upper red lake Upper Red Lake Fishing Reports by Cookie

[JacobG]

Yes thats my boy gabriel. Last night was blast! Drilled a few holes last night over by pigroast and as soon as we set up they were there waiting. Gabriel caught 3 right away and lost 3 more in 10 mins. I just put a new minnow on and down the bobber would go! I didnt fish but rather watched the enjoyment and exitement on my boys face. Moments like that are priceless. Hoping for more today. Id guess for the group 40 fish were caught many lost. And many put back into the lake. Today has started out good. Hope the rest of the day is good, no reason it shouldnt be! For you guys reading this at home grab your son or daughter and bring them up. The kid in the first pick was speechless and all smiles. His first trip and it will never be forgotten. That i promise

[JacobG]

Tonight.............well...... Nothing short of spectacular! What an unbelievable night. Its been since 2009 when we got on the crappies like we did tonight. Huge thanks to my dear friend cookie. The full moon combined with the bright sun all day just made for a perfect storm. Afterthe dust settled we caught well over 50 fish with many being put back keeping enough for a fish fry tomorrow. It reminded me of the old crappie days. Not sure how to sum it up other than....WOW! With another day and a half of fishing left it will be almost exclusively catch and release for our group. Few guys looking for that fish of a lifetime. And one was caught today at 15 1/2" hats off to cookie as the group couldntve been happier. Hope tomorrow is half as good as today was

[gunner55]

Sweet!Sounds like more than a few memmories being made.Take a lot of pics.

[cookie129]

Yes that was fun making the rounds last night as everyone was tickled pink except Casey . He made the mistake of fishing next to jake and watched him land 17 fish in a row while he only landed two. The way everyone got checked in and not going over the same routine has made it impossible to remember every ones name but I may have them down buy tomorrow. I did not wet a line last night with the group as another engagement took longer then expected. I may of missed some great fishing but I did get to visit with a bunch of guys that were giddy from all the evnings excitement. The only thing that could of made it better as if they were landing all those fish in the houses instead of around the houses. For some reason the wheel houses I set up had fantastic fishing and I have no clue why old Minnesota can not land on one of those magical spots for the hammer. The red baron is going to get another work out as I now want all the houses on fresh ice for the week ahead. I was hoping to leave them in the same places for the last week. Oh well give me more days to stay busy on the lake.

[cookie129]

Well I said my good buys to a bunch of nice people/fishermen yesterday. With Jakes crew all spread out all had great success and built some outstanding memories of what a grand lake red lake can be. Talking to them all everyone wants to come back same time next year and do it all over again. We all decided Saturday while we were having lunch at westwind that all the crappies caught Saturday night would be released to fight another day un less it was a true wall hanger. A guess would be COUPLE HUNDRED CRAPPIES WERE LANDED JUST BY jAKES CREW. Another guess would be there were about 75 to 100 fishermen or more in the little village I created. There must of been 15 to 20 wheel houses set up for the weekend. Most of them stayed in there shacks and I assume they had some decent fishing. Chris and his two buddies only took home 8 as they are planning on a fish fry with a small group of guys. I talk to another gentlemen Chuck him and his wife ended up with 9 or 10 and they were tickled pink. Mike traveled over 700 miles one way to land a true trophy and has a 15 1/2 for his man cave. Tammy and Randy took home 4 and released two big ones the first night and never saw another elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. They were set up the furthest from our group to the north west. They had a great time and Kellie the hammer and I spent some time visiting with them Saturday eve. Most of the guys headed back to the houses by 10pm with memories that will last a life time. I talked to Jake this morning and him Gabe, Jenny and Lakken all want to come back again this weekend. Yesterday as all the wheel houses were slowly packing up portables starting showing up. I counted 10 last night all set up to the north east of where I moved the houses to. Most were set up from 20 yards to 75 yards from old minnesota. Quite a few of them were milling around all day fishing all the holes that had been augered saturday evening as Jakes crew spread out to find the mother load. I did talk to a gentlemen from low .Him and his buddy pulled out at 2pm with two limits. The hammers friend Nancy and her husband Pete stopped to wet a line last night in Montana. They were treated to 10 . Wayne and Marty helped me move all 4 houses yesterday. They fished Minnesota last night with the goal of getting two for Marty to take home and a plan to release the rest. Kellie and I fished with them and played some cards after Pete and Nancy left. We missed a couple on the rattle wheels and The hammer landed a nice one with help from her vex. I lost count of how many were landed but it was a few.. Kellie made us spaghetti dinner that turned out perfect. There is something special about sharing a meal with friends the never gets old. Hillmens road is in great shape and the fishing should just get better as the sun changes the environment under the ice. My plan as of now is to wet a line every night the rest of the week leading up to the 16th of march when the houses will be towed to shore. Red lake was grand to me this week and as the old timer Dave told me she is a grand lake and owes me nothing

