Red Lake Crappies

All right I know some of you have or heard of the fishing up on Red, any good news or should I keep going to LOTW this weekend.

Red has been very SLOW…..I am going to give it a try on Thursday, but from what I have been told it has been a fish here and there, and most people are not getting any. If you are going to LOW, stop and hit Red on the way up. That is what my plan is for the weekend. Red for Thursday night and LOW the rest of the weekend. Good luck if you go

Yeah, what he said. Red has been more the tough so far this year. Two years ago it started the same way and they never ended up biting that year. Lets hope the bite turns on soon

When do things typically start to heat up on URL? We were up in late Feb. two years ago and did very well. I’m headed up in late January, hopefully things will improve before then.

Matt

The Game and Fish Biologist we spoke to a few years back predicted this year to be the start of the BIG decline on URL crappies. We noticed a dramatic difference in the thickness of the fish this spring during open water fishing. He predicted the walleye and sheepshead would have the majority of the baitfish eaten up in relatively short order. Judging from what we saw in the open water fishing this year, he may be correct. We will have to wait and see.
Tuck

Do ya think its maybe all the hype this lake got and all the extreme crappie limits that crews of people were taking????????? Maybe sometimes we over indulge and over brag a area up.
Not trying to start a conflict but if its overfished we did it to ourselves. I sure hope it isnt. FISHINFOOL

I can completely see your point FF. I’m not saying the crappies weren’t over-fished. But, I think part of what happened was the DNR and Red Lake band decided to attempt to restore the walleye population, knowing full well this would have a catastrophic impact on the crappies. The crappies were ruling the roost per say when it came to the available forage. However, with a predator like a walleye around, the “new kid on the block” is king of the hill per say.

One other factor seemed to be against the crappies. They had a couple years of massive reproduction. From what I’ve read, there were really only a couple of good year classes of fish in the lake. Those year classes are now old men and woman and probably dieing of natural age rather than being fished out.

I may be completely off, so anyone that knows this body of water better than me should please chime in.

Sounds like that could happen very easily . I know it was destined for walleyes in the next few years as we read about in ALL the outdoor magazines.. Probably both to consider.

Some years the fish just don’t bite. That does not mean they are not there. When the bite was horrible 3 years ago, they fish were still there most of the time. It was just REALLY hard to get them to bite. The fish are still there, believe me, just as many as ever. Whether they bite, we won’t know for a while yet.

I never fish Red Lake for early ice. It is usually not that great because the fish are not really concentrated yet. The good news, is the year the crappies did not bite, the pike fishing was the BEST

Yeah I too have a hard time believing that URL is fished out. We get a tiny little section of that lake. just think how many are in the rest of the lake that never see a lure!

From what I understand the fish do migrate between the two lakes as well, but that just what I have been told by joe karpp. but who really knows… No one but the fish I guess, too big & too many variables. JMO

The crappie population in Red Lake exploded as a direct result of the absence of walleyes acting as a competing species.

Put the walleyes back and there’s only one general direction the crappie population is destined to take. Downward. How fast and / or how abrupt this takes place is the part that is open for debate, in my opinion.

We are lucky to be able to fish one of the portions of the lake they like to spawn in. That brings in the big migration as the season gets later. All we can hope if they turn on. Keep your fingers crossed, they usually do.

What James said echos what the Fish and Game biologist said. In the absence of the walleye, the crappie population exploded. there were many baitfish and forage available initially. Crappies are very effective predators, often schooling, and feeding heavily. What they found with these crappies is that they have prolific spawns, and gazillions of crappies are found in early nettings, but later they were found to be canibalized by the adult fish. These fish being caught are the same year class give or take a year. We found that many of these fish had very large bodies, but little “Meat” and egg production was very minimal at best. We found many fish with minimal amounts of viable eggs this spring because their bodies were metabolizing them to sustain them. (Our thoughts, nothing scientific here…) Now the ying and yang theory should take over. There will always be crappie in the lake, as there always has been. But they will now be competing with the walleye, pike, and sheepshead. This should bring the numbers down dramatically. That comes from the F&G Biologist.
Time will tell.
Tuck

Agreed Tuck, I think we are all saying the same thing here. My point is people think as soon as they do not bite they are not there, which is far from the truth. We went through this all 2 years ago when they did not bite…but they were there.

Exactly why I cringed when I heard the DNR was managing to bring the walleyes back. We have a great crappie fishery like UR with plenty of trophy walleye lakes. I thought they should have left it alone then and I still do. The time and money put into Red could have gone to improve walleye fishing elsewhere. All they seem to be doing is exchanging one species for another. But I’m a crappie guy so that’s why it doesn’t sit well with me.

I agree Juggs. I think with a slot limit the lake could have been managed for crappies. Theres too many good walleye lakes in the area. When the crappies are gone, your not going to see 5,000 people on the weekend willing to spend thier money throwing back walleyes.

