How's the bite been?

[SCUMFROG]

My brother-in-law and I are planing on heading up there Thursday and just wanted to know if any thing is bitting?

[Mudflap]

I would say you have a good chance to catch fish. The incoming weather could stall the ongoing frenzy.

The day bite had been excellent. Sunday,for me the best fishing was between 2-4 pm. I've been hitting the lake over 10-15 times a year and the big swamp just keeps magically producing volumes of fish.The bite seems the same as it was 4 years ago..hit the right day and it doesn't get any better.

Tips that help me:

Get away from the crowd...I mean miles away....you have that luxury.

Don't be afraid to supersize the minnows. These pigs can get your bobber to pop when they inhale a 3" long shiner.

Jig style and color don't seem to matter to much right now. A plain hook has been very successful. I've had luck on glowing rocker spoons and a minnow head later, but walleyes seem to favor these.

If you get set up and don't have fish on the ice in 15-20 minutes, move even if it's -20 winchill. I know it's work, but 20 yards can mark or break a successful trip.

A scanning two-way radio comes in handy to let you know if the bite is on around the crowd. Plus, you can heckle your buddies during slow times.

Good Luck SFROG,

[SCUMFROG]

Thanks, I have never even seen this lake or even know were he is talking me yet. So any help would be great. And I've only been ice fishing 2 times..

[mrwalleye_13]

Is it worth it to come there from grand forks?

[The Donk]

Definitely. Grand Forks isnt any further than the majority of people who drive to Red, and unless you have a better lake in mind, well, make the trip

[swampman]

people come from alot farther, you might get some, you might not, I will be up there friday, might do good might go home whooped (done both) if you have never been there before its worth it to at least come once just to see the lake. my opinion anyway.

[mudman]

Yes its is a great lake.

But with this weekends weather I would stay home and play it safe.

Plus the fishing has been mediocore at best. Nothing to see here please move on

No its well worth the trip. Hell its worth 5 or more every year!

[black max]

Well I will be up on fri. night with the bitter cold and all. Hopefully we will be able to get something in that cold weather. Even with the -40 outside it will be 70 and comfy in my house, and it don't take very long to ice down your beer either!

[mrwalleye_13]

I'll be tehre in a few weeks maybe then. We went to devils lake monday, and i have been to red as well. But not this year, we were there right after ice off and them walleyes are pretty vicious there at that time. We didnt get one, the walleyes wouldnt let us fish properly as sad as that sounds. We were just off of that first little drop to 8 feet where the rish comes in... i have no idea where to try for crappies in the winter though?

[hanson]

Mike-

You ask where to find crappies in the winter. Its pretty simple. I'd suggest picking a resort- Rogers, Morts, Westwind, Hillmans and pay the money to use their road. Drive out until you run into the city of houses. Get out of the truck and drill some holes.

If you haven't done it in the winter, use the cluster of houses as a guide and fish in the 'proximity' of them to start. Now I'm not telling you to crowd the houses but rather use them as a guide to the general area of where the fish will be. Maybe set up a 1/4 mile from the closest person and you should have a good starting point. If you don't catch anything in a 1/2 hour, move and try a different area.

I don't feel there is any rocket science to the location. You just have to remain mobile and be willing to adjust locations if the fish aren't biting.

[Borch]

Well the bite was pretty good for us today!

My wife and I made a day trip up there. The bite was excellent the entire 2 hrs 45 minutes we fished until we had our limits.

Get away fromt he crowd. You don't need to get that far away. I parked the truck about 200 yards from the nearest house/fisherman. Then I started drilling holes. I drilled about 40 holes over a 200+ yard area. Then I checked each of them with the depth finder before I even unloaded the fish house or any of my gear. I found fish in only one of these holes(another 200 yards away) which we used as a start point. We never needed to move.

Hot baits for us were a large crappie minnow or fat head on a glow demon. Although I had my best luck on a large ratso in glow or chartruese. No need to tip it with live bait. These have been my hot bait the past two winters for crappies. The URL crappies really liked them as well.

Also did alright on 1/8 oz go devils with a minnow head. But had more takers on the ratso today.

The crappies were in smaller schools where we were at. You'd pop a couple out of each school and they'd be gone. A few minutes later a new school would show up.

Tally for the day... 9 hrs driving, 3 hours(or so)fishing, two limits of crappies, Sharing it with your lovely wife.....priceless!

Definitely worth it.

[T-ROY]

congrats,and thanks for the info on what to use.

good luck fishin!!!

[mrwalleye_13]

awesome... how big were those puppies? Me and a buddy are coming sunday hopefully.... got a pretty good idea on what the deal is. I hope they continue to bite with all this cold coming. Any other info would be sweet.

[SCUMFROG]

Well I am not going now cause of work. So I guess I'll stick to the lakes down here to start my ice fishing, but not his week.

[Borch]

Quote:

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awesome... how big were those puppies?

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Ours all ran from 12-15". Most were 13-14". All very nice crappies.

I'd think that by Sunday the crappies would adjust to the weather change. It's not like it was balmy yesterday. It was -12 degrees when we got there and -3 when we left the lake. But with no wind to speak of it was very pleasant.

[mrwalleye_13]

thats the awesome part about red... you can catch them, and they are just huge. I love that. I can catch crappies by the hundreds on the lake i have my icehouse oin northeast minnesota near eveleth. But the biggest we have pulled out of there was 10.5. The next closest was 9.5 n the majority run about 6-8. The lake i actually live on has really nice mostly 10-13 or 14's even, but it has been fished pretty much out of them. I guess i am going to have to figure out where those landings are... i am guessing they don't charge that much right?