Bob Jensen
03-15-2001, 08:59 AM
Left home Monday at 5:00 am for Red Lake in northern MN. Snow had been predicted, weatherman was right. Took me two hours to get to the Twin Cities, two and half hours to get through the Twin Cities. Arrived in Bemidji about 2:30 p.m., met with John and Duane Peterson and John Januszek from Northland Tackle, then headed for Red Lake. On the ice and fishing about 5:00 p.m. first half hour was slow, but when the sun hit the treeline, bobber started going down. Action was nonstop. Most crappies were in the 10-12 inch range.
We were using Micro Minnows, Forage Minnow Jigs, and Fire-eye Grubs. Color didn't seem critical except it had to glow. We attached Fire-Light Glow Sticks above the bait about a foot to some of the lines. The lines that had the Glow Sticks were more productive by a significant margin. These Glow Sticks really make a difference. We also attached Glow Sticks to the bobber to make it easier to see.
We fished until about 8:30. Caught and released most crappies, but kept a few. We caught at least 50 in a short period of time. Had supper and got back to Bemidji about 11:00 p.m. Long day but very productive.
Next day we returned to Red Lake. Bite was slower, best action again came right at sundown. Crappies were very finicky and color selective. 75% of the fish came on a glow chartreuse/orange Micro Minnow. That was by far the most productive bait and color, and we tried them all.
Red Lake is seeing lots of angling pressure. Don Hudec at Hudec's Resort on Red Lake said that last year at this time the ice-fishing was almost over due to no ice, this year there are still almost 40 inches out there.
We were using Micro Minnows, Forage Minnow Jigs, and Fire-eye Grubs. Color didn't seem critical except it had to glow. We attached Fire-Light Glow Sticks above the bait about a foot to some of the lines. The lines that had the Glow Sticks were more productive by a significant margin. These Glow Sticks really make a difference. We also attached Glow Sticks to the bobber to make it easier to see.
We fished until about 8:30. Caught and released most crappies, but kept a few. We caught at least 50 in a short period of time. Had supper and got back to Bemidji about 11:00 p.m. Long day but very productive.
Next day we returned to Red Lake. Bite was slower, best action again came right at sundown. Crappies were very finicky and color selective. 75% of the fish came on a glow chartreuse/orange Micro Minnow. That was by far the most productive bait and color, and we tried them all.
Red Lake is seeing lots of angling pressure. Don Hudec at Hudec's Resort on Red Lake said that last year at this time the ice-fishing was almost over due to no ice, this year there are still almost 40 inches out there.