RED LAKE ICE

[jigglestick]

well i couldn't take it no more!! i talked the wife into heading up nort wit me to check out the conditions first hand on red lake.

the trip was fruitful.

first off the rumors are true, the access fees will be increasing to eight dollars[m3]. however, given the fact that they have never raised the rates since this mayhem started, and the rising costs of gasoline, and the simple fact that they are below the average for access fees elsewhere in the state ie. mille lacs, low etc. they are more than justified in my opinion. i suggested a weekend rate of twelve dollars so we would not have to buy a pass each day during our comings and goings. they are kicking it around.

it was also in my mission to find out the skinny on the ice thickness.

while i sat with my lovely wife having lunch, a nice local gentleman walked in the door carrying the most beautiful thing i have seen since last spring... a 12" x 12" x 2" piece of red lake ice. freshly cut from a hole in which he was hoping to spear pike. we tape measured this piece of ice and it barely hit 2 inches thick. this was out in about seven to eight feet of water. my guess a good half mile out.

wishing not to press his luck, he wisely put his four wheeler into reverse cautiously backing it from the area, and then proceeding to shore, to share his find.

recognizing a rare opportunity when i see one, i asked the man if he minded if i were to chip off enough from his block to chill my first captain coke for the season, and he gladly obliged. and i did!! and boy was it good.

served by our fellow brother err...sister tera-x.

it will be at least a week til you see my portly frame strolling accross the icy tundra[m6]

it wont be long folks, but i wouldn't push it, though i know some will...be careful, and don't forget to toast the crappie gods[m5]

happy holidays, JINGLESTICK

[Chad711]

$8 ehh?

[crappiescout]

Got back around 6:00 p.m from fishng for slabs on Red. Fished about a mile out. Everywhere we checked the ice, it was around 4 inches. Ended up with about 20 beautiful walleyes, which were released.

crappieSCOUT

[jigglestick]

scout, i thought he might have hit an area that was thinner than the most, but what we measured was 2 inches at best. i did see someone out about a mile. two people and a four wheeler. right straight out from the beach area.

i'm not trying to hold people back, but i would not encourage travel for joe ordinary yet.

you guys are in the buisiness. you get paid to take chances.

be careful.

it was nice to see the lake again.

i took some pictures of the lake today if anybody would care to see them.

ddoree at paulbunyan dot net

[hanson]

Jigglestick-

Sounds like that was a great trip for you!

I was wondering when the resorts would raise their access fees. My opinion, $8 is money well spent and I have no objection! Upper Red has some of the nicest ice roads I have ever driven on and will gladly pay the fee to keep it like that.

By the way, 2 inches of ice with a 4 wheeler??? Crazy!!!

[kelly-p]

When I talked to Buddy yesterday he said he was finding 2 inches out about 2 miles where it was open water a few days ago. The last 2 nights will help but the forecast isn't showing any -0 numbers for the next 10 days. The forcasted LOW for 12-3 is 29 degrees! A guy called yesterday and wanted a big sleeper for next week!

[Royce Aardahl]

Here's a couple ice pics from jigglestick for you to droooooool over

[Jmnhunter]

wooaah, is it just me, or is the lake extremely low?!

[kelly-p]

I think the first picture is where we rebuilt the beach at the park so it looks like the lake is lower. With all the rain this fall the lake is about 15 inches higher then last year at this time. There will be a lot of poeple thinking that either their GPS or their flasher is broke.

[Tahoe2349]

kelly_p:

I hear your the Red Lake area guru What is the average ice depth before you let trucks out, and the general time of year that happens ?

I have time off the second week of Jan. 9 -14 and will be looking to rent up there or live in mine LOL

[kelly-p]

I don't know if guru is the right term or not? Old could fit there too. A lot of the people fishing or working on URL "discovered" URL in the last 5 years while my family is one of the families that have been here for a long time. A lot of experience and as we all know "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want".

I don't really get involved with the roads anymore except to help plow whoevers road I am using to get to my houses. I have my own V-plow just so that I can get my houses to new areas and away from other people. If you don't have your own V-plow all you can do is follow someone that does.

Usually X-Mass is about when we can start driving around fairly safely. The people running the roads all look for different things as to when they open their roads. They have to be carefull about when they open the roads because as soon as they feel it safe for small trucks and let them out somebody is going to decide that it must be safe for his 3/4 ton too. Then as soon as the 3/4 ton is out there the guy with the desiel will decide it is safe for him too. You can end up with ice that is good for small trucks and have people driving desiels around out there.

I personally do not put customers out in the houses until we have 14+ inches of ice. A strong low front coming through can crack up 12 inch ice on URL real quick. I don't think any of us want to be on 12 inches of ice and run lengthwise into a 10 inch wide crack with our truck.

[BLACKJACK]

Hi Kelly!

Good words to live by - watch those cracks!!!!

[waterwolff]

Blackjack I wish someone would have told me that before I said I do

[codeman]

If the definition of guru is:

One who sets his ice fishing pole on a chair while stepping outside for a minute and upon his return, he finds that a crappie had taken the pole down the hole for a ride.....then I would definitely call Kelly a guru.

He he he he.

How's it going Kelly?

codeman

[kelly-p]

If my mermory is right that was a slow night fishing and not only did I lose the rod but that was one of the few fish we had a chance at. halad and I were having a few cocktails the other night were wondering how codeman was doing. Then the discussion turned to how fast a person could go from vertical to horizontal. Come to think of it we were still dicussing you.

[halad]

Hi Cody, we really were talking about you the other night Kelly loves to get a guy in trouble then laugh at him when hes down. Look at what i went through with my dog. The dog is now grounded i come out of ww the other nite after having a few with Kelly to find out she had puked all over my seat she couldnt do it on her seat or her blanket lucky i had a roll of paper towel in the truck or i would have to get something from Kelly to clean it up with and he would have laughed at me for another year. Seriously Kelly knows the lake and when he says the ice isnt safe for vehicles he knows from past bad experiences things can change at any time when you are driving over ice. Nobody on the lake does a better job at keeping his houses on fish nobody works harder at it but if you screw up stay out of the bar.

[kelly-p]

Oh sure,,,,, blame the dog again.

[scott-z]

Kelly, I'd take guru over old if I were you. You are only as old as you think you are...and I have seen you act like a teenager before. I think I finally figured out the new format on the forum so I can start to post again. Did you guy's get the snow up that way last night? We ended up with 4"-5" of wet snow. The kids are loving it.

[DaPro]

Last year i tried red lake and only caught walleye after walleye, is that typical or was i just not in a "crappie spot'? The lake seems to be shallow and low on structure so i dont really now where to go. Any advice or spots would be great!

Ryan