June 1, 2026 "Gathering the Gather-Able on Upper Red Lake"

It’s not easy putting into words, the sensation that I, along with Dick and Paul experienced on Upper Red Lake yesterday. Yes, the fish were biting, and surely, we could have taken lots of pictures of ourselves holding the pettiest ones. The thing is though, none of us were in the mood for that. Instead, our attention was focused gatherings other than fish in our livewell. Our attention was focused more on gatherings of families, couples and groups of friends who shared the lake with us.

The scene was the complete opposite of what we’ve seen on many lakes lately. We didn’t see as many of the glorious high-end rigs occupied by “super-anglers” who were “scoping” pods of fish and targeting the biggest ones for their social media pages. Instead, we saw dozens of boats, assorted sizes, shapes and colors, everything from huge pontoons, down to one couple who were fishing from a 2-seat paddle boat. Most of the boats were occupied by folks who were just out for a few laughs, a tug on their lines and for the lucky ones, an evening fish fry.

We commented, more than once, about the kids we saw, and how they all looked so happy to be there. If they were stressing out about anything, we couldn’t see it. Can you guess what else we didn’t see? You’d be right if you said I’ll bet there weren’t too many of them fixed on the screens of their cell phones. Yes, there were some, but nowhere near as many as we’d have seen in most other settings.

According to a recent article in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, it was learned recently that Minnesotan’s harvest a lot more fish than previously believed. The reason for that, I believe, is not because people are greedy for fish. No, what I think they are most hungry for is their shared experience of pursuing, capturing, and sharing the catch with friends and family. To relieve the generations old traditions and to satisfy the “hunter gatherer instincts” that have lived within our souls since our primordial ooze.

In a time when we could easily find a lot of things not to be proud of, the scene at Red Lake yesterday wasn’t one of them. The experience renewed my enthusiasm for being a fisherman and realize how proud and thankful I am for the friendships and family bonds that have evolved through my own fishing experiences. I’ll bet too that lots of folks who we saw on the lake yesterday would tell you the exact same thing.

If the scene on the lake wasn’t convincing enough, then the scene at the Gosh Dam Place was icing on the cake. There, 5 separate groups, 6 if you count my crew, were gathered, enjoying the “catch of the day” fish fry. One family, from Grand Rapids was there with a relative who’d come all the way up from New Mexico. Others were there from all around the country, Georgia, Tennessee and who knows where else.  Everybody in the place had something in common, they were all happy, telling fish stories and enjoying the fruit of their efforts. Again, decided by Dick, Paul and me, the scene was NOT what’s wrong with America.

Okay, since this is a fishing report, I suppose I should say a few words about the fishing at Upper Red.

Walleyes continue to populate shallow flats and the preferred water depths varied and changed throughout the day. At midday, when the sunshine was bright, and water temperatures peaked, we had our best action along the steepest breaklines. Typically, the well-defined 4-to-6 foot drop off provide plenty of action, I focused my effort on the 5-foot depth target. During the afternoon, cloudy conditions developed and the fish spread out. Small, isolated patches of gravel and rock in water depths of 6 to 7 feet became more important.

Presentations mattered not in terms of catching fish, but in determining which fish we caught. While we trolled crankbaits, catching fish over 17 inches was easy. In fact, the percentage of “overs” was so high that we were forced to put away the crankbaits and change presentations to gather some smaller fish for eating.

We saw plenty of folks catching “eaters” using jigs and minnows, and I was thinking about doing that too. But I got a tip from a friend about his success with trolling spinners. Because we already had the trolling rods out, it was simple to rig the spinners for a test run. And it didn’t take long to figure out that the spinners worked fine too. A 1/8-ounce bullet sinker, a 3-foot leader with #3 hammered silver blade and a dead spottail shiner worked well for us. That said, I’m sure that other color combinations probably would work too.

One we began using spinners, the size structure of the fish we caught was smaller. It was easy now to get smaller, 14-to-15-inch fish, but we didn’t get a lot of 16-inch fish. I suppose there’s been a lot of pressure on that size range, and they’d been thinned out a little bit. Still, we did get enough of the sweet sixteen-sized fish to be satisfied.

My preferred trolling speed while using crankbaits was 2.5 mph, and the lures were #5 Flicker Shads. It seems like the color preferences change periodically yesterday; purple variations were in vogue.

For trolling spinners, 1.0 to 1.2 mph was my preference and like I said, bright silver blades brought us the best luck.

Today, day 5 of fun with Dick and Paul represents a shift in our focus. We don’t “need” too many fish, so I’ll be looking for a spot where we can harvest a few of these, and a couple of those. Maybe we’ll find something interesting that we haven’t tried yet. If so, I’ll let you know tomorrow. — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Call-Text 218-245-9858 • Email • Facebook • X • Subscribe Insider Newsletter

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Wired2Fish June 1, 2026 "What Lures We’re Throwing in June 2026"

"When you look at the whole picture, June is a wild month for bass fishing.

In the northernmost stretches of the States and into Canada, some bass are just now hitting the beds. Meanwhile, in the extreme south, bass have been done spawning for months and have already moved past the post-spawn funk. And in the middle, some bass are out on ledges, some are in the shallows, and some are still in that funky in-between stage.

With lots to cover, we connected with anglers from the West Coast, up North, and in the South to paint as broad of a picture as possible, while still looking at the specifics of each region. Here are the lures we’re all throwing in June. Modern single-prop baits like ..." Read Story and Learn More >> What Lures We’re Throwing in June 2026

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