Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports by Outdoors with JonnyP

[Random guy]

With the rising temps and fairly steady winds we have seen lately the bite is still going strong on Upper Red Lake, but its shifting gears.

Currently all the right conditions have come together to create a feeding frenzy across the lake. The shoreline vegetation erupting in schools of jumping minnows from the slightest disturbance making it very apparent change is happening. The rising waters temps have triggered the young of the year hatch to make the transition from the safety of the weeds to the massive deeper and cooler open mud fields off Upper Red Lake. Trouble for these little shiners, perch, walleyes and even crappies is thousands of hungry mature walleyes are waiting just past the weeds for them to make this attempted flee to the deep.

As these little slivers of shine cruise to open water they pull the walleyes into a suspended behavior. The bottom hugging walleye now hunts like a crappie often suspending three or more feet off the bottom charging these schools smaller baitfish.

Now this is often the end of the anchors on Upper Red Lake. It is time to keep things moving. Speed drifting live bait, pulling live bait on spinners and of course the famed Upper Red Lake crankbait bite; where the big fish come out of hiding. The more territory you cover the more active pockets of fish you will run into as you mock the movement of these high riding ultra fast snacks on the getaway.

First method I find is an ultra efficient way to locate walleye on Upper Red is to start where they where, yes fish the memory or past reports. Set your rig up with #5 Lindy Shadling that will run true at just about and speed and start the hunt. Just like a bloodhound on a scent trail start weaving and working where the fish where while keeping a steady heading for where the fish are supposed to be (deeper water), keep your speed up and cover water as you are not truly fishing but searching. You will contact fish at some point, no doubt about it and as you work out towards deeper water the first fish you will hit will be a smaller run at 14-17”. This depth will be your “inner limit” By this point a change will need to be made to a #7 Shadling or a Lindy Spinner on a three way rig to get deeper.

Run out the boards to spread the search.

The three way spinner rig across the mud flats and open soft gravel expanses can prove to be deadly, especially for big walleye. By running a bell sinker in the 1-2.oz range then a 18-24” dropper line up to a three way swivel that connects you, the weight and the spinner. Now when tied with a Lindy spinner you have a few great things going for you. First off a bell sinker in the low lying weeds of deeper Upper Red Lake goes virtually unnoticed as it slips through the vegetation. A bottom bouncer clanking along is a pretty bulky chunk of wire and lead invading the depths not to mention these fish are running high, not on the bottom making bottom bouncers fall short. Then the fluorocarbon leader of the a Lindy Spinner is invisible in the water then add the match the hatch color patterns of the beads not the spinner (beads is what fish see, they feel the spinner but see the beads) you have a stealthy big fish set-up. Some may ask why such a stealthy approach on a stained lake? To answer that question simply drop Marcum camera down on a sunny day, it will surprise you how clear the water remains below the wave action on the surface.

Good day to start deep.

Now with your larger #7 Shadling or three way spinner rig keep working deeper and I guarantee you will start to find bigger fish as you go deeper and then all of a sudden sheephead will take over. Not one or two but hundreds of sheephead in a constant barrage of your tackle…you have now found your depth or “outer limit”.

Take your outer limit and you inner limit and make a depth band around the lake and this will be your target zone for the day and it will go all the way around the lake. Now due to temps, sunlight and the dreaded wind this band of fish will change daily. Some days its 4-7 feet and some days its 12-15 feet. On Upper Red Lake 4-15 feet is a huge distance to be off when you are not on the fish.

Dailed in and catching.

Set yourself up to move and find your limit on Upper Red Lake.

[RiverFish]

WOW, great info Jonny.

[fishgutz77]

Great report and info thanks Jonny!

[JbuZZo]

that is what you call text book, clear fishing tips...that's priceless right there. Thanks for all the excellent tips you provide Jonny and Kelly.

