Tought bite question..

[Coldwater Crappie Guy]

I have been reading a lot of post's this year about how the bite had been really slow. I was up there almost 2 weeks ago and found that it was slow..but there still were fish that would bite.

My question is..Are there not a lot of walleye on Upper Red anymore? It seems like when the crappie boom was here a few years ago, there were pleny of fish to be had...but now that the chance of catching a crappie is pretty low and now everyone is up there to catch a limit of walleyes..do you think we have put too much pressure on the walleyes and are we taking too many of them also?

I know with the weird winter we had with all the snow early has made it tought to travel like we are used to with trucks...but I do have to say that I am surprised to see a lack of fish all winter. I am more about catching fish that keeping them. I know that some guys dont work as hard as others to actually get fish or pay attention on actually fishing...but I can understand some of the concerns out there.

Thanks!

[eric29]

I think there are plenty of fish left in the lake. I beleive i saw a post from jonny with some facts stating that we arent even getting close to the number of fish that dnr thinks we can can take out of the lake. Not positive but i think it was at 60-70 percent of the total and on the indian side, the take was down also.

Just like any other lake the fish are going to shut off once in a while. And it doesnt help that this year everyone is consentrated into a small area because of the ice situation.

[kelly-p]

It all goes back to that heavy snow when URL was barely skimmed over with just a little ice. We ended up with with a lot of white ice and a lot of snow. It has to be very dark under the ice where the fish live.

The biggest thing is that people can not move around unless they are on a snowmobile. Other years the groups/small cities of fishermen were constantly moving. This year almost everyone is stuck in the same old areas. I would guess that 75% of URL that we usually fish will not have a road to it this year. That is a lot of area and a lot of fish that will not be caught because nobody is fishing there. Imagine if the fishing reports were reporting 4 times more fish?

We had a long string of average or easy winters to get around out on the lake since the start of the "crappie boom". People took it for granted that all winters would be like that. This winter is reality.

[Mclovin]

so when i come up with the big house, i wont beable to go where i want? mostly stuck with everyone else?

[kelly-p]

Not unless you have a big V-Plow and nerves of steel. On this side of the lake there is a lot of snow out there and except where a road or area has been cleared of snow for a week or so the ice isn't that great.

i wont beable to go where i want?

Nobody on URL has been able to do that all year unless they are on a snowmobile.

[Iambjm]

You have to realize the northland has been hit with massive snow this winter. I am in the Grand Rapids area and we have had at least 50" of snow dumped on us, then factor in the wind that blows that snow around and packs it down like concrete. This I know from trying to plow my driveway with my ATV. I just came back from a weekend on Red and the conditions were bad, -34 Thursday and Friday night and when I left on Sunday it was snowing and blowing so hard I could barely see to drive off the lake. Fishing off the plowed areas anywhere up here means slush, slush, and more slush.

[Mclovin]

so there are spots to fish then? if you fallow the roads?

[cookie129]

Yes there are spots all over out there to put a wheel house. Most are just off the roads. Ask any guy with a v-plow and he will gladly plow you a spot. Just expect him to see how you did so when you leave he may want to drop a house there.

[Mclovin]

oh alright, thanks

[HNTNBUX]

I think there are plenty of fish in the lake but you have to work for them. Sitting in a wheel house next to a road is not the same as fishing in a portable away from everyone else and finding a new spot everyday. When I was up a couple weeks ago on snowmobile I caught alot of fish but I also had a GPS to find my spots and get back to shore in the blowing snow. Without a GPS and a snowmobile I would have stayed close to shore with everyone else. When I drive that far to go fishing I do what it takes to catch fish and I do not sit in a permanent house hoping they come to me.