Big Tony
and dusty took Utah out yesterday afternoon with a fish house dolly and dans 4-wheeler. I think Jonny boy gave them a way point that he had saved from previous scouting/fishing They figured they went out about a mile. I had tony give me accurate ice thickness readings. He found anywhere from 11 1/2 inches too just a tad over 12. Everything went smooth. I had talk to them around 7 last night with Tony sending a pick of his four fish and a bonus elusive but still catchable upper red lake crappie. I not huge tech guy when it comes to saving way points, but Jonny boy has it dialed in and can go to any place that we have had good fishing for at least the last 5 years. I’m such old school thinking I can line up looking straight up the river with the biggest tree to the left and the fire tower over there.
Mike and Joany were here for 2 nights they had real good fishing Tuesday getting there keepers. Yesterday was the complete opposite and the fish were finicky. If you moved the bait they were gone.
Darrin was also out there but said it was slow for them when I talked to him last night.
With mother nature not being kind to us I see no possibility of taking and of the bigger houses on the lake any time soon. We do have a 4-wheeler dolly that can take out our two single axle fish houses Utah and Tennessee as long as we stay on our own path and not wonder off willy nilly in any direction. Other than a few cracks that could possibly become pressure ridges this end of the lake has been pretty stable. We may shuttle Brad and his grandpa out Friday, as long as the lake stays stable on this end.
I have been calling all our customers in the books for after Christmas day to see if they would like to bring portables and wheelers and stay on shore. Buddy Hillman has recommended to only go out 3 miles at this time. Sounds like there may be some active cracks at 2 miles Since we team up with him on the ice road I stick to his guidelines with our guests. I was really hoping to get a couple of the sleepers just out in front of our place but not feeling comfortable about that until I see over 13 to 14. It makes it tougher if the customers cannot drive their vehicles out also..
We now have the ice castle we nick named Texas here. We had some guests use it last night on shore to work out any issue that may arise.
I’m going to have to come up with a come on cold cold dance. I’m not a good dancer. Just ask the Hammer.
Christmas to new year’s has always been our busiest week, along with all the other resorts and outfitters up here. It never changes you are always battling mother nature up here any time of year.
Well, its that time of day to get something done here on the shores of upper red lake. That owes us nothing but keeps on giving.

I’m not sure why but as you get older time fly’s buy. None of our guest got skunked last weekend. Jonny boy was able to shuffle a few [people out that did not have transportation..
Jason, melissa, Barb and Andrea had another great time on such a grand lake. They did go home with fish.
Paul and Quinten had there snowbear. They had good fishing in some spots and not so good in others. They commented that most of the ice was at 10 inches. Friday was their slowest day.
The guys that went out sunday morning did well as the fish put on the feed bags. JD and his son were disappointed thay could not stay in Tennessee. I never got to see how they did. Jd sure had a nice machine. Was more of a 4-seater dune buggy. Boy have those machined changed.
Someone named Richard was a no show with not even a phone call. What was weird a s he was so excited when he set his trip up? Duwane and his buddy had a blast and are already planning on coming up again in a week. I never got to see Bin but did message him they did not do so well. They walked out both days. Don and his crew did well. Shawn and his boy left before I could visit them.
Darrin was also here he rented his sleeper to two guys that had called me. Allen and joel. They never paid him. He thought they paid me. We had a few other guests that camped down on the lake shore, with their wheelhouses. I think everyone had a good time.
Jonny boy did get to get out and scout a little bit Saturday. He caught a few. Working out of town is driving him crazy. Just like I was when I first started doing this. When you enjoy what you’re doing its not work it’s just fun.
I’ll be venturing onto the lake with blue thunder tomorrow. Not out to far but just looking around close to shore. I will then have to decide what or if I can get out to at least fishable water. The little cold snap we just had probably made another 1 inch plus.
This darn crazy weather? It warmed up overnight. Buddy Hillman plans on having couple of his smaller sleepers out for the weekend. We do have a couple of our sleepers open on shore again this weekend. If we start getting some houses out customers may have to be shuttled out.
Will play that by ear right now.
Dan and Mel are excited to get up here with their new ice castle.
Some high winds came roaring in late sunday afternoon. A few fishermen got stranded on the other side of a crack that opened up. Sounds like the news made it sound like people were floating around on a hunk of ice. One of my old customers Pat was one that got helped back to shore. The resort was going to collect all the gear that had to be left on the ice and store it for the customers. No one fell in the water that I know of. Just could not get back to shore. The old adage ice is never 100 % safe. With this 48-hour cold snap we had. Hopefully it has locked up all the open water on the lake. We do have some snow that drifted in down at our shoreline so I can give blue thunder and her plow a little work out.
I have also seen a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. I did have a call from a gentleman in Iowa that heard they were slamming the crappies. Not sure where he heard that? He was a little disappointed when I told him that was not true at this time. Well time and mother nature will determine what we can do the next couple weeks, there was a year we did not get the houses out tell new years. All the owners of the bigger wheel houses are going to have to be patience this year.

