Ice Fishing the Red River

Last year was the first year that i went out. I went out blind and u would be surprized at how easy it is to find fish. Try the inside bend of a sharp bend where there is a little bit of a lull in the curent. Also u dont have to be deep to catch fish. I fish 4 to 8 feet. there is a hole that is 19 feet just a few yards a way but the current is to strong. When i look for a spot i judge current by my vexilar if i cant see my bait its to fast.

Find slack water around the bends in the river.  You will usually find some deep holes in the slack water.  Instinct might tell you to fish the deeper water, but most of the fish will come is shallower water than you might think.  Fish the calm shallows with access to the deeper water.  Some walleye might be in the deeper water (never over-look it completely) but be prepared to catch tons of skipjacks in the deeper water.

Good luck.

Fishing can be great through the ice.  Right at sundown can be pretty good for walleyes in very shallow (0-4 foot).  On one occasion I jigging a number 7 chubby darter in about 3 foot of water and started to lift it up into the hole and a 5-6 pound struck at it and missed it but got stuck in the hole (I'm not sure if that counts as catch and release)

One word of caution, ice conditions can change very rapidly from spot to spot and day to day especially later in the year.  I have had it where I drilled holes though 2 foot of ice moved 10 feet and stuck the auger through a half inch of ice.  For the first year, I strongly reccomend drilling a hole within every four to five feet to ensure you stay on thick ice, better safe than sorry when you are fishing current.