2 Montanans fishing their way east, help us plan,

[mjhowe]

Hello all,

Looks like my buddy and I are gonna take 7 days and ice fish our way to Minnesota, 7 lakes in 7 days!!!! (or more)

We are gonna hot foot it to Devils Lake and then we are pretty sure we want to hit(U or L) Red Lake for the crappies, with a possible detour to LOW if we can get an extra day or 2.

My question is, where in between those locales should we NOT MISS? We would really LOVE to make an ICE event, but Jan 29 is too late for us, otherwise we would come and show you guys how to catch lake trout!!!!

Gonna be around the middle of Jan, we have portables, a 4 wheeler and a truck with a camper. We really want to get some crappie and walleye fishing in, two species that we just dont have much of in NW Montana. But we would just as much like to get together with some of the "Ice Leaders " gang as well.

So, here we go guys, plan us an Ice fishing tour de force!!!

[iffwalleyes]

You can make the Jamestown Reservoir on your stop to Devils Lake. That time of year usually isn't to bad. I would go N. on HWY 281 which you can stay on all the way to Devils Lake as you head North of Jamestown on 281 there is a sign that points RT to Smokies Landing. If you go out of that landing there will either be houses to the N. or S. depending on where the fish are at. It is kind of a late afternoon early evening lake. I have caught fish during the day there though. In this area of the lake the deepest water you will probably find will be around 15 ft. get set up in that area and give it a shot. The lake can be a great stop of a terrible stop depending on the day. I have fished it and gotten my limit one day went back to the same spot the next and not get a bite. You can plan to catch Walleyes and the occasional slab Crappie that can give URL a run for size depending on the year. I haven't made it out there yet this year but I will probably get out next week. I have heard that it is frozen so at least it is going in the right direction. I will post results in North Dakota Forum once I get out there.

[Eastwind]

mjhowe,

My friend and a group of guys fished Devil's Lake last year and said that it was so full of fresh water shrimp that it was tough to get any game fish to bite. Never been there myself but thought I would share what I've heard.The part of Red Lake that you would fish for Crappies is Upper. Lower Red and a large part of Upper is closed to all but members of the Red Lake band of Chippewa.If I were you, I would absolutely make sure that I got up to Baudette on LOW and fished for walleye/saugers out of one of the resorts in the area. Most will sell you a road pass to get out on the ice and give you a rough idea were eveyone is fishing for eyes. LOW is good for lots of eyes per day but not average large size. The best lake I would reccommend for numbers of eyes with good average size would be Mille Lac. The only problem is that Mille Lac can be an on or off lake. Two years ago it was hot as a pistol for good numbers of eyes mostly over 20". Last Winter and this Spring/Summer it was dead. Keep checking the forum for Mille Lac up till the time you go and see what those fishing have to say about the bite this Winter. If it is back on it is worth the side trip. Have fun.

[pikehunter]

MJ,

First of all, congrats! Sounds like a great trip. I'm envious!

One tip: You need to have a portable shelter license ($12) in MN. I don't know if that's the case in MT. I only mention because I've had out-of-state friend brings their shelters and not realize this. Hate for you to get costly welcome from the MN DNR!!

[Eric Wettschreck]

Fellas, first off, let me just say that I'm man enough to admit my jealosy.

You need to scratch any thoughts of fishing lower red. You can only fish a small chunk of Upper Red. It is, however, very much worth it.

[iffwalleyes]

Non res MN shelter tag are $33 bucks for the season or a 7 day license is $19

[catchnmall]

1st. Sounds like a lot of fun. 2nd. What do you do for a living? And are there any openings. I would second the Red lake comment.

[icehousebob]

If you have an extra day, you might give Winnibigoshish a try.

[mjhowe]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, keep em coming.

So, beyond the big and famous lakes, how bout some smaller, less fished lakes, dont matter how far off the beaten path, just so its in the general line of travel...

Gonne be the 15th thru the 22nd of Jan

PS Believe it or not, I am a Postmaster in a busy one man Post Office!!! I KNOW Im not gonna get any work done this week othyer than just keeping my head above water, so Im DREAMIN about my jouney!!!

[Bob Horn]

I fished Devils Lake a few years ago and there are alot of fresh water shrimp but it doesn`t matter. If you need some hot spots for DL read forums or give send me an email [email protected]. I would also go to URL and LOW.

[Birch Haven]

We all would like to invite you to our neck of the northwoods up here in the Bemidji-Blackduck area. We have some excellent walleye and pike lakes around here and many without much pressure.

[rmh2o]

If you guys are interested in trying Mille Lacs let me know I have a large fishouse on the east side of the lake and could put ya up for a day or so.I have some relatives from Kalispell their last name is eggle.

[mjhowe]

Sweet, thanks for all the info so far.

We are going to hit Nelson and Fort Peck in Montana, Devils Lk in ND, then Upper Red, LOW, Winny, and Leach. Mille Lacs may be a little too far south for this trip, our goal is to stay North so we have good ice everywhere. If the fishing is good on any particular lake we will stay an extra day maybe two, but our goal is to hit the main fisheries in those 3 states, within reason of course.

This way we can hit some quality lakes and not be moving more than we have to.

NOW, how bout some suggestions for some of the smaller lakes in those areas? We would also like to rent a sleeper one night, perhaps on LOW or Winny? We will fish 24/7 if we have too, thats what Red Bull and convenience store coffee is for!!!

[tomfromblaine]

I would definitly hit lake of the woods then upper red you cant fish on lower red.

[tomfromblaine]

dont know about winnie but on low we've always did the hotel deal fish til couple of hours after dark then head in for some warm food and refreshments, we do the sleeper thing on other lakes but we are just to spur of the moment for low, (easier to find a room then a sleeper}

[hanson]

mjhowe-

To be as efficient as possible, there is basically no night fishing on LOW. The bite pretty much shuts down when the sun goes down. So when you are up on LOW, plan on fishing from sun up to sun down.

Red Lake on the other hand can be a little trickier. You can almost always count on the crappies to go nuts when the sun is setting. They will continue to bite into the night and may possibly get some flurries well after dark. I've heard there is a good bite at bar closing time sometimes. So I would recommend maybe getting a sleeper house for Upper Red.

[Guest]

I might be jumpin the gunn a bit, by not readin above, but lake of the woods, is a great palce with fish bitin now!

But local lakes around here have just started to grin up and bear fish, so if you want to hook up with another Montanan being me(Colunbia Falls), would love to show you a few secret spots. I wont tell all tho'.............