Report?

Headed up to red lake this weekend. Have only fished the lake once in a boat. Any tips or tactics that have been working?

image links to fishing guide jeff sundin Jeff Sundin Fishing Report August 6, 2019 “Calm Seas on Red Lake: Closest Thing There Is To Guaranteed Success”
image of calm seas on Upper Red lake A few weeks ago, I wrote a report about Upper Red Lake. In it, I mentioned the importance, at least to me, of avoiding fishing on the big lake during periods of turbulent weather. If you can hold off fishing there until after calm conditions give the lake time to settle down, you’re a lot more likely to enjoy a great fishing trip, especially during mid-summer.

It wasn’t long after that report that the weather turned turbulent, offering up few, if any chances to prove the theory; until last weekend.

While I was doing my best to scrounge up a few stray walleyes in some of Itasca County’s clear water lakes, friends of mine were on Upper Red Lake crushing walleyes; yes, I did use the term crushing.

Bill Lundy at Mort’s Dock was guiding folks up there and for him; tolling crankbaits on the flats was the ticket. He’s been using traditional, shallow running stick baits on lead core line and fishing in water depths average 12 feet. Lundy reported having steady walleye action using the trolling pattern.

On my way home from guiding on Saturday, I crossed paths with Jeff Johnson, who lives just down the street. He had his boat in tow and was on his way home from guiding some folks on Red Lake. “The bite was good up there, everybody on the lake was catching fish”; he said.

Johnson told me that while other anglers were catching fish trolling, his crew caught their fish using jig and minnow presentations. “There were quite guys trolling spinners and they were catching lots of fish. But there’s just something fun about catching fish jigging; it’s my favorite way to catch them;” he added.

I know the reports are still only anecdotal stories from the lake. But in my opinion, the body of evidence weighs heavily in favor of my original theory. Walleyes on Upper Red Lake seem to scatter out horizontally during periods of windy, turbulent weather. We could probably catch some of them, but when they’re scattered like that, it’s hard to find them in any sort of concentrations.

When the water calms, first the baitfish and then the walleyes begin gathering around structure and become increasingly easy to target.

The water, especially during mid-summer is so turbid that it doesn’t matter to the fish if it’s sunny and calm or not. In fact, one could argue that anglers actually need the sunshine and calm seas to help make their presentations easier for fish to locate and strike.

I can’t always choose the lake I fish on; sometimes my customers make that decision for me. But if I could fish anywhere I want, on any day I want, then for the rest of this summer, I’d choose to be on Red during all of the warm, sunny and calm days. For most of the 2019 season, this has been the closest thing there is to a “guaranteed pattern.”fish smiley image — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL