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

[kelly-p]

Most places are saying 10 to 12 inches with part of that white ice.  Sounds like the big crack has about 6 inches of ice now. The big crack is hidden under the snow now, just waiting for someone to be careless.

[steeplechaser2]

Thanks, Kelly.  You are missed!  Many great trips with you!

[kelly-p]

8 hours ago, steeplechaser2 said:

Many great trips with you!

You are being kind. I remember a few really bad trips mixed in. One thing about your crew was that you could turn a bad fishing area into very good fishing.

[steeplechaser2]

You take care, Kelly!  My boys will never forget the early trips with you.  We have continued the tradition with Johnny.  I'm not sure how many years in a row it has been, but it's gotta be at least 16 or 17 years.  

[Barbelboy]

looks like with the cold weather this week some operators will be allowing 1/2 ton trucks out. i'm coming up this weekend with my kids. Will still bring the wheeler just because the drama associated with a sinking vehicle and 2 kids would be a bit more than i want to handle. 

I always loved using the waskish minnow station. i had some great adventures out there. But i never did see one of those seals you talked about. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Barbelboy

[walros]

Any updates after the cold weather?

[kelly-p]

best report I heard was 12 to 14 inches. Varies quite a bit from area to area.  6 to 8 inches where the huge crack was. That crack circled the entire lake so it is somewhere out in front of every access point hidden under the snow so pay attention to what the road operators say.

[walros]

Are they letting tucks/wheel houses out yet?

 

[kelly-p]

Every access is different. Some are atv only, some are wheelhouse pulled by atv and one is letting 1/2 ton trucks pull single axle wheelhouses only as far as the crack.

[Barbelboy]

Well it was a great weekend. We went out with an outfitter on the far southwest side. Couldn't be happier with the fish house or service. My buddy and I had 4 kids with us. His 7 & 5 yr old daughters and my 5 yr old son and 6 yr old daughter.  Ice was a solid 16" and by Sunday it looked like pretty much everybody was being let on. With this cold weather i presume it will be open to everybody this next weekend.  Snow cover seemed minimal, so , but with the cold weather and little kids we didn't venture out too much. The fishing was supposedly pretty slow for everybody else. I guess we were the hot house. Ended up with 28 walleyes and 1 crappie. Went home with 20 walleyes. Crappie was 13", largest walleye was 23". Only caught 1 walleye that was too small to keep. Fish were VERY neutral. Couldn't get one to take a jigged presentation to save our lives. So dead stick it was. No real evening/morning rush. Just a slow trickle all day. Nights were good. Friday night we caught 10 and missed 5-6. Saturday night we caught 5 and missed 3. No particular lure was the "hot" line. Caught them on orange or yellow hooks. pink or green demons or  pink/green/blue cyclops. Basically we would see fish on the depth finders, but could never get them to commit, so we quit that technique.

Also, it was too murky for our cameras. We've had fun with them up there before, but couldn't see worth a darn this time. The kids had a blast and all of them were upset when it was time to go! 

[eyeguy 54]

Sweet! 

[leech~~]

Wow nice job Dad's!

 

I hope the wives got some Christmas shopping, baking or cleaning done while you dad's gave them a break "watching 4 kids" for the weekend, that can be a challenge.  

Edited December 16, 2019 by leech~~

[Barbelboy]

She did. it was her weekend off. I was trying to claw back some brownie points from a long bow season, a long gun season and a Montana antelope hunt. 

We've been doing this trip for 4 years now. So we've developed some techniques to control the chaos. Total for the weekend was 1 hat, a pair of forceps and 2 kids dipped themselves in fish holes. Just come prepared for a wild weekend and you won't be disappointed. I just wish we could get a break from cold weather for these trips. Last year we were on Winnie and it was a high of -11 with -36 at night. This year it was -5 high and a low of -20. It sure helps to get the kids outside a bit to wear off some of that energy. But there wasn't much of that!

[leech~~]

Did you have a bucket or did you have to run them all the way into shore?  Boy's no problems. Girls problem!

[Barbelboy]

2 solutions. The outfitter we went with positions outhouses close to their fish houses. It was a simple walk of 100' to the heated outhouse. That was pretty awesome. Also have a portable potty chair and garbage bags. A couple of clothes pins and a sheet to set up a barrier and presto, instant bathroom. Both work, but the outhouses were the ticket to success this time. 

[Barbelboy]

We also found a simple way of making it easier for the kids to use rattle reels. Or at least decrease the chance that the kid will give the fish slack line. We simply put a rod in a rod holder, drop the line down, then clip the line to the rattle reel line (no lure attached) with a wooden clothes pin (they float). The fish takes the bait, pulls the line. The rattle reel goes off. You reach over, unclip the fishing rod line from the rattle reel, set the hook, hand the rod to the kid and let them reel it in. 

Yes, it's a bit more equipment and clutter. But a combo of that and regular rattle reels works well. 

