New Report: Red Lake

[aaron otto]

Drove up early Friday Morning to meet my uncle Brian and his buddy Kevin at Detroit Lakes. From there we pointed the pickup north and ate highway miles revved with anticipation of first ice.

We arrived at the lake to find Blue Bird Skies and a slight wind. At put-in, after paying our $10.00, we were advised to fish in the 6 to 8 foot range. Granted there were reports of shallow-water-success and we had just been advised to fish closer to shore we opted to start deeper. the lack of cloud cover motivated us to start drilling a series of holes that rode a break around the eleven foot mark.

After vex'n the holes we cut and deciding on where we want to set up home base the two Clam Base Camps were clamped together at the doorway creating a tunnel between our two houses and providing ample room for three anglers to stow gear, move around, and get comfortable.

Using Red Fat boys and Rainbow minnows it didn't take long to connect.

A couple hours later we'd already caught and released our limits a couple times.

That night we preformed the ritual thousands of anglers have done, cleaned and prepared to eat a wonderful freshly caught fish supper.

When I'm out shooting for a job there is a shot list, expectations, and pressure to get the look the company needs. I find myself shooting innate pieces of the process trying to pry out the feeling or meaning of the event. Shooting for myself I didn't click more than a couple dozen shots in total. The purpose was only to capture important fragmented moments of our time doing what we love. Hopefully there are a few here that connect with you. It's not just what I see, but how.

Not often will you see me in any photos, mostly by choice: face made for radio. Here's a non-offensive portrait.

If you get the time, the bite is still good. From the aggressive hammer like strikes I would guess you have at least a week left of early-ice type conditions. Early and late light seemed to be the ticket, but we caught fish all day. Rattle-traps, Fat Boys, and the Swedish Pimple were the go-to's for us. Winds and freezing rain drove us home a day early this morning, but no worries. Need to prepare for Next week's trip anyways. Got a few weeks of fishing come up excited like a big-kid around Christmas. Have nine days off in a row just to fish real soon.

Hope to see you out there.

ao

[Matt Breuer]

Great stuff, AO!

[aaron otto]

Thanks Matt.

[R. Miller]

Great report and sweet pics!

[Sifty]

Very cool pics

Sifty

[certified jumbo]

very solid report and pics!!!

[aaron otto]

Thanks all it was a blast. Looking to fish a few spots in Ottertail County this weekend. Should have a couple more reports following Christmas. Then Going for 9 days straight. Not sure could use some suggestions on locations for a marathon hard water trip.

[leech~~]

Why go to just one. Make a loop. LOW-Red-Winni. Don't forget to bring a frying pan!

[Borch]

Very nice photos and of course it's great to hear how the bites going.

Thanks Aaron.

[aaron otto]

Thanks Borch.

Leech - I'm thinking that too, but panfish. Would like to go after Jumbo(Perch, Sunfish, Crappie) panfish. 9 days of Pig-Pan Hunting.

Perch- Thinking Devils... I Have a private for Crappie.. Just need to find that ringer of a Gill spot to top it off.

Thank you for everyone's replies and feedback, hope to see you out there!

ao

[Jim Hudson]

Nice - thanks for sharing!