we have had a few guests this week. The guys staying in alaska did well yesterday. I told themw I would be sending all our customers over in that direction.
Luke and his dad struggled the first days but finally found them yesterday a little closer to shore I be leave.
Paul and Quinten are here. They figured they have been staying with us 7 or 8 years and are the only place they have ever stayed.. That was nice of them to say. They got there 8 yesterday fishing out of there snowbear.
I did not get to talk to Ron and his buddies they have fished here before so I’m sure they found some fish.
We did have a cancelation last night for our montana house. 2 double beds. stove. oven, heat, indoor biffy, electricity.
Hillmans is now allowing side by sides up to 2 miles out. They also have some live music saturday eve.
I still have not gone out on the lake in blue thunder. We’re getting closer. I’m hoping we will be able to have the houses in fishable water by Christmas? The long-range forecast is not great, but we may keep making a little ice every evening. Paul and Quinten said they saw a fleet of sleepers out on the ice?
Today I’m going to fart around with the red baron here on the property to just run it some more. Darrin will be up this weekend so I hope we can figure out why she jumps out of 4-wheel drive.
I’ve seen some more pics of the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Seems they have all been loaners.
Well lets hope for some more cold weather on a grand lake that owes us nothing.

oday will change it up this morning and talk about the fishing first.
All our guest that were here caught fish. Some walked some had wheelers. Some struggled to find fish that were under 17 inches. Getting the overs was much easier. The guys that got out yesterday morning had a nice morning bite before they packed up. Buddy figured we lost an inch of ice with Friday night drizzle and warmth. We should have gained some of that back last night. Bob arrived with the Colorado house and fished a couple days his best bite was with a bobber and secret lure. Alaska and Utah also so arrived so we now have most of the fleet here. They are both open this weekend for on shore lodging… We also committed to another ice castle that will be named Texas as its big with a slide out.
We also had a good week of preparing for when we hit the ice. Big Tony was able to get all 8 generators running.
Jonny boy got the red barons tank off. She had a pretty plugged up in tank filter. with some clean gas she fired right up but this time it moves when you give her a little throttle. Now we still have to figure out why it will not stay in 4-wheel drive.
Big Tony and I were able to adjust the pressure on the boss plow. We had a little mis hap but scathed through without a scratch “Knock on wood” Blue thunder also got a new master break cylinder That shored up the breaks.
I did see a few more elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies. Plus, a couple pics of some big pike.
We are again going to have friends help us throughout the winter. Jonny boy will be here as much as his job will allow.
we only have one guest at this time so will see how they did. They were walking so we will see.
Tony boy is heading home for a few days so I’m pretty much on my own to keep plugging away.
Again, We do have Alaska and Utha open for some lodging this coming weekend. Dec 15th