[Fishalittle]

So the guys still got them Saturday night????? I must be unlucky! We rolled in Saturday afternoon and spent the night....never caught any! Just a few walleye and a perch. I seen you trolling around with the plow at prime time on Saturday night but we must not of been in the right spot. Talked with another wheelhouse next door and he was blanked also.....??? Just figured we were a day late but now your report reads otherwise....

Noticed you fishing next to the road as we left Sunday around 10ish....did you find any in the middle of the day?

Maybe a crappie next year for us....we pulled the plug and brought the house home!

Just to clarify I am not saying crappies aren't there....just that it still is fishing and they are not easy to find. Joining the crowd was a mistake and we should have tried the middle of nowhere....but your reports Jacob were very inviting!

[JacobG]

With everyone crowding in on us i got frustrated and a little irritated and decided to make a bigger move. Brady decided to do the same. Jenny and i made about a 200 yard move and brady did the same. Within seconds (litterally) i got a big slab. I got 2 more just trying to the portable set up for my wife. Finnally got her in the house and within 1 minute got one of her own. Called casey and sean over to where i was, "the headlights way over there". We got 40+ crappies before we left that area. Brady was his own set of headlights way over there and brought a few guys over, joff and jay and they fished til they ran outta minnows! So yes in 3 days id guess we caught hundreds of crappies. I think maybe 30 were brought home. Lots of slabs were released a little more educated.

On another note. Id really like to see some sort of conservation effort put forth by the MN DNR. A 5 fish limit would be a great start. A size limit really wouldnt apply to well since it really is a trophy class destination. Its become apparent that people are just greedy. Simply cant put a fish back for some reason. The guys that fished last week kept some but not what couldve been 130 fish for our group.

I just wish more people saw what a great fishery upper red really is and make a personal effort to keep it that way. Just my opinion is all

[JacobG]

To the guys the guys that sent me PMs sorry forr my delayed response as ive been fishing the past 4 days. Ill just say this. I have both worked and fished with Cookie for years. We have worked together at times to find spots and put together the pieces to figure out what the fish are doing. Its hard work and takes time and money and in the case of finding and catching crappies of upper red it has taken years! Cookie is a guide first and foremost. The lake is free to all. However the knowledge and advice that he has is well worth the price! For the guys that read this forum that run up when the bite is good and cookie is on em, only to drill holes 10 feet from his houses or drop your wheelhouse just 20 yards from him on 48,000 acres...........shame on you. Setting up portables in between the houses........?!? I mean cmon! Ive never given away a free guide trip. And when i am guiding i share the whats, the whys and the wheres. And to have 1 wheelhouse pay for "guidance" only to call 3,4,6 of his buddies after the being put on a hot bite..........?....again, cmon! Where has our ettiquet gone? Our respect gone? To take advantage for ones hard work and time? Just because its a free lake, Does it not apply in this case?

If you are looking for a great trip to a lake for the first time most people hire a guide. Or looking to get on a hot bite with the inside info, to answer the "whats,hows and wheres, the inside info that seperates the guys that catch 2,3 or 6 fish vs the guys that catch 20 or 40 fish in a night or weekend then seek out some guidance.

What our group was doing is easy, how we fished, what we used,and more importantly exactly where we were fishing is all easily available.