[Random guy]

It’s all about timing. Currently I am sitting at home watching the tree tops whip back and forth in the strong west winds. Now normally I would say Red lake will be done for three days after the wind quits. That was normally, this year normal is far from common. With the lake levels being so very high the wind just does not have the same effect on the fishing. Our instant bite after a wind I feel is due to deeper water and here is my thoughts on why the fishing will be good after yet another strong wind.

(Courtesy of In-Fisherman Critical Concepts)

As seen above water is churned up twice the wave height below each wave. Now with normal water levels a four foot wave shredded the bottom in 8 feet or less of water and that was a huge percentage of lake. Now with the high water the currents of a four foot wave come in contact with a significantly smaller percentage of the lake bottom AND mid lake structure goes completely untouched by direct wave currents. Thus the saturation of sediment in the water is much less this year then years previous and that is why our solid bite continues immediately after a winds as in years past the wind would shut it down. Granted there is more to it than just dirt in the water but it gets into slosh currents, temperature draws and bunch of goofy boring stuff.

Now not only do we have deeper water we also have good timing by the fish as they have for the most part started to pull off the wind churned shallows and are now hanging out around mid lake structures and even roaming the big expanses of nothing following schools of shiners just like the nomads followed the caribou. All of these mid lake fish are hungry and still feeding as there deeper water haunts are still clean and clear prime for the hunt.

That said I would say Upper Red Lake will be safe bet for some quality fishing yet again this weekend wind or not.

[jwmiller33]

Awesome report and pics Jonny P. I always enjoy reading your posts

[huntingislife]

Perfect! The forecast looks like it should be fairly calm this weekend also.

[Random guy]

High temps, high winds, low clarity and still big results. With the weather pattern cooking the shoreline and the wind churning the water up to a silted froth the fish had the decision to move out deep made for them. Some fish are still coming in on the shallow break but they tend to be your smaller runs of fish say 10”-12” class. Some structural elements in shallow will hold bigger fish but the numbers are low.

Where I am finding bigger fish is nowhere and everywhere. Open water trolling with either down riggers or lead core has begun. The random wandering across the deeper holes of the lake is producing fish and nice sized fish at that. It is not the fast and furious bite we see in May/June but you will go in with a limit as long as a few key points are followed. One is making sure to stay deeper then 13 feet of water, for some reason this is the breaking point for bigger fish, my guess is temp and oxygen levels are optimum at that range. Second is lots of speed changes between 1.9-3.4 mph and working the rod, don’t hesitate to drop the rod tip back and snap it forward every so often as the speed change has been element in triggering fish.

Last and most important is color or lure selection. With the ever changing water color and clarity of Red Lake stick to few guidelines to bring those fish to the boat.

Sound is key, even when red lake is clear it is still stained so sound is key to drawing fish within eyesight of your lure. The rattles of a Lindy Shadling or River Rocker put out big sound when they are aggressive and the gentle thumping of a spinner is just enough to take a fish from neutral to curious.

Next look at clarity and determine if it is cloudy or clear. If the water has a deep maroon color you lucked out and Red Lake has settled. This is when your bright colors excel. Color patterns with pinks, chartreuse, and hard defined patterns such as a Chartreuse Perch or Pink Shiner work well. Now if the water has that buckskin brown frothed look it’s a visual nightmare as in the clip I recorded with the Marcum Camera below. This is when it’s time to shine and Lindy Shadings have the right flash to go with the dash in some intense color patterns. Look at Golden Shiner, Yellow perch, Tulibee, Shiner and Golden Shiner. Also a dark outline or profile will produce, such as the Black Shad, Fathead or even Bluegill color.

The last few trips on the water I have seen minimal boats so you will have the lake to yourself, take advantage of the open spaces and find some lost fish.

[shaky legs2]

Jonny, Great information and video. How fast are you moving? Electric trolling motor?? What do you use to stabilize/mount the camera cord and do you position the camera horizontal or vertical. Thanks.

[Random guy]

Actauly all I am doing is runnng a drift sock and using the swim fin that comes with the Marcum cameras. For holding it if there is no rocks I just clothe pin the cable to my anchor cleat, with rocks and debri I hold it in my hand. Today I try to get a look at the cribs and ended up in the crib; almost left the camera head tangled up in the structure.

