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

[ZachD]

I finishing a nice weekend of fishing today. I went out Friday, Saturday, and today. Today was the best of the three. I tried something a bit different. I used a lindy darter in perch to bring them in. I would jig it very aggressively. This would draw fish in to look. And as soon as I had a fish on my graph I'd reel up the darter and drop a rattlin flyer down on their nose as fast a possible. The spoon was tipped with a minnow head. They'd almost always then smack the flyer. I iced 12 or so in two hours this afternoon doing this. Before that I was using the darter and had a slick jig with a whole minnow two feet away kind of deadsticking it. Meaning the darter was the attracter and I would reach over and maybe give the jig just a twitch to get them to notice. This was working but not consistently. The constant was the darter attracting walleyes. I think I only had two or three hook ups on the darter itself all weekend. Next time out I plan on tipping the front treble with a minnow head to see if a little meat on there will produce more strikes.

I was out Friday and sat.. Friday I hooked over 50 walleyes. I using A Uv rattle rap and a dead stick with a fat head They eyes I would mark would absolutely inhale the rap. More than 3/4 on Friday was caught on it with the others on the dead stick. The next day they would only come in to the rattle and only got 6 on the rap another 10 or so when I switched over to a tumbler spoon and hole hopped. At the end of the night switched over to tip downs got about 6 using larger rainbows with the tail cut off half a foot off the bottom.

I was staying in 7.8 feet of water except I ventured out to 9 feet with the spoon hole hopping.

( I tried tipping the rattle with a minnow when they were not biting didn't work for me )

On a side note I notice that if using half a minnow with the spoon instead of just the head it worked out better. Someone else said that they had better luck with a whole minnow when I was leaving.

[maxpower117]

Quote:

At the end of the night switched over to tip downs got about 6 using larger rainbows with the tail cut off half a foot off the bottom.

If you are using what I think you are, tip downs are illegal in mn.

[broman]

If you are using what I think you are, tip downs are illegal in mn.

He's speaking about Clam Arctic Warrior Tip Ups. I know, he was with me and using one of the extra ones that I bought with. ZachD just used the wrong terms. He's is correct in that the rod does "tip down" when the fish bites, but that's it. A flag pops up, but you have to go over, pick the rod up out of it's base and set the hook yourself.

[ZachD]

Thanks Tad for clarifying. It was fun I heard you went home sat night too. I'm heading back up wednesday.

Like said before these rods are not loaded and do net set the hook perfectly legal in mn

I think you hit your 40 day on sat!

[Guru57]

3 of us went up for the day today and had a good day. Left with a limit. It wasn't fast and furious but steady. Color and presentation didn't seem to matter much. Caught equal amounts dead sticking and jigging. Almost every fish that came in was an active biter though. Fished in 7.5' out from West Wind. Only 4 of our fish would be keepers next week.

[tisosy11]

What are the current red lake rules...before the slot changes December first?

[MattL]

What are the current red lake rules...before the slot changes December first?

Right now it is a 4 fish limit with 20-26" protected and only 1 over 26".

My buddy and I got set up around 3 today and iced 22 walleyes so far. A couple were under 14" and a couple over 20". The rest were in between. Fishing in 11' of water. Its been an even mix of jigging spoons and set lines with fatheads.

[StarShooter]

Very slow for us fishing today, could be due to all the traffic moving around on the lake. We fished out of Rogers and between the 6 of us we only caught 2 walleyes.

[PLfisherman]

so if a guy was fishing this weekend and he is leaving Monday morning does he have to abide by the new regs for Monday even though he caught his fish on Sunday?