And its worth the small price, i promise

[stealth3350]

JAcob you were spot on.. Cookie is an excellent guide and I agree 100% that to many people took advantage of his honesty with his fishing report this past wknd. Me and My group of guys took care of cookie this wknd as he did a lot of things for us. No we were not customers staying with him , but we did use his knowledge and other services And he was compensated. I personally have never met another guide who loves his job as much as cookie. As for the fishing, cookie had us on fish, all three guys in my group caught their Pb crappie. Mine being over 15 inches! A lot of fish were released and a few for the wall.. Cookie you are a great guy, we had a blast catching slabs and getting to know you.. I will definitely recommend you to any one. Cookie thanks for everything hopefully we will see you this spring!!

[gunner55]

Sorry to hear about all the idiots pushing you off your spot Jake.Hope you didn't let them spoil your weekend.I wondered if that wasn't what was going on with neither of you posting again on the weekend.Sounds like s3350 & his group went about it the right way & had some good results.What's that old song R E S P E C T

[JacobG]

No they didn't ruin my weekend. It made me upset and frustrated to say the least but those fisherman made me think. Where can I go from here? What spot/area? What have the results been the previous day's? With everyone sitting on my Holes from the day before we had completely lost our area. But when I decided to make a move it was calculated. Put the pieces together and think! The move brady and I made paid off big time! I'd guess the 6 of us caught as many or MORE than everyone else combined!

But again with 4 portables set up 30 feet apart and having guys drilling holes in between us. Setting up portables 15 feet away......gimme a break. In hindsight I should thank them!!!! They made me think. Get outta here!!!! But where to go.....how far? I made a decision and it just worked out perfectly. Over 40 fish in 2 hours with my wife getting serveral and Casey really pounding on em getting around 20 himself.

The great thing about upper red is that there are many area just like this. And if you haven't fished it very much then you don't have a clue and just jump into the crowd. Cookie and I just talked about another spot that should be full of crappies! and of course that other area too!

Id also like to say that buddy hillman makes the best dam road on the lake it will most likely hold up for another 2 weeks or more.

[Randy Kato]

Hello Jacob it was nice meeting you,you are spot on about the guys crowding you and your group me and Tammy sat there looking out the window at the at the circus going on we didnt have the going on by us thank god .On another note yes Cookies is a great guide but the best part about Cookie and the Hammer they are great people and i am so happy to be able to call them my friends and i cant wait to go and see them again and Jacob i hope to get to see you again hopefully my wifes knee will be working order so we can go hole hopping and fishing you the next time Cookie ,Kelly(Hammer), and Jacob hope to see you guys soon

Thanks Randy and Tammy

[JacobG]

Another happy client!

[Quackaddict9]

But you (Jacob) did say anyone is welcome to join your group........ Before you hit the ice. Lol, I get your point, no explaining needed. It looks like you had a good time and caught quite a few slabs. I got out there on Saturday but kept my distance from the village. Anyone with updates or knowledge how the shore is holding up let me know! Thinking about one last hurrah this weekend.

[Borch]

Wife and I have plans to head up the 20th. Will keep ears open for ice conditions with these crazy warm temps. Hope the village isn't in my favorite spot.

Oh well there are lots of good spots.

[kelly-p]

Quote:

Hope the village isn't in my favorite spot

I swung out there today. Nobody anywhere close to your favorite area.

[Borch]

I swung out there today. Nobody anywhere close to your favorite area.

Can you leave the freezer door open for us for a few days? Would hate to need to cancel due to poor ice conditions

[cookie129]

The last hurrah for the year has arrived. Its been close to 100 days I have had the houses on the lake. Looking for the mother load of crappies has been a blast. Its been a long week since I set the houses up with Marty and Wayne's help last Sunday. The farmer I work for Gary went out of town and I have been doing the morning and afternoon chores in between my time spent on the lake. Wednesday I was escorting Charlie out on the lake with the red baron when I hit a soft spot on the white ice. I was not going that fast but hit it just right to cause the v-plow to go up in the air and with a whiplash effect I broke the v-plow basically right off the red baron. I snapped it clean as a whistle and it came crashing down onto the ice. Bummer not a good deal at all. After studying the situation I determined as long as I had it down I could still drive her so off we went to get Charlie set up for the evening bite. I had punched 8 holes earlier in the day and pre fished them. I caught a couple small walleyes which I liked to see and lost a couple of fish. I also marked fish in all the holes. I expected we were going to do very well after dark. Limping the red baron off the lake to go do evening chores I had to improvise away to raise the plow and hold it in place to go up Hillmens driveway and down the road. With two chains and my block and tackle I was able to run the chain from the tip of the plow over the hood and windshield, over the roof and all the way back to the tow bar where I was able to hoist her up just enough to get it off the ground. Just like that and my plowing for the season has came to a end.

