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

[bak2MN]

This a informational site just trying to help out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BK45GOLF]

Good Deal.. Thanks A lot..

And sorry: the fishing was great while we were there..!

[deadstick]

Just got back from my first trip to URL. 3 of us fished Friday morning to Sunday morning, slowest fishing I've experienced anywhere in 5 years. 15 total fish, 2 were in the slot and released, next biggest was 13", 1 was a perch. We fished extremely hard all weekend (my forearms are sore from jigging and pounding all weekend), tried 100+ lures, threw everything in the book at them and still managed less than 5 fish each over 3 days. Didn't mark a lot either so it could have been the spot (we were in a rental and were NOT mobile). To top it off, the house was a piece of you know what and our "guide" only checked in on us once the whole trip.

We were out near the borderline (nearly 9 miles out), on the Hillman's road.

I guess that's what you get when you wait until 3 weeks before a trip and don't get to pick your guide. I was NOT staying with kelly/johnny, portavilla, Bear Paw or cookie (the guides I see posting on here). If I go again though, I will be.

It was sure windy out there Saturday night. I'll be interested in hearing other reports.

[Will]

i am going up there this thursday. please tell me that the guy's name was not Ryan.

[ice fishing maniac]

whats going on up there sounds like the indians took all the fish out of red lake thats a shame im headin up thurs better bring lots of beer the way it sounds

[Jim Panfish Uran]

christ man leave the indians out of it.

[JimBuck]

Just got back yesterday. We were there from Thursday through Sunday and only managed about a dozen eyes between 24 guys....Some were fishing harder than others but I could only ice 2. Many fish spotted on radar and video camera but they were very tight lipped. A friend tangled with a big pike for a long time before he shook at the hole. VERY SLOW weekend in general....wind on Saturday was awful. Luckily we had a good group of guys and plenty of barly pops to pass the time. Fished about 4 miles out on Hillmans. Plain hook and fathead seemed to be the ticket...if there was one.

[shaky legs2]

whats going on up there sounds like the indians took all the fish out of red lake thats a shame im headin up thurs better bring lots of beer the way it sounds

URL is going through a slow period just like it does every year and just like other lakes go through a slow-down for a variety of reasons. The cold weather, heavy snow cover, time of year, forage base and other elements can affect the bite. If you would look back to posts in December and early January you would see reports of a pretty good bite!

[ice fishing maniac]

sorry i said anything sure seems like it is on the decline again

[caj99]

i am going up there this thursday. please tell me that the guy's name was not Ryan. [/quote

Hey will.

The only ryan I can think of is Ryan from ravelling outdoors.If that is who you are staying with you will be very happy with them. If it is and you have any questions just shoot me an email. [email protected]. I have a 3rd trip planned with them this weekend as well

Chad

[ryan p]

Fished Fri to Sun morning 8 miles out Hillmans road 2guys caught 12 eyes, 3 slabs, missed one big northern. Fishing has slowed from 2 weeks ago all fished where caught sat and sun morning.

[GrizzlyAdams]

A group of four of us fished from thursday nite thru sunday morn and caught 32+ walleyes and lost just as many if not more. I caught 1 northern which was well over 30 inches but did not get to measure it. we got it out of the hole after about a 10 to 15 min fight. It decided it didn't like being out of the water so it took a nose dive right back into the hole. it was sure fun cathcing it though. Our best day was friday as our lines were pretty active all day long. Thursday night we didn't even get a bite til friday morning at 7:20 am when the rattle reel woke us up and the first keeper was in the bucket. We ate a limit friday nite. Man that was GOOD! The fishing seemed to shut down for us after dark all nights. We caught all of our fish during the day with maybe 1 or 2 after dark all weekend. Saturday was a lot slower with the extremely high winds but we still caught a few. Had one newbie with us and he is ready to come back for more. We were out maybe a mile on the south shore through greater MN rentals in about 13 feet of water near shallower water. We were told by the guide that we did the best out of everyone else. Maybe it wasn't fast and furious but we all had a blast catching fish. The girlfriend and I are planning on heading back up in a couple of weeks to try it again. Most fish were keepers with a handful in the slot and 1 or 2 under 14 inches. No crappies or perch were caught. was hoping to catch a few perch but the walleyes were well worth it and the northern made the trip. It was my first northern out of the big upper red and hope to land one of those monsters next time. Good luck fishin

[Iceboy]

We did the best on tipups set with fatheads 6" off the bottom around the house last weekend (we probably caught 20-25 fish total). From 3 to 6 PM Saturday night we probably had 35 flags. We would have set the portable up out on one of the hot holes, but there was 30 mph winds, so that wasn't an option.

We never caught one jigging, and in fact one guy in our group was swearing by thumping the minnows on the head before putting them down on tipups to make the presentation even more passive. Hanging minnows on bare red hooks under bobbers might be your best bet for in the house.

No crappies. Been up there two years in a row and have yet to see one. Guess we missed the good times.

[eskomo]

Went out of Rogers Saturday, it blew, literaly. had a white out coming off the ice. We, 4 of us, started fishing at noon and filled out by 6 pm, most being caught in the evening. All but 2 were caught out of the same portable. Once they started biting, they did not stop for about an hour. 16" to 17.5". Details, --ft of water, right on the ------, using a ---- glo ------ jig. near some ----- rentals. Dont laugh, thats more information then the locals will give you.

[chaffmj]

Quote:

Dont laugh, thats more information then the locals will give you.

I guess you have been talking to the wrong locals. All of the ones that I have run into over the years have all been real helpful. Not all like you.

[Random guy]

sounds like the indians took all the fish out of red lake thats a shame

Just so everbody is clear the "non-resrvation" Minnesota Sportsmen is taking out HUGE numbers/poundage the last few years compaired to the Red Lake Fisheries...and we only have 20% of the water.