[jigrig]

I Went out of west wind yesterday. Very good ice conditions with 8 to 10" of clear ice. We were fishing by 0800. It was really slow and we moved throughout the day trying to find fish. We just kept working our way down the shoreline to the south. We finally found a spot where we were at least marking them. At first they would just take a look or maybe a very light bump but they just weren't taking it. We decided to wait it out until late afternoon and I'm glad we did. Around 3:00 we started to catch fish and as the afternoon went on , it just continued to get better! My buddy and I caught 26 very nice eyes between 15 to 19 1/2". Plus we missed quite a few and had some get off at the hole. We were in 8' out from a cabin that has an orange fence on the shoreline. Using Demon jigs and 1/4 oz buckshot tipped with whole rainbow. Good Luck!!!!!

[Boar]

I would say so PL, how could ya prove other wise. good queston tho.

[MattL]

Well we are on our way home and fishing has been spectacular. We got on the ice at 3:00 PM on Fri and fished til about 8:00 this morning when we started packing up. In that time, 2 of us caught 139 walleyes and 2 eel pout. We had to pull the rattle reels at night to get some sleep.

We set up on a small inside turn in 11' of water over soft bottom with a gradual break up to 9' with harder bottom. We used fatheads and rainbows on set lines and jigged spoons. The first half of the weekend we did best on buckshots and other rattling spoons. After the weather changed and the wind switched yesterday afternoon they didn't want anything to do with rattles and we ended up using slender spoons and forage minnows. Golds, greens, and reds seemed to be the best colors.

[laportian]

I fished a bunch over the past 10days. I think 7 days out. The best stretch I've had in memory. By all means if you can make it up over the next month-do so. The bite is super and consistent.

Been driving out since Wednesday this week. I think being cautious is still the rule of thumb out there. Go slow guys and try not to bunch up.

Some things to keep in mind- This is not your typical structure fishermans lake, meaning don't get hung up on fishing super specific depths. Except along the east shore where the "First Break" is or out at center bar. As a rule of thumb the lake has real gradual depth changes. I clump it into three depths. Out deep is anything 12 and deeper. Right now I wouldn't fish out deep until he winter requires us too. Mid January I fish deep in the middle of the day. Then we have the mid depth which I loosely consider from 8 or nine feet to 12 feet. Ive been spending the bulk of my time fishing here right now. If I do move it will be in to 8 feet at about 2:30, for prime time bite. I fish shallow, from 7 feet to maybe 5 if I get the chance too. Meaning if I move in for the end of the day bite and Im not getting anything I'll move shallow for the last hour of daylight.

Also don't get hung up on feeling, the urge to drill 200 plus holes and think you are on Minnetonka. That noise is ridiculous and c'mon man this is Red, walleyes are everywhere and are on the move. Drill like 10 holes up in the mid depths and a few in the shallower depths and that will suffice.

Trust your electronics, the walleyes will tell you what they want. And trust yourself, use your confidence lures. Be patient it will happen, these fish are on the move. One other tip is to have another rod rigged and ready to go. These fish are moving around in little groups. I have been jigging spoons and tipping them with almost half a minnow hooked through the head. Often when I get a fish on the minnow head will pop off on the way up or while unhooking the fish. Instead of taking the time to rip another minnow in half I have a rod rigged and ready to drop down the hole. Often I will get an immediate hook up as a result.

But anyways get your butts up here. Be patient, be quiet, and stay away from the crowds.

[ozzie]

Went up Saturday drove out of the south end set up in deeper water 13 ft n kept our distance from the groups of houses...as soon as we dropped our lures we had 2 on the ice...fished for 2.5 hours between 2 of us from the prime time hours of 11-1:30 we caught probably 15 or 16 kept 8 from 14-18 inches. 13 inches of ice where we were. Was another great trip to Red even though I spent more time on the road then fishing!!

[lungdeflator]

Fished Friday and Saturday out of JR's. 12-13" of ice. We were 3 shy of a 2 person limit Friday evening and got a 3 person limit Saturday. All the fish came in 9.5fow. I jumped a little bit Saturday trying depths 8-11fow and only found fish in 9.5.

