Christmas vacation wouldn't be complete without at least one trip to the lake for a little ice fishing. Upper Red was the lake of choice this trip. Left the St Cloud/Sartell area around 7pm last Tuesday the 27th of December. Arrived Blackduck, MN at about 10pm after stop in Brainerd for dinner and a little shopping at Mills Fleet Farm. Stayed at AmericInn and got a good 6 hours of sleep before going next door for breakfast. Picked up some shiners and fathead minnows then made our way to JRs on Red Lake. JRs can be found by taking 72 to County Hwy 23 then it to the lake. They had a good plowed road and a bridge over the ridge/heave. The lake on Tuesday had 20 inches of good ice - safe for the 3/4 ton trucks and full size fish houses. That being said we took the Polaris with heated cabin out towing trailer with the portable on it with gear. We were told to get close to the Red Lake Indian Reservation line as we could and out as far as we could. We chose a location that met those conditions a half mile from the line and in 14 feet of water. Punched our holes and began trying different baits. Tried a rippin rap first with no success. Next tied on a gold spoon with dressed treble hook. A few big pops off bottom and free fall down a nice return on the flasher appeared and almost immediately hit the bait. Our first two walleyes came this way. The remainder came with the same kind of spoon (inch long or so) but tipped with minnow head and just wiggled in place. Bites were aggressive. In total caught 9 walleyes and 3 perch. The limit on Upper Red is 3 walleyes per angler but only one can be over 17 inches. Ours were in the 16-17.5 inch range. Departed at 3:45pm. Had a great time and have made my way back to Florida - a long drive alone by the way.
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Nice trip Swede and you caught some good fish for eating too. ~c~ ~c~ Glad you made it back to Fl safe.
Awesome report Swede. Looks like you had some fun, that area of Minnesota really is beautiful.
Just don't know if I could do that kind of fishing but I would sure like to try one day. Looks like a fun day on the ice.