Mother nature is not cooperating with us . All the resort have been suggesting boundries at this time. The pot holes that glazed over have not made much if any ice in the past week. Please everyone use a lot of commonn sense. Most of the fishermen have been staying with in 3/4 mile from shore which is plenty far enough to find fish. Anything that rattles will draw them in. A second line set up with a red plain hook and bobber tip with a minnow.
Tony boy walked out and got his 4 with in the last 2 hours of day lite and was able to get back to shore before dark.
Bob went out yesterday again not that far they were biting before he could even get a second line down. He also was able to come in before dark. I talked to a gentleman that did really well yesterday in front of the beach . Seems everyone has been reporting good fishing.
With tony boy here we have been able to get quite a few to do things done. I got new batteries in all the trucks. They have all been started and moved. We do have a issue with the red baron as it will not stay in 4 wheel drive. Plus it will not stay running when you put her in gear.
Blue thunder has a couple little thing I am addressing.
I’m hoping any snow stays away at this time. We do not need any insulation as they lake struggles to make ice. Plus the frozen potholes will be impossible to spot. I have heard they are around 3 to 4 inches. Again, I personally have not ventured out on to the lake so all I can go buy is what others say and what I’ve observed over the years. Please again everybody be safe, Fish with the buddies, if it does not look right, it probably is not. Have a rope, ice pics” a having a vested life jacket would not hurt if you’re riding any kind of machine.

well we managed to make it through the first weekend of having guest here at cookies on upper red lake.
Jake did make it up too help with some carpenter work. We got old minnesota siding repaired where it got damaged last year. Jonny boy and Jaked also were able to replace the large window on montana with a new slider window. That turned out really well. I was the gopher since I’m have minimal carpenter skills. I did pay the price as my back was hurting big time saturday eve. I know that this year I will have to cut down on the manual labor of our operation.
Back in the day I could dig out a skid house break it loose move it reset it in about a hour depending on how far I move. Last year 1 skid house took me closer to 3 hours, this year the crew will be moving them all. I do not plan on trying to move any on my own. We do have a young guy coming up this weekend so I can give him a interview.
we also got some more work done to the fleet Jonny boy was able to replace the power steering line on rusty trusty. i was able to install a new batterie. I need to pick up a new master cylinder for blue thunder. Install another new batterie in the old truck. The red baron has a issue that we have to figure out she fires right up but as soon as you put her in gear and give it gas it sputters and die. Then it fires right back up. Maybe fuel pump?
. The fishing for all our guest was a mixed bag with some doing real well, some so so, some struggled to find under 17s. The lake had a couple hundred hubs out there saturday from westwind the “premier resort here in waskish” all the way around to beacon harbor.
I also saw that a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies were caught. One gentlemen had a 15 he let go to keep the genetics in the system. I also had a friend send me a pic of a big pike he caught saturday.
I still have not been more than a hundred feet on lake. I may have to do the no snow but cold dance. Looking at the long-range forecast were looking at possibly getting the houses on the lake a few days before Christmas. we do have a few weekends completely booked but still have quite a few rentals left. Remember I offer 20 percent off sunday through wednesdays. On a grand lake that owes us nothing yet just keeps giving.

From all the reports I have been reading most if not all of the accesses Plan on letting walkers out by this friday. They are also asking fisher people to get off lake at sunset.
Two of the resorts up here in wasksh sounds like they are changing their policy on lake access.
Red lake remote is letting fishermen off their place as well as beacon harbor.
I have also heard a few outfitters thinking they may have sleepers on the lake next weekend? Our weather says 44 next week one day? They can be wrong as mn weather can change.

