Catching those first walleyes of the year through the ice is truly something special, and doing it with good buddies by your side makes it even better. There is no better place to do this than Red Lake the first week it is fishable. To us, it required little thought as to where we would go to catch lots of great walleyes all day long. The ice was thick, our gear was ready and it was time.
We hit the ice and were drilling holes in the dark. Even when fishing around home I love to be set up in the dark with all the holes drilled awaiting for the first big mark to come in on the Marcum. There are a lot of times when that first fish comes in is a giant. I consider these bonus fish as most other guys are still getting out or drilling holes. Fishing proceeded to be very good the entire day with all of the fish between 17 and 21 inches. Mornings from the 7 to 930 hours were best but there was a lot of consistency throughout the day.
Shallow water fishing is what I have done for a long time. Just like back home we were in 7 to 8 feet of water for these aggressive fish. There are a lot of similarities between different bodies of water when fishing shallow. First and foremost, the stealth approach pays huge dividends. As I mentioned earlier, getting set up early is important. Especially with no snow on the ice, noise radiates through the ice with easy. Secondly, these fish will eat. Under descent conditions, every fish you mark will likely hit. They are shallow for a reason and have a huge advantage because they can push around bait with ease. They know this and so should you. Be ready, and jig hard to attract these fish in. With an aggressive bait, it is common that you wont even mark them on your sonar, and that is fun!! Moreover, during your peak times of the day you could use a Swiss army knife as a lure and these fish would hit it, but from 10 till 3 or so you need to get loud. VMC makes an awesome new rattle spoon. Put this thing to work. Jig hard. Period. If your not knocking your minnow head off the treble hooks every 5 minutes your not jigging hard enough. There are just a few things that I notice are similar when fishing multiple bodies of water in the shallow depths.
Red Lake is not known for monsters but every single fish we got was 17 to 21 inches and they are thick which is a great sign. One monster was lost at the hole, which is common in shallow water. When it happens, (and it will) put it behind ya and try to catch another one. I always say if I land 70% of the fish I hook in shallow water I’m doing good. That percentage goes down drastically as the fish get bigger.
If you have this weekend off, I would recommend getting up here. From my experience, more east on the lake was better than south but that can change daily. Stay safe on the ice, especially with the snow coming!
