I spent the last few days working on Upper Red. The temps over the last 4 days were –20 at night warming up to a balmy –2 during the day for an average. Add to that a 20 MPH wind and you have a recipe for some pretty darn good crappie fishing for mid February. Pictured here is part of the crew with some of the Thursday night fish.
I arrived on the lake Thursday night and one house was already on fish. Between 3:00 and 9:00 PM they had iced 17 beautiful Red Lake slabs. That particular house was on “the Spot” which is key to Red Lake. Being near the spot tends to yield a few slabs and being off the spot results in walleye. Speaking of walleye, well they are kind of a given on Red Lake this year and get taken for granted, but when you set up deep for crappies it takes time to get your limit. If you set up shallow, 8-9ft the action can be fast and furious at times.
We got the second house set up near the house on “the spot” but unfortunately it was not lined up correct and all it would produce is walleye and perch. So, after a day and only 3 slabs we made a move of the second house and they were on the crappies also. Pictured here is Matt with a nice 14.25 inch slab. Most of the crappies caught over the weekend were that same 14.25 inches. Once again Red Glow anything seemed to be the key, although many other glow colors did catch fish.
The house on the spot continued to enjoy success all weekend with a small lull during the afternoon, which was typically filled with some walleye action. In all, the house on “the spot” had over 60 crappies for 3 guys and filled out there limit by day two. The second house ended up with about 11 crappies on the weekend for two guys. The bite was a little different this year and we easily missed as many crappies as we caught, which is not usually the case. Because the bite is tougher, you really have to work the fish. Minimal movement of your bait seemed to be the key this weekend and the fish are very scattered. Finding a tight school of fish was impossible for me, even after drilling several hundred holes. In the end it was more of a waiting game. But, when it –40 with the wind chill, sitting in a hard house felt pretty good.
The ice is in great shape with very minimal snow. Make note, you WILL need an extension in the next week or so. I could still get through without an extension but it is getting very close. As you can see by the last picture there is a nice crack a few miles out, and using the bridge is a must, as this crack is wide and moving daily. We fished out of Hilman’s and I thank them for the use of their road, it is in great shape and goes across several miles of crappies. In all it was a great weekend despite not being able to fish the way I enjoy it……on the move!
Just a quick update on Winni. I stopped at Winni on the way home to see how the action was. The first area I drilled out produced 4 walleye between 16-26 inches and then the sun popped through the clouds and that ended as fast as it started. I drilled a bunch of holes and found perch everywhere but for the most part small males. I was joined by two guys and in all we iced 7 jumbo perch in about and hour of fishing with lots of small ones. We only fished 1-3 so it is not a good judge of the bite but the walleye were very aggressive when they came through.
I got a few PM’s and I guess I forgot to update the ice conditions on Winni. There is a lot of ice, but probably 10 inches less than on Red. I don’t think you will need an extension this year on Winni. There is no snow but I don’t think it will be making enough ice to need an extension this year.
Great report Scott! That is one place I have yet to ice fish!! Hopefully next year!!
Thanks for the reports Scott.
Jack..
Those Crappies are not done yet!! We were up there a few weeks ago and really wacked em’ good. 80 of em between 8 guys. Lets hope that those world class slabs stick around for a few more years
What is the best time of the ice fishing season for crappie on Red? Does it get betting into march?
I don’t usually fish Red until Mid Feb. It gets considerably better in March and as long as you can get on the ice, the fishing gets better. They fish REALLY start to school up nice and prepare for spawn. Plus they are a lot more aggressive as is gets closer to that time.
Those are some dandy slab crappie Scott…. Great pics and a great in depth report. Keep up the good work.
Layne Monroe
Nice report Scott! You definitely had ’em going your way, inspite of the weather.
dave
Nice report Scott.
Love to see those pictures of big crappies.
Boog
I’m heading up on Saturday to try my luck…Any suggestions on minnows? I was there about 3 weeks ago and had most of my walleye action on sucker minnows (of all things). We’d set out some tip-ups hoping for a big pike or two. Are the crappies preferring shiners/chubs/crappie minnows?
My suggestion would be small to medium size crappie minnows. You want the minnow to be able to still swim but not over active. When they hit, they hammer it. But, you get a lot of lookers if you minnows are over active. Take some time to recharge you glow jigs occasionally
The walleye don’t care what you have on. They will chase you bait 6ft off the bottom if you try to pull it away. They are aggressive to say the least
Gotta love them SLABS man!
Great Report Scott!!! I am so excited! Taking my first trip to Red Lake this weekend 2-23-07. It should be fun because everyone I talk to says it is one of the best spots in the upper mid-west. I appreciate all of the info though. When I get back I will be happy to share my results with the IDA family. Keep up the great work…this site is the BEST!
Sean Clyma