Red Lake

No secret that Red lake is good this time of year. Our last weekend out of Beacons was about the best winter walleye fishing I’ve experienced. Ice is about 15″ a couple miles out. We went on a wheeler to the north east and had good steady action in 10 fow (my gps chip is off about 1.5 feet too deep). Bobber rod with shiners or fatheads was good. A 1/4 oz north land metallic gold summer jig with a shiner was also productive. Buckshot or lindy flyer spoons good in the evening when fish were especially aggressive but not anytime else. Ripping raps worked but not stellar. No luck for me on jigging raps. (I can not claim to be good at either)Lots of just over 17″ fish so take a measuring board. Also take some fish frying stuff. We caught 6 while frying fish,…we also had to pull the lines up to get sleep,…best 2 “problems” I ever had. Snowmobiles may not work well this coming weekend with the pending melt and refreeze. Wheelers would be better.

Is it safe to drive a car out yet?

It is safe to drive a car or truck out there at least to the first and maybe the second break. My buddy and I were there last weekend. Plenty of trucks and cars out there. Rogers did set some bridges up over large cracks but they were no problem.

OK, thanks. I’m renting a shack this weekend from Porta-Villa and would prefer to drive all of our stuff out there if possible. Sounds like we won’t have to swim.

We too rented from PortaVilla. Let me say the experience was less than great, but not the worst. Lots of people were catching fish last weekend, we weren’t. We had all the same gear and tackle and skills as most. The problem was placement. We were pretty tight to the shoreline, more so than any other houses, and the only 2 shacks that close to the shore were the PortaVilla shacks.

That being said, I would use the shack only as a warm base station to moving around hole hopping with the truck. That is what we should have done. I suspect that PV only moves these shacks when they have to and are not as active in finding hot spots for you as you would like to think. Also, if you get the same shack as we had (nearest the shore out of Rogers), fish the hole closest to the outside door with a grapple hook and see if you can get my $230 rod/reel combo. Lost it in the hole when packing up. Oh yeah, close the holes with the hatch covers when packing up.

One interesting technique our neighbors in another PV shack were using is TipUps in their houses. I suspect to block the light from the shack from penetrating into the shallow water and spooking the fish. Also, get both shiners and fatheads. Seems the walleyes preferred shiners although, we did get a few on fatheads. Out total 3 man catch was 2 walleyes and 2 eel pout.

Stay mobile and you should catch fish. Good luck! Mille Lacs for pike this weekend for me.

We were there too. We had shiners, suckers, fatheads and rainbows. Everything worked, buy cheap fatheads or rainbows. We used rattle reels and jigged. We didn’t leave lines down at night or we couldn’t sleep, it was incredible. Friday was awesome, sat was very good, Sunday was marginal and Monday was slow but still better than around here. We were in 11 feet but 14 was the magic number on Sunday and Monday I heard. Take or buy LOTS of minnows. We cleaned one fish that had 14 minnow heads in it. I guess his luck ran out on being released and we didn’t have a limit yet. Minnow prices and propane prices at JR’S were actually better than around Brainerd! We had a great time,Thanks JR and staff.

It’s disappointing to hear of the poor experience you had. A friend of mine highly recommended them. Either way we do not plan to come home without fish. We are prepared to move around if necessary. The weather is projected to be warm which makes it nice for hole hopping. Also I heard that Brad Hawthorne helps to make sure guests renting shacks are on the fish. Maybe this is not the case?

Trucks with single axle wheel houses were allowed out. I did see some tandems but don’t know what pulled them out. It was “booming” all night so for peace of mind, I tired to unhook the house while down. It didn’t come off so it stayed hooked up. No problems,…just a bit nervous.

Hearing about your perceptions of PortaVilla are disturbing, I’m booked for the end of the month. We had a similar experience with them last January but chalked it up to the severe weather, but it was obvious that the house hadn’t been moved for a long time. We’re willing to give them another try based on their reputation, but no one gets three tries. They had something called the Otter train that I thought would make up for the house not being moved, but that too was also broken. Maybe someone will clue them into the fact that folks are becoming concerned?

Wharf Rat wrote:

Also I heard that Brad Hawthorne helps to make sure guests renting shacks are on the fish. Maybe this is not the case?

Buzz wrote:

Maybe someone will clue them into the fact that folks are becoming concerned?

