RED RIVER SHOULD BE HOT!
Ice conditions across the province are improving. Many anglers are taking advantage of
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| This one was near the bottom! |
good solid ice to get onto the Red River north of Selkirk. Anglers are targeting deeper stretches of the river all the way to the End of Main and catching some real nice fish. Check out the Manitoba Fishing Forum at
http://www.manitobafishingforum for all the latest updates.Most ice anglers are reporting ice thickness of five to six inch inches. This means walking out, not riding! Caution is always required because there are always thin spots when current is involved. At this time of year I love fishing the deeper water in order to trigger the suspended walleye to bite. It seems at this time of year, more than any other, they will suspend a long way off of bottom. This means it is critical to have a portal depth finder along to spot these fish. On my Humminbird Ice 55, I always adjust my transducer so my lure is in the cone. This allows you to watch baits and to react to any fish that might appear below.
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| There is something lurking off the bottom! |
On my still line I put on a 3/8 ounce blue jig tipped with a big salted shiner. On my other rod I had tied on an in-line swivel to prevent line twist, then a small cross lock snap so I could change baits. I like to use something big and aggressive, a gold Hawger spoon with a rattle and a long single hook has been effective. I have found with bigger jigging spoons that if you use a single hook, your hooking percentage becomes a lot higher. I really like gold in the Red when the water clears. By the sounds if it clarity right now is good and the current is such that you can get away with a ¼ ounce jig. Personally I think it will be a real good bite on the Red at least until the first week of January. There was a ton of bait in the river this fall until the dirty water hit from down south. Those shiner minnows will be back and so will be the big walleye. I can hardly wait!
1 Comment
Hi Don. I made it out last Friday just north of Selkirk. I saw a lot of big fish on the bird but could not get any to commit. They would chase and once they got to a certain depth they would put the breaks on. Would pressure have anything to do with that as it was 103 and climbing. It hadn't plateaued yet. I'm headed out again on Friday for redemption. I'll let you know how I make out.