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Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports by Outdoors with JonnyP


Random guy

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Thanks for the report Johnny. The foo flyer looks pretty cool, i've seen them in the stores but wasn't quite sure about them. After the video i'm gonna pick up a few, thanks for the tips and info.

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I am finding the 2" Gulp minnow works incredible on the 3/16 and 1/8 Foo Flyer. Looks like a fighter jet whipping around on the Marcum camera. 3" minnow does well on the 3/16 and 1/4 size. Same for live bait, fatheads on the small ones and shiners on the big ones.

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JOHNNY IM TRYING TO GET AN ANSWER FROM SOMEONE ABOUT PULLING A 16FT WHEEL HOUSE OUT THIS WKND... IS THERE ENOUGH ICE TO PULL IT WITH ATV.. NOT GOING OUTFAR

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It would probably be a good idea to call Rogers or Hillmans directly regarding this. They will know the latest conditions the best.

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JOHNNY IM TRYING TO GET AN ANSWER FROM SOMEONE ABOUT PULLING A 16FT WHEEL HOUSE OUT THIS WKND... IS THERE ENOUGH ICE TO PULL IT WITH ATV.. NOT GOING OUTFAR

Well that is a tough question. Nobody wants to be the guy to say “go for it” and then have a tragedy; personally I am very happy I do not have to make the decisions about roads and ice safety for the general public. All I have to worry about is the clients that are with me on the Otter Train or in our (Petrowske’s) rental sleepers. My best advice would be to call the road operators directly. Such as Rogers Resort, Hillmans, Morts, Westwinds, Beacon Harbor etc, they will be the best for good information as they are the ones charging the rood fee and offering the service.

Personally I would not pull out a wheel house yet as I have been on the wrong side of the ice before and do not care to do it again. We plan on taking the safest route once more this year leaving our sleepers on shore until the 20th or until we have a solid 16-18” of ice.

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Smart man as usual Mr Jonny P. Looking forward to some after Christmas scouting with You and Kelly. Have a great Christmas.

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As much as I enjoying getting down to brass tacks on the when, where and why of successfully fishing Upper Red Lake; I just can’t do it as of what I seen today. No particular access, yellow brick road or mission impossible jig really stood out.

I fully believe if you possess the ability to find the lake and then find 6-8 feet of water you are going to catch a bunch of fish. The bite is on lake wide as long as you do not hit sand with your auger or get to deep and start catching baby perch by the fistful. Today everything below the ice triggered a strike; the Rattle N flyer and Foo Flyer caught just as many fish as a bare hook under a bobber. Pike are hitting anything that moves or even blinks for that matter; its pure insanity. My official report or advice for the day is go to the lake, catch a bunch of fish. I will save the dissertations for when the bite gets tough.

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..they make great snacklets for the big green and gold meanies!c63

Ummmmm, snacklets!

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About how far is 7-8ft out of Westwind? I know the lake is down so looking at a map can be deceiving. No wheeler and just trying to judge how far a walk that is. Is it just past the first break line or much further out? Thanx!

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:)Sounds like your in heaven and having alot of fun right now Jonny. How much snow is expected up there this weekend? It started around 3pm today, and they are talking maybe 6" by Sunday sometime. With more up North. Do you have enough ice to support 8+ inches without ill effects?

Later Jonny, keep a tight line!!!

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Well it looks like the wind is going to remove the snow from the north end of the lake as fast as it falls and place it elswhere so we may be fine up here.

Looks like 2-4" for us on Sunday.

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About how far is 7-8ft out of Westwind? I know the lake is down so looking at a map can be deceiving. No wheeler and just trying to judge how far a walk that is. Is it just past the first break line or much further out? Thanx!

Yes just past the first break it will be deep enough. Right now 6 foot is also producing.

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Same story today. I plopped down in a random spot in 7 feet of water of the Hillman Highway and knocked out a limit in short order as did everybody else I talked to. Ealry ice Red Lake is like no other.

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Nice Snowmobile Johnny!!!!!!!

Not only looks good but it still has that new sled smell. The previous owner must not have hauled many fish with it. grin

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It shined like a diamond today. Pulled in a dead Polaris with passenger still riding, three portables and myslef with a passenger. It may not go very fast but it can pull like an angry Ox.

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Heading up there this weekend and was wondering what u would recommend...wheeler or sled?

-Thanks

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I am going to say sled as they handle cracks and other hazards better. We have just enough snow to keep the hyfax wet so that should not be a problem. Wheelers are great but very unforgiving when they hit a crack, slush or piled ice.

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Today’s guide trip showed just how fast things can change. The shallow bite and rock edge bite was nonexistent. Last three days of guiding work put massive numbers through the portables but today was another story. We reached our limit but not the 40-50 fish afternoons as we had been seeing. It was a classic cold front scenario. Bad weather patterns have always had unforgiving results on Upper Red Lake but this one flipped the switch to off; guess the fish can’t bite every day. After some fumbling around this morning trying to fish memories my little guide brain kicked in, we poured the coals to the Otter Train and took off for a unmapped mid lake rock pile. After lots of holes checking ice thickness we found fish in the deeper water, but they needed to be convinced to bite. Presentations such as small Lindy Darters ran ultra-slow and Rattle N Flyers tipped then twitched with just minnow heads produced. It was a constant up and down game on the flasher to trigger gentle bites. I’m sure as this nasty weather pattern that socked the southern end of the state with snow moves on the bite will once again pic back up. I ‘m sure we will see tomorrow.

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Hey Jonny,

Planning on making a trip up this weekend. Wondering how much ice is there and how far out one can wonder before reaching heaves or too thin of ice?

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Well that’s a real tough question as we have a lot of lake with a lot of variances. Best bet would be to talk with the resort/road you plan on using to get the best and most current information

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Today the bite started out slow but slowly gained speed as the sun began to drop. Lookers became biters and even the crappies decided to play along. My guess is by tomorrow the weather pattern will have returned to normal and the fishing should keep getting better and better again. Guess I will see tomorrow.

We had a slow bite but I ended the day with a happy client, high fives and big smiles. Always fun when you can pull it off when the going is tough.

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Day two of “Rusty’s excellent adventure” went so well he decided at 2pm. he had caught enough walleyes to limit out several times over, got his hands on a Upper Red Lake crappie and put a big ice pike under his belt. I cleaned up his catch before he headed for home to round up some more guys and come back. grin

Walleyes were on the rampage this morning as was the ice! Ever had a pressure come up right behind your portable? It’s a heck of ride; I could have used a seat belt in the Otter. Even with the ice exploding around us we seen great action with walleyes going for Lindy Rattle N Flyers in the flashy golden shiner and purple smelt colors tipped with just the minnow head. Of course the fish that missed the spoon headed right for the classic minnow and bobber combination.

From what I have seen the fish are starting to spread out across the lake. Yesterday we hit 2 miles out and finished the day along the break line in 6 feet of water with fish present. Today I ran out to the 12 foot mark with active fish present in that area also. On the six mile run I did come across cracks, thinner ice and a couple small early ice pressure ridges. That said listen to the road operators to get good information about where to and not to go.

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