As soon as the accesses open up for walking with in 1 hour I start getting calls when can we take out wheelers? I also heard there is a outfit giving rides at this time. I can understand how they can do this as most have Been scoping out the conditions since first ice. SO MUCH DIFFERENT THEN SOME JUST SHOWING UP AND VENTURING OUT .
I MY SELF VERY SELDOME GO OUT ON FIRST ICE AND WAIT TELL I CAN DRIVE BLUE THUNDER. The way i look at it as once I’m on the lake I’m on the lake just about every day until the houses come back to shore. That can be over a hundred days so I’m in no hurry to get out there. Plus, my mentor cousin Pete always said when working on the lake do not be in a hurry. I could not of ask for a better mentor \ teacher then cousin Pete..
Our fleet of trucks. blue thunder, red baron, rusty trusty, black beauty, white lightning and our newest old truck just lake truck al have some ailments. They sure take a beating out there. I had everyone running until the first cold snap. A couple new batterie’s today and will see where we’re at. Again, not that cold out so I’m hoping they all can be fired up and moved around a bit.
We do have a few ice castles showing up this weekend to camp down by the lake. We also have guest in the cabin and 2 of our fish houses on shore being used. Next weekend were all full at this time/
I think Jake still plan oncoming up tomorrow to help with some house Maintenace. Jonny boy should be here Saturday morning Brite eyed and bushy tailed to get to work. He already misses not being here and were not even on the lake yet. He has followed in my footsteps just having a passion too be out there. Plus, he is good at it.
After last year’s fishing success from all the outfitters it will be another interesting year.
A new mn state law has been enacted. If you have any garbage, it must be in a container and not just lying on the ice. If your pet does number 2 you are required to scoop it up. No cig butts should be thrown on the ice.
The keep it clean campaign has really taken off throughout the state. Littering has been a pet peeve of mine since I was a kid growing up in Colorado.
We’re already seeing fish pictures I expect a few elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappies will show up this weekend also.
Thats it for now on a grand lake that owes us nothing yet still keeps giving.

8 degrees this morning with another night of single digits again tonight.
red lake remote posted a few pics they took out in front of their place. Amazing how the ice can do that.
I have been busy getting our houses a final wipe down and inventoried for the up-and-coming season. The new house Tennessee arrived saturday. Very nice house. can sleep 4. 3 would be better.
I expect most of the resort will be allowing walking by friday. That could change depending on the winds though.
At this time most of our houses on shore are still available .
Jake may come up this week to help work on a few things. We have a running joke when we work on this stuff. It has too be bitter cold and windy. No sense working on these projects when jake can be musky fishing and I can be golfing during the summer.
We did get a dusting of snow in the last 24 hours. Then big winds to create white out conditions yesterday out on the lake. Glad were not out there yet.
Christmas to new year’s has filled up just like every year. Hindsight I should not give my 20 percent discount during that week. But that’s not how I roll.
This early fall I had all the trucks started and running. Then the first cold snap and they show their true colors. Looks like a few new vehicle batteries will need to be purchased.
Thats about all for today here on the shores of upper red lake that owes us nothing and as jiggle said last year but just keeps giving.

well well well were still kicking up here on the shores of upper red lake, on a lake that owes us nothing! That keeps on giving.
I made it through another summer as the bones and body get a little bit more worn out every year.
I saw yesterday all the outfits are saying ice as far as you can see. she looks a little chunking out there as the winds were blowing pretty good when that cold air came ib two nights ago. You can see some piles way out there where the ice has broken and stacked up. She still windy out there again today. Last year after the first big wind it calmed down and we got some pretty nice smooth ice. This year as in every year it’s never freezes the same. will have to see what mother nature throws at us the next few days. I myself have no plans of venturing out on the ice any time soon.
I’m sure some will be walking out with in the week to see what they find. The weather man says we have at least 2 more nights of low teens so that will help. I did see some pics of open pockets of water. they always spook me. as they skim over you could go from 4 inches of ice to one. If a area of ice looks different I would use caution and common sense.
The dnr fishery has set our limit to 4 fish with 3 under 17 inches. Alot of elusive yet still catchable crappie were caught last year and this summer so I expect that to continue this year. With the live scope them poor fish have less of a chance than ever. I’m no one to preach as we kept many of those fish back in the day when you could keep 15.
Our fleet of vehicles have also gotten a year older. Blue thunder did get a couple of used doors plus i was able to put in a new heater core. She might have better heat this year but only time will tell. The red rusty trusty blew a power steering line a few days ago. Once it gets cold they all seem to have a couple new issues. Looks like this year is no different.
We also have a yeti we will be managing this year. We nick named it Tennessee. I be leave it will be arriving some time today. Depending on the ice we may have a few fishermen staying next weekend on shore. I expect you will be able to walk out to fishy water by then. Again mother nature will make that decision for us.
I pretty much have the same crew helping this year. Jonny boy will help as often as is full time job will allow. He has passion for finding fish thats for sure. Big Tony plans on helping out as well as Darrin and Dan. Dan got a ice castle this year so there are pretty excited to get out on the ice with her.
I’lll keep posting more as the days go buy but need to get some chore done today so happy holidays to everyone.
cookie