[Random guy]

Ridiculous, insane or just plain out of control are ways I can explain he current bite on Upper Red Lake. After a few calms days the Eastern shoreline has erupted in fish. We are talking mid May type bite with bigger fish and lots of them. 4-10 feet of water pulling spinners has been the best. Especially the Lindy spinner in the purple smelt color rigged with a minnow; it was the hot ticket this morning in fact it even out produced the classic gold or silver.

This morning I couldn’t tell you how many fish we caught but in three hours on the water we had grown tired of handling fish and called it a day with a limit of 17-19” walleye. Once we stowed the rods and looked around everybody had landing nets out. They are on a rampage right now and my guess this may be the start of the fall bite that has become so prevalent the last few years.

[Random guy]

Wind has died, sun is out and the clients today want nothing but big pike, guaranteed walleye action today!

[Random guy]

...and I am paying for a summer of the best fishing ever. Full day on the water with limited results. This afternoon was a touch better but hoping by Sunday things will have cleared up and the fishing starts again.

[Random guy]

Today I run clients out and the poor souls have no idea we are not coming in until we have a limit. Dirty water or not today is the day I get to come back in and say the fishing is better. Stay tuned.

[Random guy]

The curse is lifted! Today brought limits back to the boat with a little twist to the old spinner trick. Utilizing the Golden Shiner Lindy crawler harness with a #4 willow leaf blade but forget the crawlers. With the sluggish walleyes short striking baits yet still wanting a minnow presentation I left the crawlers in the tub. I made the switch to the crawler harnesses hooking a frozen shiner through both the head and the tail. This trick put an end to the misses and started putting fish in the boat.

Anywhere form 4-9 feet of water all along the eastern shore produced walleyes as long as speed changes were made. Don’t hesitate to stall out the blades completely dropping below .5 mph or even crank them up to 2.3 mph; as long as the speed changes they will strike on the change.

[bak2MN]

Hey Jonny had to do the same today with the spottails on Big Pine Lake by perham! Short bites but dialed it in! Great day to be on the water. Speed changes made alot of difference as well. Glad to hear your curse was lifted.

[shaky legs2]

Maybe it's time for a fireball jig with a minnow and slowly creeping along. That's whats working down south. Another thing that is working is fishing the sharp breaks into deeper water. The active fish are right on the lip or on the flats and the neutral/negative fish are on the base of the break.

[Jarrid Houston]

JP- You do much jiggin n minnows on URL>?

[Northlander]

Jarrid you should be able to spank them eyes up there with a jig n shiner once you locate them with a more active aproach.

[Random guy]

If the wind has been down jigging produces on light biters. BUT after a wind the jigs are useless. Covering water and putting out vibration is key. Hence the spinners amnd Shadlings.

[laportian]

I totally agree on jigging being a waste of time if the wind has kicked up. Ive had pretty decent action with Northland whistler jigs after the winds die. Several days last summer I had been out in the wind pulling spinners or cranks and wanting to give up and go home. My partner would make me wait the wind out and on a few occasions the evening would bring dead calm back to the lake. Then the whistler would really kick butt. You had to fish dead vertical though and keep your jigging strokes short and paced out. Must have been that the sediment that the winds kicked up hadn't settled down yet and the little blade on the jig is what was needed to draw them in. I was really wanting to run up and fish last night because it was dead calm, but the clutch is out on my truck so I'm grounded until the part gets shipped in. Maybe this weekend. Heard rumors of some big winds kicking up tomorrow though.

[ozzie]

after these big winds tomorrow what will fishing possibly be like by Saturday with lighter winds Friday and Saturday? Coming up and it has been ideal until Thursday's forcast!!! hopefully they are wrong and they are lighter winds........

[Random guy]

Well the winds won't help thats for sure. Normaly takes a few days after a hard wind to settle back down.