Monday night I set Jason up in Montana where he landed a few elusive upper red lake crappies. He kept 6 for a meal for his family and released at least that many more. The bite was excellent but did not start tell well after dark? Wednesday eve when I got back out there Charlie had a big fat zero where I had set him up. I fished outside with him for a bit and never marked a fish in all 8 holes I had drilled earlier in the day really weird. Charlie packed it up and headed home while I went over to check on Jake, Jenny, Gabrial and Lakken. Yes Jake could not stand it and came back Wednesday afternoon. Kellie the hammer and I had dinner on the ice in old Minnesota the last couple of nights . We have landed a few elusive upper red lake crappies but have not had that magical mother load. Kellie did loose what she figured may have been her biggest crappie while I was outside. She had it by the lips for a second and it squirmed out of her hand and gave her a tail splash as it headed back down the hole. Even I yes I have landed a couple elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Lonnie and Craig moved after I talked to them Tuesday and went from zero to 12 in one night with many more lost. I met Randy Ermin out on the lake and they packed it in with only one Wednesday night. I set up Al ,Rick and Dan in there portables Wednesday and they were happy Thursday morning with a few fish. Diehards for sure as they fished all night. Sounds like Al and I will be doing a little summer fishing as he lives in Hibbing and has that true passion for fishing. Jake has been bouncing around all over the lake like a pinball looking for the mother load. He has landed a few fish and sounded like last night at 10pm he may of had a magical moment. When I talked to him all he said was I live for this and Jenny was enjoying watching him catch fish. .I will know more today after chores. Todd rolled in yesterday with a custom fish house and I'm looking forward to stopping in when I get back and checking it out as its a monster of a fish house. He took good direction and I truly expect that they had good fishing. Labs and Hunter were spending the night in Montana and I sure hope they landed a couple at least. The daughter is coming up with all the grand kids this weekend and we will be closing out the season with family and great friends on as Dave said "A Grand Lake and I could not agree more.

[fins_n'_feathers]

Made one last trip to upper red lake this weekend and it didn't disappoint! Best trip of the year by a long shot! And couldn't have been done without you Cookie! Your the man! When we got up Friday afternoon cookie was out working on the lake and we chatted and he pointed us in a "fishy" direction. After we set up and the sun hit the trees it was game on! one after another untill we couldn't take any more and went to bed. After sleeping in and enjoying a nice lunch at west wind with cookie and wife, Jake Jenny and the boys and Wayne we headed back out to the houses with high hopes for a repeat performance of the night before. When we got on the lake we all teamed up to punch a bunch of holes and the girls were out hole hopping in no time and the were on em!!! Jake and I fished outside for a while after they came in and we got a few also but it seemed like the best action was inside the big houses. I went to bed early and I hear I missed out on an epic bite! We ended up bringing enough home for a meal or two and released countless others, the biggest being 15 1/2 inches. Please people let these fish go! it's sickening asking people how they did when they are leaving Saturday morning and they say "we got our 40". Anyways an awesome trip and great meeting new friends, look forward to meeting up with Jake and family to chase those slabs this spring and maybe even get a few of those "rough fish". Hopefully we can meet up with you this summer too Cookie your welcome to hop in our boat any time!

[side_laker]

Are they still allowing trucks out on the ice.

[fins_n'_feathers]

When we left yesterday there were still some trucks out on the ice but things will change quickly now with the rain. If your thinking about heading up there make some phone calls, I know the first person I would call would be cookie.

