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

[Hoyt4]

Been talking to a few more people up there and crappies are starting to come in more common then just one . Friend got 9 last weekend.

[certified jumbo]

Yes they are. James holst did a show out of Jr's this past week. They appeared to have iced a decent amount of slabs......

[Reedo7]

Yikes! We definitely struck out this weekend and picked two bad spots, we only caught seven. Oh well, we'll be back for one last weekend to redeem ourselves! Lake travel remains good, if you can avoid the drifts which are rock hard. If you have 4 wheel drive and a shovel, you should be OK to get just about anywhere, well if you're willing to dig out if you get stuck.

[Bigfatbert]

Very interesting to me that as many crappies are being caught in the past few weeks on URL. I seem to flashback to not that long ago when the crappie bite exploded with the demise of the walleyes.

Are the Walleyes diminishing and the crappies starting to make there way back to our hooks ?

If the walleye population is crashing once again , then shame on the Mn DNR for allowing this to once again happen, they should have learned from there mistakes , and put the breaks on much earlier than they have to control the rise and fall of the Walleyes. The thought of Going backwards in the upcoming Spring/summer season is hard to handle. The state should of saw this all unfolding , and had the balls to control this matter in a more timely matter. So very hard to stomach this all over again.

[cookie129]

were seeing crappies because fishermen are fishing where they travel. Last year was tough to get there. Red lake is diverse and has nothing to do with lack of walleyes. The past two years we saw a lot of smaller crappies being caught. Red lake will always have them as long as we release more then we keep. In the last two weeks we have caught hundreds of walleye any where from 7 inches to 22 inches. The walleye harvest will be getting a break starting Monday morning.

[bturck]

Who could have predicted early Nov fishable ice, 500,000 angler hours in Dec which would result in very heavy harvest numbers. The DNR did react twice since Nov dropping the limit to 3 and then 2 on Jan 23rd. Dropping that limit to 2 on Dec 1st would have most likely made a huge difference. I don't think the band or DNR want a repeat of the crash which occurred. The unfortunate result of dropping limits is a lot of complaints about why even make the trip for 2 fish, and the results of that mind set do nothing for the economy of the resorts, but they are in agreement, those I've talked to, that reduced limits are much better than a total closure.

As Cookie alluded to in his post above, crappie action has shown up more so this year because wevcan get to those area's as opposed to last year. And I agree putting some back to swim another day have many benefits.

Our trip last week resulted in a lot of nice WALLEYES, strong healthy fish that still swim as we had our fish and so we targeted the crappies and perch, and the walleyes were still biting.

Kelly posted some very interesting numbers in January regarding harvest numbers over the past years, staggering numbers from our portion of the lake. The powers to be will have to make some hard decisions over the next month or so, but I firmly believe the future of the fishery is first and foremost in their minds. Those of us who fish the waters also have a responsibility to do our part. It's a super place to spend time and catch nice fish and is still well worth a 4 1/2 hr drive.

[cookie129]

good post

[JacobG]

Yes that is a good post! I have a place in my heart for upper red. Been there maybe 100 times? Maybe more? Cookie is family to me and have made some great memories over the years with many more to come. I'll be up in March with a small group of guys to chase them crappies and hopefully some of those tasty perch show up as well. Should be a great trip as the guys coming up are pretty good fisherman, good crappie fisherman. And sportsman. All have stated they want to catch a giant slab crappie. Not to kill but for the thrill of releasing lots of big crappies. And I can't wait cuz it's gonna be good

[cookie129]

Yes I do not know how you are going to sleep Jake. Your like a kid in the candy store just chomping at the bit to get here. I talk to Buddy Hillmen yesterday and he could use some traffic and rentals after walleye season to keep maintaining the highway to crappie land . Stop by the store and they will point you in the right direction. He said they did real well on crappies this last week and I heard someone's houses landed 23. I saw two trucks bah hah ing towards that fish house Monday morning . Not sure where they came from but they were on a mission. Another spot that did well has had up to 4 portables in that spot this past weekend, then Monday there was a truck there with one portable. The area Kieth did so well there is nobody fishing there at this time. There is so much area to explore its amazing how much unfished space is out there.

[gunner55]

Well put bturck.

[Reverend]

Well said Bill. I am on my way back home which is an over 5 hour drive. Between three of us for 4 days we pulled out over 60 fish and only kept 2 one day they ate and left with 5 eyes and 5 great perch.we had a great time and will be back next year. It is worth the drive.

[Crappyfisherman]

Fished out of RedLake Remote this week lots of nice Walleye's and Perch. My wife's first time on Red and she loved it. We got 51 Walleye's and 27 perch in 2 days. Jonny P. Has a top notch setup and some of the best houses I've ever seen. He puts you on fish and takes real good care of you. My wife really liked the heated bathroom.

[bturck]

Looks good. I already booked two dates next January with Jonny. Looking forward to the remote experiance.

Reverend; How did you keep your flasher batteries charged, or did you just being extra batteries?

[Red Lake Remote]

Looks good. I already booked two dates next January with Jonny. Looking forward to the remote experiance.

Reverend; How did you keep your flasher batteries charged, or did you just being extra batteries?

bturck, just bring an extra flasher battery, between here and other social media your dead battery is like the auger extension crisis all over again.

[live4chrome]

Was up this last weekend. Weather affected the bite. Still caught fish but definitly didn't hammer them. Saw a couple big crappie carcasses in the cleaning shack that were Sickening. Not to mention it looked like a five year old filleted them with a butter knife. It would be great to see some protection on these trophy panfish. Seems people are willing to release the big ones close to home but once they get up north all catch and release practices go out the door. Saw some pics of some of the more well know and "endorsed" anglers with big dead panfish from up here this last winter. Sad. A size limit or two or three fish limit would be great. Those big crappies are so rare it's saddening to see them in the "glory shots"

[bturck]

Jonny how deep will you be fishin, do I need extra line....