[Random guy]

Well the winds kicked the lake in teeth again! Back to waiting for a few calm days, such a love hate deal!

[Random guy]

Yesterday I was finally able to get back out on the mighty Upper Red Lake. After a two week helping of wild winds the lake was a mess. Water temps ranged from 42-44 degrees with some slightly warmer stuff coming out of the rivers. Water clarity was nonexistent; I have seen oatmeal with more transparency. But fish where still to be had with the right presentation.

Big sound and big flash while moving slowly was the key in the churned up water. I started with cranks and small spinners with no luck, a quick change of the #3 Indiana blades on the Lindy Spinners to bigger #5 and even #6 Colorado blades proved too much for them to handle in the muddy water. With the plastic clips this change to bigger blades took about 5 seconds a spinner, one of the great features of the Lindy Spinners.

Fish where holding slightly deeper than before with the majority of active feeders in the 8-10 foot range, this of course makes sense after a big wind. As calm days continue the fish will push shallower following the fall shiner runs and become increasingly aggressive as ice season draws closer.

To get an idea of blade size I attached the below picture. Yes it is black/white and messed up. I screwed something up and over exposed all the pictures to a bright white fuzzy mess. Didn’t realize it until the fish where about 350 degrees baking in a citrus marinade. But you can see how big the blades are as it is hanging right below the fishes eye.

[muc33]

Love the embossed pic Jonny, and a bonus smile even! Great report! Do your big pike start talking before ice time hits? Do you have any guiding days open before ice time?

[Random guy]

Yes the big pike normaly go bonkers before the ice comes on, trouble is the wind has been relentless this year. It takes a good spell of calm weather for the big pike to get chompin and we just have not had it this year. Of course once the ice comes on its a picke rampage for the first couple weeks of ice season. As for guide dates I have open days and guide until the boat won't break the ice.

[Random guy]

Love the embossed pic Jonny, and a bonus smile even!

Ya I messed up the whole batch of them, before editing:

Ya I would not make it long in the photo world.

[Random guy]

As usual with Upper Red Lake we have some very diverse ice conditions. My first idea was to head to the north shore and start pre fishing areas for the rental sleepers. That was plan was quickly shutdown. I arrived at the north shore and set my eyes upon the whitecap waves rolling by and figured I wasn’t light enough for that. A quick U turn in the road towards Beacon Harbor Resort. At Beacon Harbor I was gingerly stepping across 3 ½” inches of ice to a piled crack where the ice sheets had collided. One side was 3 ½” and reaching across with the chisel I was hard pressed to find 2” of ice. This of course stopped my progress at a shallow 6 feet of water. We definitely have stages of ice in separate areas. After a call to Buddy Hillman and a few text messages between Tyler from Bear Paw and I it was apparent the ice conditions are one again very localized. From what I can put together from the other guides and satellite images over the last few days I have a theory. If you look closely at the eastern shore on the picture below you will see a much whiter and pronounced banana or boomerang shaped piece of ice starting and connecting with shore just south of West Winds Resort. This piece remains tied to shore north past Bear Paw Guides, Hillmans and then starts to pull away about at the mouth of the Tamarac River as it hooks hard to the west into the lake. This is the original ice sheet and has some thicker ice. Now you will also see the North shore is cracked open, this crack was present on the south shore yesterday. The ice sheet is still slamming around with the winds, yet this small boomerang of ice on the eastern shore remains locked up…so far. Now Tyler was in 7.5 feet of water and Buddy was in 8 feet of water and had incredible fishing. Myself I was only able to get to 6 feet of water and had decent fishing. I caught three eyes and two pike in 2 hours, still not bad but very slow compared to Bear Paw and Hillmans.

I see two things right now. That eastern shoreline chunk is all I will be working until we get some more ice and if the fish keep biting like they are we are in for a good season. The walleye are like freight trains hitting the baits right now.

A few eyes right off the bat!

Good to have one of the Otters out of the rafters and back on the ice for yet another year.

]

[Random guy]

Here is a picture before the wind shifted the ice.