One more week in the books as it really starts to slow down now. I get a chance to spend more time fishing for the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. My big problem as I fish in old minnesota most of the time as this old body cannot keep up with trucking around in the uneven deep rock hard snow.
Yesterday I spent part of the day digging out montana and getting her out of its spot. What I use too do in less than a hour took me a little bit longer. I do not think I could move 4 houses on my own in one day like I use to. Maybe, but I do not even want to try.
The good news as I did catch a elusive yet still catchable crappie last night just as I was getting ready to pull the plug and come in. Thinking maybe the mother lode was coming my way I stuck her out another 1/2 hour.
I did have guests in two houses last night. Jake and Brenda did find one hot hole outside figuring they landed 60 fish with 50 coming out of the one hole they were sharing.
Mark and his two kids only got one in the house monday night. They are seeing fish but cannot get them to commit.
They did go out searching but had no luck. They did get to watch out the window as brenda and jake caught fish.
We did have some great highlights last weekend. Jonny boy got quite a crew of our renters out to find the motherlode. They had a riot on such a gorgeous day. I planned to join them once I checked in some customers, but they ended up running late so time I got back out there she was a little chillier. Jonny boy plans on giving it another try this weekend. 5 of the houses are still open at this time if anyone wants to come chase the schools around.
Florida had Travis and his wife saturday sunday they took home a few? out of the house.
North dakota was a bust on its new spot as Jarred and his wife were fairly new at ice fishing. I expected that spot to do well.
Old minnesota had Dan /Pudge and his wife fluffy. The first night was a no show on the elusive yet still catchable upper red lake crappie. The second night the fish came under the house so they ended up keeping 12. Hindsight I should of kept it there but I wanted a fresh spot for the week. My plan is to move her again when the help arrives as the hammer and I have plans of spending the last weekend on the lake.
Montana had Mel and Dan. They got a couple the first night. saturday Dan joined up with Jonny boy and had a blast saturday eve, they chilled after having a prime rib dinner on the lake as Dan said all that fresh air and auguring wiped him out.
Colorada had Melissa, Jason and Barb. They also got a couple in the house and joined jonny boy, on the hunt. They also had a blast.
Alaska had Nate and his crew they went out on their own and pounded the fish wherever they went. I’m not quite sure where they were but they had a riot landing and releasing a few over 15 inches.
Dean and his crew also participated in the hunt.
Plus they caught a few in a house we borrowed from westwind.
Chuck from ice castle outlaws did fairly well where we plowed a spot for them. The houses across and over could not buy but one crappie a piece.
Andy Roy and John also had no luck in there spot.
Darrin had jinksy dave and they did real well the first night but was dead the second night. Maybe I jinxed him. on a grand lake that owes us nothing.
Blue thunder has not been running right she wants to die when you let off the gas, I think it may be a vacuum leak or a fuel filter in the carb. We have had some fuel issues this year.
well, it’s time to check the fluids and go find the fish on such a grand lake that owes us nothing.