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Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports by Outdoors with JonnyP


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My buddies and I just returned from red, fished sunday afternoon through wednesday morning off beacons harbor in 8-9.5 fow.

YiGGiN, Were you the people with the ice skates? It looked like a blast and I was thinking it would be quite the way to get to a tip-up when the flag pops. laugh

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quick question:

how do you fish the lindy slick jig? DO you jig it like a spoon/jiggin rap or do you simply deadstick it? Thanks!

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quick question:

how do you fish the lindy slick jig? DO you jig it like a spoon/jiggin rap or do you simply deadstick it? Thanks!

Here ya go.

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Kelly- Yup, that was me with the skates! Ive been to red five times now and never seen the ice like that! It was sweet! Too bad i could only handle about 10 minutes of skating around before i felt like passing out... didnt help we had basically been drinking and eating all day for two straight days before that! I brought them because we were planning on making swiss cheese of the ice and fishing outside the house a couple times and I figured it would be fun rippin' back and forth on the skates from hole to hole with my rod and flasher. Needless to say we were too lazy...(and the fishing was pretty darn good inside the house) At least I got 10 minutes of exercise on the trip besides all of the walleye curls we were doing!

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Jonny on some of the pics it looks like a snap of some kind above your jigs? Do you use a snap or do you tie right to the jig? Thanks

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Jonny, When is the video coming up on the other forum? Were you fishing with James again? Those are some of the best ice fishing videos I've seen in a long time smile

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Love the YouTube clip. Will be up with my son and brothers in a week. Jan. 1 - I shared the clip on my Facebook. :-) Thanks

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Things are going well. Last night everybody in the sleeper rentals had fish in the buckets but one house. After some tackle/tactics changes and few tips we will see how the night went for them. I was able to knock out a limit in short order in the same area so the fish are still on the chew, that’s for sure. Funny thing is we have yet to go more then 3/4 mile out from shore.

It was nice to walk into rentals and smell fish cooking, see guys repairing broke off and tangled lines before the sun was all the way down on the first full day. That’s the nice thing about slower contour lines, mud/rock bottom and a more diverse forage base. The fish feed at multiple times of the day and are targeting multiple species of prey. Emeralds, blood worms, young of year perch, snails, and a plethora of snacks all utilizing the northern mud for walleye, perch and crappie to feed on. Result is you get a longer, sometimes all day, easier bite without having to drive multiple miles across the ice to the center of the lake. That and wide open spaces to spread out and catch fish as there is not multiple outfitters and roads coming out of the northern boggy shoreline. No clusters or crowds driving away active fish, just on lone light on shore, where it has been glowing for a little over a 100 years…just in from the good fishing. wink

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Great vid., John, what size slick jigs you been using, about 1/4 ounce?

See you this Thursday

Yes 1/4 oz has been a good size.

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Good to hear Jonny P.! Taking the family out today to our house! Many stories to have when we are all in the house! See you soon! grin

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Last night the evening checks on the sleeper houses took awhile. We have several families and lots of kids in the houses. Every kid told me about every fish they caught…and it there was a lot of fish caught by kids. Even the infamous Doc and Shaky sitting in very shallow water limited out, now that’s good fishing. Anglers are noticing how the bite changes, but never stops. For an hour two they want bobbers and live minnows, then for awhile they want the wild action of the Slick Jig. About the time everybody gets comfy with that they want a pinched off head of a minnow on a Rattle N Flyer. The guys that are working the jigs are catching walleye while several pike have been tearing up anglers gear and posing for pictures. All in all it has started out to be a banner winter season on Upper Red Lake.

As for depth there is no need to run deep or go crashing across the lake as the majority of the fish are coming in at 6-8 feet of water just off of shore. Find a spot with a little peace and quite away from the noise of crowds or clusters and set up camp for some good fishing.

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You are killing me Johnny! We are on our home lake near Alexandria and can't even get our 14' house out safely. I need to talk to my wife and perhaps make the 200 mile drive tomorrow with our wheelhouse. It's raining now and I have not caught squat btw. You guys have one of the best lakes in the country right out your backdoor.

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Backdoor? That beauty is out the front door! There is a reason Great Grandpa stopped when he hit Upper Red Lake.

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Weather bite is in effect. Yesterday was insanity, today/tonight a slowdown was very apparent in the northern region. Fish where present on the cameras and flashers but just not biting. About one in every five fish would strike and even those strikes where a half hearted attempt.

Guess it can’t be good all the time, even the fish need a rest.

As the bite was running hard and as it slowed a little, it was very apparent that a few bits and pieces came into effect. You need to stay spread out and avoid the clusters. Crowds and groups had slower fishing. Noise was a HUGE factor. We had one house that acquired a neighbor with generator and it was apparent when the generator was running not a fish to be had. The generator shut down the fish started biting again. This on and off game continued for a little while and clearly showed just how sensitive walleye can be to noise when they are in a funky mood. Change ups made a big difference. Don’t get stuck with one bait or one presentation. For a while they want the wild action of a Slick Jig, then they want a tail hooked Frostee, about time that appeared to be the only thing working they start going for plain hook and minnow under a bobber. Keep throwing change ups as soon as the bite slows.

As for the current bite it did slow down today but I feel the major wind and pressure changes put them into a huff, soon they will turn on again as they always do.

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Thanks for the update Jonny. Looking forward to meeting you in February. Will be watching the forum up to that time.....

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Good to know. How is the snow cover on the lake? I was up last thursday and it wasnt much just a drive or two. Did the wind or the warmer weather have any affect on the snow?

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Somebody must have stoked up the fires again as the bite is picking up steam once again. Today’s house checks and personal experience showed the jig bite was strong. Rattle N’ Flyers where the number one producer followed closely by the Slick Jig. Color didn’t appear to matter much but they did like pinched off minnows on the Rattle N’ Flyer and shiners on the Slick Jigs. The fish where showing that aggressive side again with running punch style strikes and an absolute fortitude to not come up the hole.

As for numbers it is hard to say how many we could have caught. Our goal was to knock out a quick limit and head into Westwinds for a fish dinner. That’s just what we did. While making the rounds on the way in some of the rentals clients gave me a bit of laugh. I asked how many fish the caught, they replied with a bewildered look “I have no d**m idea any more, but it’s been nonstop for five hours”. Good to hear after a coupe slower days.

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Good to know. How is the snow cover on the lake? I was up last thursday and it wasnt much just a drive or two. Did the wind or the warmer weather have any affect on the snow?

Just a few hard drifts to drive around and thats about it.

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johny, how far can a get out on hillmans with a wheel house? pretty far or is it limited because of pressure ridges etc? coming up on the 11th and was wondering what we might encounter. thanks

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If you take the Northwest road out of Hillman's you can go all the way to the Res Line. It goes NW to north of the 3 rockpiles, North ditch cribs and the Whitefish rocks. Then it goes SW through a nice passage through the rough ice and is marked out to the old "crappie highway" area. From where the the road is going SW it is smooth, clear ice going west with just a few big drifts and small areas of rough ice right to the Line. It is about 5 1/2 miles out from Hillman's to where it goes across the Whitefish rocks and turns to the SW.

The usual straight west road runs into nasty rough ice 3 or 4 miles out. Buddy is working his way through it so I am not sure how far that road goes out now.

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Fished the south side today and we only caught 7 fish should have been on the north side like I wanted to do!!!!

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