Yeah, the Otter train was running on Sunday and I actually talked with Brad on the phone when booking it. He mentioned he would be running that train so I said, Sure, we’ll take that add-on package. Considering his reputation, why not? But when we got there they told us that Brad was at the Ice Show and someone else would take us. I hate that! Feels like bait and switch. Never the less, it was high wind Sunday and ice storms were on the way so we packed it in early and went home.

I hear you Buzz about calling to complain, but these days, who really listens. Their job is to get the houses filled with the least cost in doing so. If that means they do not move houses around as much, then so be it. Someday service organizations will realize that only 1 in 12 people dissatisfied with a service or product actually complain. The rest, like me, just take it in the sack and change our plans next time.

I listen, I did not expect to come back from the ice show and read this, I apologize for my absence during the ice show it is a necessary evil in my line of work. I did have one of my guides on duty during my absence he is well versed on fish locations and did a great job. The Otter train reports I received when I got back were all positive, all caught fish and had a good time. I can assure you I work 7 days a week all season long guiding and finding fish, shocked that is even being questioned over an absence during the ice show.

Upon my return to Red I was informed the of the the shallow sand/rock transition group that had a rough time, the houses were moved that day deeper out on the transition and the Otter train had me back in the drivers seat the same day. Again, I apologize for my absence. Rest assured it’s the only time I leave this lake until Walleye season closes.

Thanks for responding Brad.
I’m looking forward to fishing there and staying in one of your rentals this weekend.
Kee at Joe’s is who recommended you.
See you on Saturday!

Went out of Rogers a little over a week ago and have nothing but good things to say about the experience. Yes the fish weren’t jumping in the bucket but we did alright and Brad is a straight shooting stand up guy from my interaction with him.

From a friend of “FLIPPER” aka “BACKSTROKE”

No problem Brad, I appreciate you commenting. Sure wish we wouldda stayed with the Otter train on Sunday but that dang ice storm had our attention and we had no desire to fish in sleet and high winds then drive home on ice in the dark. I’ll fish in one or the other, just not both at the same time. In fact, we saw an ice house trailer rig had slid off the road (a half hour from the lake heading south) into the ditch and wrinkled up pretty bad as a result of the ice on the roads. We nearly slid off the road ourselves when we stopped off for a late breakfast at Gosh Darn Cafe. So I don’t know what to think anymore about semi-guided services. Had a lot of bad luck over the last few years with duck and goose guides too.

Just from a customer’s view, I spent over 4 grand (and money don’t grow on trees) on getting new gear, equipment, ice striker suit, custom TUCR rods (x4), all the latest rippin’ raps, spoons, jigs, etc…, food, planning, research, changing auger blades, and ice house rental. Then invest 10 hours of driving, find that both my Marcum and Vexilar are acting funny (battery issues) and to cap it off, lose a nice rod and reel combo down the hole. It’s actually kind of funny as the weekend shaped up to be somewhat of a comedy of errors. Even spent $100 on pull tabs on the way back and did not even win one lousy buck. I’m a big boy and know it’s not all about catching limitless fish…but it sure helps to catch more than a couple. I guess it’s better than none at all.

Bright light…I had good company, the Vikings won, came back safe and finally got to fish Red. Not looking for tears, just understand a LOT of effort was invested in this trip and it would bum any guy out to some degree to have a rough go at it, fishing-wise. But it is a week later and I’m all better now. I’ll order a new rod and reel and plan my next trip to another bucket-list lake. It was just one of those weekends where a fella has to suck it up and wait for all the pieces to come together better next time.

To be clear, I did not recommend the anyone not use use PortaVilla. I merely shared my experience and feelings like many others did. I got nothing against PV. I merely gave some advice to not get locked into only fishing out of the shack as a singular strategy. Stay mobile and use the shack as a base station. That’s all. Bring that sled and auger with.

I can also attest to Portavilla’s spot on service. They did a great job putting us on a fish and were friendly and helpful all weekend. Not to call out JD, because slip ups happen and I would have been frustrated too, but for everyone else they would be at the top of my list if you are looking for a guide/rental service on red.

Couldn’t pass up a second trip in a row. This time I was the youngest at 60 and the poorest fisherman by far. Goofy big numbers on Friday and Saturday but a little slower on Sunday. Really long drive home in the fog. People are driving out to the heave out 3 miles or so. Obviously a GPS was critical in the fog. Bobber rod worked again but this weekend a pink jig was better than a gold one. Buck shot sppons with a dropper also good. Used a jigging and rippin rap for fun and they worked too.