[mtheis]

We just came back from a three day trip from Upper Red and had a good time.  Trucks and cars were allowed through their access, and the roads were excellent.  Barbelboy nailed it exactly.  There was no jigging bite to speak of, and most of our fish came from dead sticking with red hooks with a bead or two for flavor.  The bite was slow, and you had to stick with it until you got your four.  Most fish we caught were over 17" so it was difficult to fill the unders for fish to take home.  We took cleaned fish to West Wind and they cooked them up for us.  What I found unusual (compared to resturants near Lake Vermillion where I go in the summer) was that they wanted $9.95 for one fish and fries.  No coleslaw.  No breadstick.  It was $1.50 per fillet over that.  Max two over.  But the meals were good and we enjoyed them.  Beacon Harbor gave us two man houses to sleep in, and they were in about 11 feet of water.  The bite was sloooow...but we managed to get them.  Many 20's and 21's.  The lake appears upside down because we only got two fish under 15.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by mtheis

[steeplechaser2]

Had a great trip on the north end with Jonny P.  Two days of amazing fishing.  Deadsticks outfished jigging 5-1.  Daytime was most productive.  Upper Red Lake Remote is THE OUTFITTER we rent from.  Very happy with the service and the fishing.  Bring plenty of minnows.  We went through four scoops in two days!

[leech~~]

Report from another site. 

 

Red Lake

West Wind Resort
4 hrs ·
****Update**** You need to stay put if possible, it is impossible to plow at this time. We will be out there as soon as we can! If your house is flooding, try to jack it up. We are sorry but this is all we can do at the moment. As for tomorrow we have no idea, if the road is open at all it will be tomorrow afternoon at the earliest if even at all. Please plan accordingly!! The highways are not any better, numerous cars in the ditch!
Lake access is closed at this time! 12/29/19. We will be out today to get everyone In our houses off the lake. As for everyone else stay put and we will try to get to you when we can. It would be best to wait until after the storm before coming in. Thank you!

[smurfy]

here I thought you posted a report from larry from leech lake or whatever his name is!!!!!!!!!

[kelly-p]

Lots of people out there wishing they had left before the storm hit. All the roads told people to get off before the storm hit and if they stayed out there it could be days before the plows could get to them.  Now they sit out there with huge drifts around their houses and the water rising.  It's ugly around here, a lot of people have not been able to get out of their yards yet.

[leech~~]

Man if someone had a Sherp they could make some money saving folks and pulling houses off up there on Red right now. 

 

 

[Getanet]

Talked to a guy today who knows some guys who went up Friday for the weekend and are still stuck out there. If they're anything like me, and were only going for a 2-day trip, they should only have about 6 days worth of food remaining!

[Xplorer]

On 12/30/2019 at 12:46 AM, kelly-p said:

Lots of people out there wishing they had left before the storm hit. All the roads told people to get off before the storm hit and if they stayed out there it could be days before the plows could get to them.  Now they sit out there with huge drifts around their houses and the water rising.  It's ugly around here, a lot of people have not been able to get out of their yards yet.

 

Sounds like it was/is an absolute mess out there Kelly.  So sorry we weren't able to get a chance to catch up with you last week.  We dropped lines in our house at 12:30 Thursday, and were packing back up at 3.  Junior did get 3 eyes, but all I got was 2 perch in that time   Had a medical issue come up that required us to head back home. We are hoping to get back up later in the season, if so we'll find you for sure.

Good luck to all digging/plowing out. That snow is gonna make some very messy areas on the ice this year thats for sure.

[ozzie]

Oh the fun with big storms and ice roads!  Always have to be ready to get the heck off the lake if wind and or snow pick up.  Hope everyone gets off the lake ok!

 

Xplorer hope all is ok with the medical issue! 

[Xplorer]

Thanks Ozzie... won't know for sure for a couple weeks unfortunately.

[cookie129]

On 12/30/2019 at 3:52 PM, Getanet said:

Talked to a guy today who knows some guys who went up Friday for the weekend and are still stuck out there. If they're anything like me, and were only going for a 2-day trip, they should only have about 6 days worth of food remaining!

funny thanks for the laugh

[Rick]

2020 URL ICE FISHING REPORTS ↓↓↓

 

West Wind upper Red Lake ice fishing report

Another day is done on this big old lake. We've been digging and plowing for days now and we're finally catching up! We have the North and South roads passable. Mostly all of the wheel houses are plowed out and we're now working on the rentals.  We've been working around the clock to get it this far and we're tired but not giving up. Tomorrow we should get the rest of the rentals moved and ready and will then work on finding room for wheel houses.  Tomorrow the access will be closed for wheelhouses but we are planning on being ready for Thursday.  Things will flood so be prepared if you plan on coming up.  We'll continue to report as things progress.

[smurfy]

my wife said red lake fishhouse rentals posted on facebook with all they slush they encountered there not renting this weekend?????????

[Rick]

1 hour ago, smurfy said:

my wife said red lake fishhouse rentals posted on facebook with all they slush they encountered there not renting this weekend?????????

Here is what they said:

All rentals are cancelled for the weekend due to continued slush/water and unsafe ice. We will notify you by phone if your future reservation is cancelled. Thank you for your understanding and patience. We appreciate all our customers!