rainbows and close second sliver shiners. The hot color was orange and gold. I hope this weather continues through ut the weekend and keeps the bite going.

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What a great day, got all my renters in around noon one and even plowed spots for four private houses. I went back into the office and ate lunch with the gf. I was then off to plow a spot for some prefishing tomorrow. After checking on my houses the slow house had 4 fish and the hot house had 8. I then went over and checked the private houses with the slow at 5 fish and the hot house had 11 with one 36 inch northern. When I walked into my own fish house the girl friend had landed four eyes while I was gone and the smile on her face said it all. I am out fishing you mabe I could be an outfitter.

The hot hook none, hot bait was rainbows and close second sliver shiners. The hot color was orange and gold. I hope this weather continues through ut the weekend and keeps the bite going.

Good luck all. Outdoor Dannie

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Friday was good fishing saturday slow except the last two hours of light with all the houses getting 6 to 10 fish. We also had some one fishing 3 feet of the bottom and landed him self two nice crappies. Then today hour before and after day light produced 4 to 6 fish. Seemed like everyone wanted to get home to watch some football.

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Threw the tackle box at em fri to sun morning went out of hillmans road fri and sat got 4 . Sat evening headed over to the mud flats and got flooded out with six inches of water and got two eyes then moved again and got skunked all in all itwas a fun weekend of fishin.just wish there was more catchin going on.gunna give it a try in a couple weeks again.

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Hey Slabineye (or anyone),

When you say you got flooded out - was that just in a small area from drilling holes with your portable? Coming up this weekend - may want to be portable - but how far away from where you park do you dare drill holes?? Thanks.

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Hey Slabineye (or anyone),

When you say you got flooded out - was that just in a small area from drilling holes with your portable? Coming up this weekend - may want to be portable - but how far away from where you park do you dare drill holes?? Thanks.

Every place will be different if it floods or not or how deep it floods. There is no one answer to that just like there is no one answer to, "How thick is the ice on URL?".

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