Curious Derek, how would you put a slot limit on crappies in URL? I am not saying this to be a dink, I am really curious how that could be done. With one year class in the lake, you would not be able to keep anything. Out of curiosity, have any of you caught “Small” crappies? And if you say yes, what would you declare as small? And how many have you caught? My wondering is in regards to how would you manage a lake the size of URL, both upper and lower for a species such as crappie? Can they be managed like walleye? It would require some sort of massive stocking in my opinion. A undertaking that I don’t believe anyone is set up for. Hatcheries are geared towards walleye, bass, and trout/salmon and musky. Crappie are not introduced in most lakes that are being “Managed” because of their predetory nature. In a lake like URL, could slot limits even work?

Tuck

You’re on the right track, Tuck. Crappies don’t need to be managed for, but the (re)stocking and subsequent management of the lake for walleyes will no doubt put the pressure on the crapps. If the DNR had taken all that management time, money, effort, etc. and put it into a different fishery, one that really needed some help, the net result would have been two lakes with great fishing, one for crappies, one for walleyes, instead of one that merely shifted from one species to another. This recent crappie boom wasn’t really managed into existence. It came about as a result of the removal of a competitor.

But remember, we can only fish a small portion of the lake. You are kidding yourself if you believe this lake wasn’t re-built so that the Native Americans couldn’t net again. It will happen. Native Americans have no interest in netting crappie! Personally, with the canabalistic aspect of this fish, and the huge schools that a lake this size can put forth, I think “Crappie Management” would be next to impossible. If you remember, those schools of crappies could be seen from aircraft they were so huge! How are you going to feed them? I think it would be a pipe dream to think we could “Manage” a lake that size for crappie, and sustain it. Personally, I think something needs to be done about the sheepshead in the lake! They too are prolific spawners, and are known to be a major predator to YOY crappie and walleye. We are going to have to face the fact that this was an anomoly, and it was due to “Human Hands” taking a natural predator out of the food chain. Someday we will be sitting in our rocking chairs telling our grandkids how Red used to be…

Slot limits would not work on Red Lake. Even in the worst years of the lake, there was enough spawning bio mass to produce a lake full. Each year enough eggs are layed to fill the lakes end to end with 12 inch slabs. But, crappie spawning success is totally dependent on weather/wind during the spawn. If we ever get a big spawn again, there will be another huge year class of crappies. They are a boom or bust fish. It doesn’t take many crappies to produce a lot of little ones.

Eventually Red Lake will be in balance again. Right now the lake is dominated by small walleye, which are eating machines. These eating machines will get picked off very fast once the season opens. After time the lake will be dominated by larger walleye that fall in the protected slot. When this happens, the lake will be back to what is referred to as balance.

In a balanced lake there is always a chance the crappie population could explode. So, I am not to worried about the Future of Red Lake. There are plenty of crappies now and there always will be. Some years they will bite better then others.

On a good note, I have been starting to get some better reports of a few more being caught

You can have a length limit. They had it in Texas for both crappies and bass back in the early 90s and may still have it in effect today. Crappies had to be 10″ in order to keep. Bass had to be 15″ in order to keep (if memory serves me correct).

It basically protected the smaller fish and allowed them to grow.

I once heard too, that most of the crappies in upper red will die of old age prior to being thrown into the fry pan…….anyone know the life span of a crappie????

I would think management would work since these crappies have been in the lake since the 60’s. Like was stated, the crappies took over when the walleyes were gone. We keep talking about one or two year classes yet we have been catching slabs for the last 8 years? I meant to say a managed limit would work not a slot.

What makes Red unique is we are only fishing 1/3 of the lake and none of Lower Red. Think of the fish in those parts. Areas that have deep water and structure. None of those fish are being harvested and spawn each year. It does not matter how many crappies are harvested on out 1/3 as it is a mere fraction of what is in the lake total.

If we were able to fish the entire lake, then a minimum size would be a possibility, but still would not be needed, as the majority of the crappies in that lake will die of old age.

Yea I guess that would make more sense. There was some talk that the Natives were going to open up thier end of the lake and build a marina. Has the idea been shot down?

Last I heard, the Band is not going to do a thing with there portion of the lake. There were several proposals floating around but in the end they decided to keep things as they are. However, that certainly could change.

I am sure they are getting ready for the upcoming netting season

I’m thinking about this whole thing from an economic perspective, too. If the walleyes do take over, given the limits the DNR says they are going to put in place, how many anglers are going to drive the five hours from the TC and however far from somewhere else to fish a lake with a two fish, narrow slot limit? Especially when you have LOTW, Winni, Leech, (am I missing any others) in the vicinity? I’m thinking the attendance on UR is going way down the next few years.

Hey Juggs;

Look at it this way……..

Why drive 10 hours and fly another 2 hours, spending $1000 to catch 100 walleyes per person in Canada, when you can go to Upper Red and do the same?????

The limits on most lakes in Canada is 4 fish take home, all under 18 inches……..

according to a couple different websites most crappies in the northern portion of the US will reach 1.5lbs and live 6-10 yrs

You will be amazed at how many will drive to Red Lake to keep 2 fish under 17 inches. Thousands daily for sure. Plus, you will have the bonus crappies

Why do that when I can drive five minutes and catch plenty of walleyes with a ligit shot at a trophy (although I can’t keep any) at pool 2 of the river. I want my big crappies!! and I’m willing to drive to UR to get them. Well, once or twice a year anyway.