[Rick]

How is the crappie bite

Thank you Kelly & Donnie

[monstermoose78]

How is the crappie bite

Thank you Kelly & Donnie ​

 

Looks like the crappies are biting like the walleyes. What were you using? Were you fishing in the reeds? 

[Handsonthepole]

Was out twice in last 3 days and would have to say to the ones running 4 wheelers around at 30 mph+ you need to slow down or get off!  Every time you go by the ice ripples.  It also causes cracks which with the wind today could be an issue.  Ice is fair at best.  East shoreline was honeycombed with water.  South shoreline had better quality ice but around the same depth.  4-6 inches.  Fishing was better Thursday (no one within a mile of me) and Saturday had slowed quite a bit.  I like to get away from the crowds but that was just about impossible Saturday and with numerous wheelers running around and all the noise from augers and such I think it probably pushed the fish a little deeper.  Water clarity is about 2-3 feet and improving.  Hoping to get out this week again.  Definitely check with the resorts first.  

[jigginjim]

Thinking go up this year, when would the resorts start allowing wheel houses out?

[jerkbait]

When there is enough ice.

[Handsonthepole]

South shore is a mess.  Water on top of the ice (up to 2-4 inches) is making travel difficult.  Walking on crust of ice then keep breaking through until you get to a drier area.  Heard North and NE ice is much better.  Caught fish but kind of a mess.

[RiverChuckNorris]

Just got back from URL tonight, we fished half day Monday and all day Tuesday out of Beacon.  Had a fantastic time and had good results.  Fished 8.5-9.5 fow and caught fish on a wide variety of presentations from jigging raps to deadsticks.

In addition to walleyes, we caught a bonus 8-9" perch and a 37" pig of a Northern.  It was a heck of a fight for my buddy on his 4lb line.

Ice was 6.5"-7.5" in all locations.  No sign of any crappies unfortunately.   The average eye size has definitely decreased since last year.  Our biggest this trip was around 19", with most averaging 14-15".  Last year, the average was 18-19".  Sort of inevitable I suppose.

Great getting out for first trip and trying the new gear.  They got about 6" of snow last night so it was depressing coming back to rain and warm in the cities today.  Oh well!Good luck everyone and stay safe!

 

[DLD24]

Went out of Westwind this last weekend on Saturday we were in 8.5fow and got 17 walleyes between 2 of us....All deadsticks on Saturday, wouldn't even look at a jig rod...White/pink demon or frostee was by far the best....Sunday slowed way down went and tried the same area and only 4 before we packed up at noon...Also Saturday was more of a day bite for us...Sunday all fish were caught on white/pink jigging....

[bowhuntermitch]

For whomever has stayed with JR's in their sleeper houses - what is their bathroom situation like? Do we need to bring a bucket? Do they have bathrooms outside their houses?

[BringAnExtension]

BHM-

I have never stayed with JR's, but leave your bucket at home.  An outfitter that does not provide any bathrooms with their sleepers would not stay in business very long.  I would also assume that the bathroom is outside the sleeper.

Hope this helps.

[pmcrawler]

Bowhuntermitch,

JR's has portable j-johns in the vicinity of the sleeper rentals. Usually they are within walking distance of the sleeper rental. They have flush toilets and showers on shore at the bar for anyone that needs the comforts of home.

[MNsetters]

We were fishing 1-1 thru 1-3 out of Rogers. Alot more poeple this week, portables and permenants. We started straight out of Rogers in 14' where we did frairly well a few days earlier, but to maney house had moved into the area. We only caught 2 eyes the first afternoon, and next morning, so we moved farther West and North to get out of the masses. The move was good caught about 20 eyes that afternoon and evening. This morning was poor thou, only caught one small eye befor we pulled out to head home. Our largest was only 19" but caught alot of 16.5" fish  my favorite eating size!  

[Weathertite]

Fished 1-1-16 , Got on the lake and set up about 11:00 Am out of Jrs . We went out to the rock pile and then headed north and found a nice area away from a lot of houses and traffic. Fished 14 ft of water and caught our limit by 4: 30 pm with a couple of bonus 15 " Crappies to boot. All fish caught were between 16 and 17 with 1 at 21 " , Everything we caught was a keeper.  Hope this helps and stay safe .

Not real enthused about the truck traffic as we were only on 10 " of ice and trucks were out farther than we were. Just Saying.

Mike

[Hoyt4]

We had a great weekend plenty of fish were caught and the kids had a blast. We tried to keep track but was getting tough. Roughly around 140 to 150 eyes caught. We let go all until we wanted to keep fish to go home. We did not get too many big our biggest this weekend was 22inches.

ONly a hand full of perch which was strange we usually get them during the day to stay busy. No crappies this trip. A little strange bite for us Saturday morning had to put the bait on the bottom and they would suck it off the lake floor. They would follow but not hit. Once you put o the bottom they sucked the bait in.

Jigging raps from frostee's used they seamed to hit anything , shiners on deadsticks did out fish fat heads or chubs on deadsticks.

This weekend was crazy with the bite turned on so many times had doubles going.

 Stay away from the crowds and you will catch fish.

Glow red when fishing early morning before sunrise and sunset.

During the day raps and buckshots, even small diamond jigs some guys used to catch them.

One guy in the group had a long streak going using shiners on tip ups. I think he caught 14 fish saturday night on tip-ups with many misses mixed in.

We made sure to get away no one near us.