so long fellas

[Guest]

7 trips= 1900 miles, 7 tanks of gas = $210, minnows, food, drinks, I would say.... this would only be a guess....$7-$800. total crappies...........42 SO LONG FELLAS, SEE YOU WHEN THE LEAVES ARE POPPIN AND THE WAVES ARE SLAPPIN. hope most of you are having better luck than I.

[Guest]

SKUNK1
I have a few bucks invested in HIGH ADVENTURE ON URL ALSO. Saturday made it the 10th trip this winter. I made 21 last winter. It's a short 250 mile round trip for me. I have been told many times you can't put a price on having fun. Just think of the nice people you can BS with out there when the fishing is slow and when they do bite, it's a BONUS. What would a guy do with all those fish if you caught a limit everytime. On the other hand, it's nice to know that you might really get lucky and get a limit of 15 for all the time, effort, and expense involved. Just wait until the 10 fish limit takes affect. Then we can't use cost averaging. Well, sorry to hear you are dropping out as a player. I'm sure lots of people from all over the state will take over for you. Saw some people from Appleton,Wis. yesterday. The best fishing is yet to come.

[Guest]

went out on a couple of lakes 20 miles from home today, not 270 and still had a good time,I'll be back up for the spawn tho!!

[blackdog]

We went out of Rogers Fri, sat, and sunday, caught about 80 crappies, 40 eyes, and a ton of perch. All the eyes went back of course, but it was fun. We moved a couple times when the bite was slow and it was worth it. Don't give up, it doesn't get better than that. We only fished from about 6 p.m. to 8:30 Fri, Sat, and Sun. Bad luck hits everyone sometimes. Sorry you didn't do as well as you hoped, but I hope you go back sometime.

[Guest]

Hey blackdog
That's a great report. You said you had to move around a few times. How far did you have to move each time? 50 ft.? 100 yds.? a mile?

[blackdog]

We basically went about a 1/4 mile outside of the main crowd trying all sides until we hit fish. They were about 2 feet deeper Friday than Saturday or Sunday. I don't think it matters where you head out each day. But, I would move if you hadn't connected in 30 to 40 minutes, because they are definately out there.

[loadmaster]

Gee I thought I was bas luck for our party. You did better than us, three trips so far this year party 0 Crappies 30. We treied moving and I think we were realy close to the boarder went across the hillman bridge We must be doing something wrong

[JAR JAR]

skunked1,
i know how you feel i took 7 trips up to url last year with only 6 fish caught and skunked 5 times!

[Rick]

We had a tourney this past weekend. Some only a couple of teams came in skunked.

Some had a few crappies, but plenty had their limits and claimed they caught them and could've kept right on catching them using whatever they could throw at them.

The key is not plopping down in one spot, not catching fish and hoping for the best. Find the crappies and you WILL enjoy some of the finest crappie fishing in the world. Stay away from the crowds. Those who were catching a lot of fish said they were in No-man's Land for the most part.

let's not forget the awesome pike that are being caught and released.

If you're not heading up to Upper Red Lake with the above thoughts in mind, you are missing the opportunity of a lifetime.

It's truly a "World Class Crappie and Pike Fishery" RIGHT NOW.

[chart1444]

I wish I lived as close as Skunked to URL did, but in the wonderful town of Grand Forks it is almost 200 miles one way up there.

You could say I could go to Devils Lake, but it would sure be nice to TRY for some nice crappies just once.

The money part of it, is just that, I would rather spend it on fishing and relaxing than going to a casino and getting p---ed off all the time.

You don't know how lucky you are to be in a area where fishing is so close and I envy you.

Keep trying, you luck will get better, but don't catch them all, one of these days, I am going to make it up there.