Red LAke always has a mid season lul or dog days of winter. We always rebound and rebound with the panfish on the attack. As many times as this has happened I do get a kick out of all the "Dead sea" 'DNR screwed up", "walleyes should have never been stocked" etc etc.

Yes reports are slow right now and it is a relief. I was hoping the slow down would come and go as it always does before the crappie and perch move in.

[kelly-p]

whats going on up there sounds like the indians took all the fish out of red lake thats a shame im headin up thurs better bring lots of beer the way it sounds

I would suggest that you take the time to read the 2nd Topic on this Forum. "Would like to know". Or at least read the 1st post of the 2nd page.

As long as we are reading of hard lessons learned.

Sunday, May 23, 1999

Greed depleted Red Lake's once-abundant walleye

Larry Oakes / Star Tribune

[brady_d]

Thur 29th - Sun 1st Report

Finally hit Red Lake this year for the first time. We went out of Hillmans and fished pretty hard. We set our wheel house up on the north to south road as far out as you could go on Hillman's road. Talked to Buddy before we set up and he said the road is about 500 ft from the line. My dad took a portable over and set up on the east to west road closest to the north shore. I caught a few smaller walleye and 2 small (28" and 27") northerns in the wheel house the first day and next moring. While my dad caught a few keepers and few "too bigs" over in the portable.

I decided to drag my portable over near his on Friday afternoon and the move really paid off. Caught my limit of keepers as well as a crappie in the first 2 hours over there. My dad stayed in his same spot all Friday and it slowed down for him. We each caught a few over the slot on Friday also.

My brother and one of his buddies from school came over from Moorehead Friday night and fished with us the rest of the weekend. He brought his portable and also set up in the same area closest to the north shore that we could get. They did well on saturday catching a handfull of eyes as well as another crappie for our bucket. My dad also moved his house on Saturday after breakfast and did well that day in his new spot. It seemed like the best action was for the first few hours after we moved to a new spot, so keep moving around til you find some biters out there!!

In the 3 nights that we stayed up there we had 1 bite during the night. (about an 8" eye) The best action for us was when the sun was at its brightest.

Ended up leaving late Sunday morning with a limit of eyes each, 2-14" crappies, and 6 perch that we kept(all from 9-10"). Ate the eye's already so we'll be back to get some more (hopefully) this weekend. Red has been by far the best walleye bite we've had so far this year out of a handful of lakes.

[brooks]

Why don't you just tell them everything we did brother!! LOL

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Originally Posted By: ice fishing maniac

sounds like the indians took all the fish out of red lake thats a shame

Just so everbody is clear the "non-resrvation" Minnesota Sportsmen is taking out HUGE numbers/poundage the last few years compaired to the Red Lake Fisheries...and we only have 20% of the water.

Red LAke always has a mid season lul or dog days of winter. We always rebound and rebound with the panfish on the attack. As many times as this has happened I do get a kick out of all the "Dead sea" 'DNR screwed up", "walleyes should have never been stocked" etc etc.

Yes reports are slow right now and it is a relief. I was hoping the slow down would come and go as it always does before the crappie and perch move in.

Fished out of of the Jonny / Kelly operation this past weekend. Fish didn't bite at night, but did well during the day and early evening. Plus we lost about a dozen during the fight. That action was good enough that I'm ready to go back again. I find it interesting when someone complains about the Red Lake Tribe. Read the posts by Jonny and Kelly at the top of the page. What do we know about the people complaining about not catching fish? Are they the victim of too many beers, bad luck, not fishing with electronics, using the wrong set up, etc? The MarCums and Vex made a huge difference this weekend to find and work the bottom hugging walleyes. I would zoom the bottom with the MarCum and find the smallest signal of a fish then work it and work it again until the bite happened. Without each guy having a flasher, we would not have located the fish we caught.

In my opinion, it is as much fun to release a Red Lake fish as catching one. I also think that in two or three years, those walleye will be huge thanks to the regs and efforts of the folks who live and work in the Red Lake area.

For full disclosure, we caught above the limit each day, but only kept eight fish (walleye) the whole weekend between four guys.

[cookie129]

I play pool with some of the natives and its been a little slow for them also. There catching fish but they have to put there time in and work for them.

[knucklehead]

I can remember back when i was younger (many years ago) that my father instilled in me that we are going fishing to just get away for some peace and quiet. My father was a baics guy....hook, worm and bobber type of a guy..........we never caught that many fish but we sure built some great memories that no one will ever take away from us. There was never limits of fish or a trip being based on the number of fish cuaght but rather the trip was always a success because the time we spent with family and friends. Might be time to get back to the basics of what the sport is about......knucks

[bak2MN]

Well said knucklehead. Its about the time spent with freinds and family if you catch some great if not oh well.

[Hunting365]

Sun 1st-Tue 3rd

Three of us got there sunday afternoon around 4:30, fished in 8 feet of water, moved monday morning to 11 feet of water, left for home at 8 tuesday morning. Caught six eyes, two were keepers, lost four. One guy at westwind said he had not caught a fish in seven days. It's slooooow. But we managed to have a good time anyway.

[halad]

He must have been fishing with Mr. "Miller"

[Iambjm]

Heading to Red on 2-20, do I need an extension for my auger?

[chaffmj]

Barb bring it with it all depends are where you are fishing. I have been going up to Red for the last 8 years and you just don't know.

[Hookey]

Go measure the distance from the tip of the auger to the handles and then post the length along with the GPS coord's of where you plan to drill.

With any luck someone will go there and check the ice thickness and get back to you.

[Will]

they don't take up much room, i'd bring it just to be safe.

[Joe]

Great Post Deadstick