Red Lake, MN

[WalleyeMan]

After hearing reports on the "unbelievable" crappie fishing on Red Lake, three diehard fishing buddies and I made the long trek last weekend from the Twin Cities. All I can say, is that hopefully we just picked the wrong days to go. It's certainly no secret where to fish, as we shared the ice with seemingly 1000's of other anglers, and crappie jigs and minnows are no secret either, but overall we were very disappointed in the resulting bite, and I wanted to hear from others if we should just chalk it up as a bad day fishing, or if the whole crappie fishery on the already tragic-storied Red Lake is overblown in an effort to help the local resort owner, Gosh bless them? We caught a total of 11 crappies in two days(& not much action from any anglers around us), and although they were decent size, they were hardly the 12-16" fish everybody told us about. We did catch a few nice walleyes, which also made us wonder about the future of the lake.....Has anyone else been up there lately with any luck?

[curt quesnell]

The thing about Red Lake is that it is still fishin. Some times
they bite great sometimes not so great.

This winter is different from last winter in that the bite is not
as fast. Why? who knows for sure but there is little snow cover
on the lake (last year there was lots of snow) that may keep many
of the fish in the deeper water of Lower Red.

There was a huge breaker that kept anglers off of much of last
years stomping grounds, that problem has been fixed and that whole
area is available now.

The bite gets better as the winter grinds on. I am not having
the sucess I had last year yet, but the fish are even bigger this
year.

Better luck next time?



Curt Quesnell

[mnwalleyekiller]

Good question! Red lake is the most overhiped lake in minnesota. It is not your fault for doing so poorly the lake is shutdown. Yea you hear about the 12-14in crapps 1 in 5000 fisherman get. They are stories and once in a winter experiences. Yea somebody has slammed them to me somebody isnt enough. Go for eyes on millelacs have fun leave that big bowl alone. Wait till first ice out then put the hurt on the slabs. see ya going fishing

[Borch]

The trick is to venture away from those other anglers. I haven't been up there this year yet, but generally the best fishing is the end of February until the ice is no longer safe. If you're looking for a secret here's one that has been working well for many of the guys I've been talking to. Instead of a standard minnow, jig, and bobber set up. Put on a small jigging spoon and work it with a crappie minnow or waxworms. Also like I said get away from the crowds. If they don't bite move until you find some consistent action. This will definitely put more crappies on your line. One last tip. Pack along some tip ups. If the crappies aren't going there are some monster pike in Upper Red. Bring a camera and put them back when your done playing with them.

Good Luck!

[srj]

I'm fairly close to Red and have enjoyed the crappie explosion of the last 3 years. One word used frequently this year is "spotty"--I'm pretty sure that means slow. Crappies are not a long-lived fish and even last year they may have been approaching the natural end of their life cycle. I know several natives who fish the lower lake and they also are having a greatly reduced bite. Hopefully, some reason other than a greatly reduced population is what is causing the "spotty" fishing. Two years ago the Dec and Jan fishing was almost as good as Feb and Mar. Last year Jan fishing was still very good. I know many DNR guys fish Red--how about some input from some of you Fisheries guys?
As a footnote: if the daytime bite is slow try 7-9 feet with waxies or maggots--find the whitefish and they will kick your butt! And do try them filleted and fried like a walleye--awesome.

[eyewitness]

Go to the Fishing Minnesota web site. They just posted an article on this very subject from the DNR's perspective. Good reading....

[curt quesnell]

It certainly isnt bull...

The fish are huge...this is how we have done in 6 trips over to
Red this winter.
trip 1.....7 Crappies, all but one over 12 inches..biggest 13 even.
trip 2.....4 nice Crappies all from 11 1/2 to 12 1/2
trip 3.....18 Crappies, all real nice..6 measured 14 inches in the
cleaning house with a tape measure.
trip 4......4
trip 5......7
trip 6......7

7 pound and a half Crappies are like 7 pound and a half Walleyes.
Certainly nothing to scoff at.

usually 2 of us...getting to the lake at 3:30 or 4pm getting out
on the lake and pickin a spot and getting set for dark. We take
a guess and live buy it and we quit at 7 pm at the latest. This
barely qualifies as a fishing trip, but you can only work with
the time you've got.

Another thing that is a little different
this year is the fish will bite during the day better than they
did last year and there is an early morning bite that didnt exist
last year.

The trip we caught the 18 fish we started at 1 pm and moved 3 or
4 times. The last time we moved was just a half hour before dark
and we stopped on some fish.

The very first trip we brought our seven fish to the cleaning house
at the WestWind access thinking we must have done as well as everyone
else from reports we got on the lake before comming in. There was
a group of 4 in the cleaning house already cleaning the 40 fish they
caught. They had fished since noon and had pretty steady action all
afternoon. The "SPOT" is so very important and there is no difference
from one place to the next. You want 14 feet deep and mud and there
is lots of that out there.

mnwalleyekiller I hope you are only trying to kid yourself. If you
dont know what you are talking about you shouldnt say anything.
This website is a great place for good information not misinformation.

Walleyeman, if you fish Walleyes you know how tough fishing can be.
It could take a couple of trips to begin to figure it out. Comming
all the way from the cities is a haul and with all the other possibilities that are closer I can see where you have some thinkin
to do. If you do come back I hope you have better luck.


Curt Quesnell