[Guest]

to GREG C. I know your out there reading these posts, what are your thoughts on this subject? I live very close to you and I believe you would have to agree there are alot of smaller lakes in our area to catch some real nice crappies out of without travling 270 miles, the fishing up on red is excellant if you are looking for a wall mounter, but don't expect to go up there and catch them consistantly. to me the fishing doesn't even compare to what it was the last couple of years, schools thinning out?, to many people? this will be my fourth year fishing red and it has slowed considerably, even from last year it has slowed way down. I have only heard of one real nice fish coming out of there this year that was a wall hanger, 3#, don't get me wrong 12-14 " are very nice crappies but I have pulled many 10-12" inchers out of the lakes around here that alot of people would not even think there was crappies in it. you just need to get out and look.people say fishing is not all about catching fish it is having a good time, this is very true but when you spend that kind of money and get skunked there isn't a one of you out there that would be happy in that situation, all B.S. aside, come on now lets look at the bigger picture, if everbody says they don't go out there to catch fish its only for the fun, if you catch fish its only a bonus, these are probably the same people that whine like crazy when the DNR proposes new slots and smaller limits, now what happened to the,(its for the fun)? I am not trying to p*** anybody off here, just my own feelings, if you guys have got big fat checkbooks and can afford to drop that kind of money great,I wish I did to, but I don't. like I said I will be back up in the spring for the spawn. anyway enough ramblin for now, I hope everyone has been on the main forum and said a little prayer for DAN and his wife, I really feel for the people, it is a very stressfull situation they are going thru right now and also very expensive, been there done that, believe me when things like this happens to your wife it will totally change your life, in a heartbeat, good fishing to all.

[Guest]

Rick said it all, you've got to move people. I have made fifty+ trips to URL between winter and spring over the years. I have yet to get skunked, I HAVE had trips where I only caught five or six fish. I have never been skunked!!!I have been to URL six times this year, only once did I set up and fish that same spot all evening. Six of us got our limit. Use your electronics to find mud, and the proper depth. I had been preaching 14ft, but this last weekend we hit them in 13ft. I use my depth finder on top of the ice, put a liitle water on the ice and shoot right through. If you see a guy in a red ford driving fifty yards, stopping getting out , putting the depth finder to the ice and getting in and repeating the same over and over, it's probably me. I'll get out of my truck five or six times before drilling a hole! It is about the fun, but it's also work!! If it wasn't, everybody would be doing it.

[fireman182]

URLRocks, I believe what you are saying, but can you tell me how to distinguish between mud bottom and sand/gravel bottom on ones electronics (FL-18). I have a feeling it has something to do with the amount of bottom clutter on the screen, but am not sure of what to look for. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated.

[bigV]

Hey Blackdog
Does it pay to move around to find crappies midday? If so, what constitutes a find? (maybe 1 or 2 in 30 min.)I've tryed this without much success and by prime time am burned out from moving. Often times, end up staying put for better or worse at the last spot during prime time.
Also after dark it's kinda tuff to move. Gotta get back to Red - haven't been up since mid-Jan. Definitely in withdrawl. Besides,geez it's only a 4 1/2 hr. drive!
thanks for info

[Guest]

If you're catching 1-2 in 30 mins during the day stay there. Crappie don't move that much during the light of the day, they start to mill around as the light dims. This is when your best bite is, if your catching them during the day your sitting on top of a school. Wait until dark starts and see what happens!!

[This message has been edited by URLRocks (edited 02-19-2002).]

[Guest]

You can tell the type of bottom by the thickness of the line. The thicker the line the softer the bottom. Be careful and watch closely, if the bottom seems to quiver you have fish on the bottom. Try stopping on the road on your way out to the spot, anything under 13ft on red is usually sand. Take a reading in shallow water and pay attention to the thickness of your line, and this will give you a reference. Good Luck!!

[fireman182]

URLRocks, Thanks for the info! I've gotten it down to knowing what fish look like but the smaller details of using the vexilar are what I have to learn. I'm running up there from the cities this weekend again and hope your info will help out. This will be the third weekend in a row up there and am still waiting to get into the "bite"