[JacobG]

Yes another awesome weekend! We caught fish all weekend but had 1 slower night. Joel's 3 fish pic were all released,could've been 4 but I released a little one for the sake of saving a rod. I got my 2 fish pic the next morning and both those were released as well. Cookie once again did a great job spotting the houses and we were able to catch em in the houses as well as around. What a great weekend weather wise and guys were really spread out. Mixed reports all over but like Joel said some guys left the lake with 40 crappies. And I,like him and many other don't like to hear that from guys. But the limits I guess could be worse. Just like the thought of selective harvest and taking only what you need. People talk about the boom til this day. And there's a decent amount of fish in the lake,maybe we can enjoy it a little more this time? Hope so. Hillmans road is still in good shape but not sure how long it will last. Most likely trucks for a few more days but could be a week? I was fortunate to fish 8 out of the past 11 days and only had 1 slow day. Caught fish every night and a few during the day. Moving was key even tho cookie is always reluctant moving a house after only 1 night of fishing,Especially after I had caught 17 the night before. Again what a great weekend of fishing for mostly numbers(11-13") but a few trophy fish were caught including a pair of 15s (both being released) along with many small fish including two 7"ers. And must mention the incredible sunrise sunday morning, just awesome. Can't wait for open water! Should be lots of fun!

[JacobG]

Was really nice meeting many of you guys that read the posts on this site, and the guys that actually post

[gunner55]

Good meeting you too Jacob.I have to agree with you on the C & R part as well.I was on a good crappie pattern from early August until turnover when they went deep last year.I don't like to fish for them after they go deeper than 25' as you have to keep them all.We might have kept enough for a meal once a week & they weren't the biggest ones as they were all full of eggs.

[cookie129]

Well all I can really say is amazing just amazing. Labs and his son Hunter managed to catch a few elusive upper red lake crappies. Old Minnesota also produced a couple more elusive upper red lake crappies for The Hammer and I. Jake has some outstanding fishing and landed 17 out of florida. After Jake landed 17 in Florida he wanted me to move the house. It took me about a minute if that to decide to move all three deluxe houses one more time so even the grand kids and daughter would have a fresh spot to fish. The last couple days have been a blur so I may not have all this is the right order. We got jake reset up in his new spot and with out a plow each house had to be hand banked for the end of the season just like the beginning of the season. While Jake was at shore getting propane Nicole and Joel showed up and I pointed them in the right direction with help from Jake over the phone. Jake came back and got settled in and I headed home as I had afternoon chores for Gary the farmer I work for. I ecpected the kids to arrive around 10 pm Friday night but they got a late start and would not be arriving tell after midnight so Montana and old Minnesota would be unfished Friday night. Joel and Nicole landed on the mother load and were tickled pink as they land many many fish Friday night. Todd arrived with his custom house and what a house it was they landed 11 the first night. Duke also arrived Thursday and had some good action. Shawn arrived friday for north Carolina and had slow fishing .Jake was doing a lot of bouncing around out in the area we were fishing .Looking for the mother load I guess? He had great fishing in my book Friday night but ask if I could move florida one more time as they wanted to hang with Joel and Nicole , fish and have a couple beers together saturday night. Jake made a outstanding move and sent the girls out hole hopping around the houses where they proccedded to put the hammer down and catch a few fish outside while the guys watched the kids. They bonded and now have become good fishing buddies as both there husbands live there life's around fishing. How cool is that. Its very cool. Wayne came up Saturday afternoon to help me weld the v-plow back on the red baron. I got the daughter Missy, Eric, Matty my grand son and Jacob another of my grandsons set up in old Minnesota. Kellie the hammer and I would be joining them later in the day. What a beautiful day it was Saturday ,Unbeleavble would be the best way to describe it.. To be continued

[Borch]

Any snow left on the lake?

[JacobG]

No snow, you can drive anywhere with a little caution you should do just fine borch! The last 2 weeks have been good!

[Borch]

Ok.

Had planned on bringing sleds but with no snow/water,(it's supposed to be cold the end of this week), for track slides might need to rethink it at bit. How's the ice for a 1 ton truck with no wheelhouse?

[401TE]

Congrats on the crappies! I was able to enjoy the boom for a number of years and am guilty of taking home plenty to eat.

No offense meant to those posting here about people taking limits home or moving in on your spots, but what did you think would happen when you put your reports online? People follow hot bites, including meat hogs. I've seen online fishing reports ruin more than a few bites/lakes. I'm not saying don't post, but don't be surprised when you get company after you do. It's not hard to figure out where Cookie is fishing if you pay attention...particularly when very few other houses are on the lake. Your reports and others like it, and TV shows like IDO, are what draw people to the lake that wouldn't otherwise come. Just sayin.

[theharvester]

+1