Lot of fish came on the bobber with fathead and glow white jig. The fish I caught jigging came on an orange/glow puppet minnow with the fathead tail off the back.

Trucks and wheelhouses were everywhere up there. We went out with wheelers though. The ice is pretty rough, I would be more concerned about popping a tire then going through the ice at this point!

[PRO-V]

A buddy and I fished 4 hours this morning in 10' on the east shore. Caught 28 and lost 5 or 6 more. All fish 15" - 19 1/2". Used jigging spoons and a minnow head. Used one rod each. WAY WINDY out there today.

[harvey lee]

Got all set up with the wheelhouse bout 4pm. By 5, I had iced 11 eyes and missed 3. Using a JB Rattling Varmit with a minnow head, when they hit the bait, they slammed it hard. Rattles reels down now, hoping for some evening and overnight action. Gonna b a fun 4 days or so.

[walleye29us]

Wow! Sounds great!

[TomHuynh]

good reports everyone! hope to get out there soon

[e.nelson]

I went out all day Tuesday and only caught 1 small eye. Must've been doing something wrong. Went all over, didn't see much and they were all sniffers. The one I did catch smoked it.

[Agronomist_at_IA]

Got all set up with the wheelhouse bout 4pm. By 5, I had iced 11 eyes and missed 3. Using a JB Rattling Varmit with a minnow head, when they hit the bait, they slammed it hard. Rattles reels down now, hoping for some evening and overnight action. Gonna b a fun 4 days or so.

Keep us updated on whats working. headed up the 17-19 with Chad Benson.

[BigDogRob]

I feel jealous Harvey...although I'll be up Saturday morning! Hope we have half as much fun as usual!

[harvey lee]

Slow night last night, iced 3 in the 19-22 range. Nada so far this am, few sniffers and they keep me busy changing lures to see what they want. Guess I will wait them out, just drink more coffee and relax.

[bassNspear]

Slow night last night, iced 3 in the 19-22 range. Nada so far this am, few sniffers and they keep me busy changing lures to see what they want. Guess I will wait them out, just drink more coffee and relax.

you got it made how far out are you. I'm going up friday night

[harvey lee]

Go out from Rogers and turn left at the first red cone. Then go about 7/10 mile along the stakes. My truck is a new 2014 white Chevy with a black Ice Castle with red and white stripes. I am in 8 fow, seems like a low light spot. Have to go out a bit deeper for the daytime bite I believe from what I have noticed. Iced bout 6-9 nice eyes, most just over the slot and a nice fat 36 inch pike. Those this am before 9am. Same as yesterday in the wvening, good from 4-7, after that slow again. When they do move in, they hit hard and fast. Does not seem like the jig style or color has made much difference, when they r close, they attack. Fun when they r that aggressive. Rattle reels not as good as jigging. That's about all I got from the last 12 hours. Very little snow on the lake. Believe I will b using my portable for the daytime bite right after lunch.

[Hawg]

On my way in the morning. Keep us posted HL. Small shiners and heads?

[harvey lee]

Hawg, I am using fatheads.

[harvey lee]

Looks like a move is in order for tomorrow, the rocky shallow area I am fishing went south this aft late. Maybe due to the full moon. It has been terrible since noon and hopefully it will pick up later this evening. Looks like rattle reel and movie time with DVD.

[Hawg]

I sure liked your first post better.

[harvey lee]

Them this post u may like more. This spot I started put on was very good at low light periods, then today from about 3-10pm, the eyes decided they wanted to feed elsewhere I guess or so I thought. Got done watching.ovie and thought O may as well go to bed ha, then those eyes decided to try and keep me up all night. For the past 3 hours it's been a rattle reel going off every 10 minutes or so, good thing I ran out of bait or I do not believe I would have got to sleep tonight, hopefully after i get a couple more scoops of minnows and move for a better day bite then I can get some sleep, what a problem to have. I will let u know more tomorrow afternoon on the day bite Hawg, time to rest.