I was unable to go last year due to a cancer diagnosis, but I am returning this year. We are going the second week of September and plan to camp on Red Rock.

Any suggestions on where to fish on that lake? Any best methods?

Thanks!

My son, father and brother have gone to Red Rock every three years since 2017, with a return trip this coming Saturday (7/29) for 6 nights. We always base camp and fish Red Rock exclusively and have always had amazing fishing.

We have two main spots. Back in 2017 we went to a small little island that is just North of the two larger islands that sits right in the narrows on Red Rock. An island which we now call Caleb's Island because my son got a hook buried in his leg that we had to remove (but that is another story for another day). We will certainly be back at that island every night of this trip as well as it has never disappointed.

Anyways, in 2017 we used leeches and the fishing was just at an epic level. Fat Fat Smallies and not a single small Walleye was caught constantly for 5 days straight. In 2020 the fishing wasn't as hot, still it was good action, but certainly the size of the fish was still consistent. We did try in 2020 the bay back past the campsite on the NE side of the lake and pulled in some really big walleyes, once again using leeches.

In that Bay I had something massive on my rapala but it snapped my 14lb. braided line, I assume it was a Northern but honestly no way of knowing. Speaking of Northern's we have caught some from the island as well but not as frequent as the Smallies and Walleyes for sure.

That lake has always produced great fishing and I don't expect anything different starting Saturday for our group, but we will see.

I will give you an updated report of what we find and catch when we get back. I too am going up on a Solo trip in September, but I will be doing the Missing Link to Brant Lake Loop.

Thanks so much! I am a men's director at our church and will be bringing some guys up second week of September. Due to my health issues, I would like to stay on Red Rock and fish it that week. Any advice you can give would be great!

Good luck!

If you can make it work, take some minnows. There is a hump SE of campsite 411. I've done well there in the past. I would troll over it with a lindy rig or a rebel crawdad.

loneranger: "My son, father and brother have gone to Red Rock every three years since 2017, with a return trip this coming Saturday (7/29) for 6 nights. We always base camp and fish Red Rock exclusively and have always had amazing fishing.


We have two main spots. Back in 2017 we went to a small little island that is just North of the two larger islands that sits right in the narrows on Red Rock. An island which we now call Caleb's Island because my son got a hook buried in his leg that we had to remove (but that is another story for another day). We will certainly be back at that island every night of this trip as well as it has never disappointed.


Anyways, in 2017 we used leeches and the fishing was just at an epic level. Fat Fat Smallies and not a single small Walleye was caught constantly for 5 days straight. In 2020 the fishing wasn't as hot, still it was good action, but certainly the size of the fish was still consistent. We did try in 2020 the bay back past the campsite on the NE side of the lake and pulled in some really big walleyes, once again using leeches.


In that Bay I had something massive on my rapala but it snapped my 14lb. braided line, I assume it was a Northern but honestly no way of knowing. Speaking of Northern's we have caught some from the island as well but not as frequent as the Smallies and Walleyes for sure.


That lake has always produced great fishing and I don't expect anything different starting Saturday for our group, but we will see.


I will give you an updated report of what we find and catch when we get back. I too am going up on a Solo trip in September, but I will be doing the Missing Link to Brant Lake Loop."

Looking forward to your report! We need all the help we can get.

loneranger,

You’re most likely right - it was probably a Pike that snapped your 14 pound braided line. But it could have been a giant snapper. I’ve had big snappers break me off and you’d be surprised at what type of baits/lures they’ll bite. If a giant snapper is on your line (and I’ve seen some HUGE ones up there) they will just stay down until they finally get exhausted.

My son and I did well on size (but not numbers) for SMB in the bay south of site #410 near shoreline timber and quick drop offs in mid August a couple summers ago. The farther in you go, the shallower it gets so we focused more on the deeper areas with structure. Maybe someone else will comment, but I would eliminate the south/southeast arm as it is shallow and murky, almost like a totally different lake.

Fishing report is as follows:

We called Campsite #408 home from July 29 thru August 4. We took 2 pounds of leeches and 6 dozen crawlers.

Leeches were definitely the bait that took the top prize, but the crawlers had their moments as well. Artificial was spotty, BUT when we did get a fish to bite on artificial, they were always of significant size. A wild card that did very well were frogs that we caught. I would say we caught 8 to 10 and they were almost always a winner in their efforts for Pike and Smallies.

We caught a total of 216 fish with a 70% Smallmouth, 25% Walleye, 5% Pike breakdown.

ALL the Walleyes we caught were of at least a length that they were keepers. We caught several Walleye of considerable size and girth. Basically, if we got a Walleye on a line, it was a great fish. They preferred leeches, BUT it was a common theme that Red colored artificial (spoon, v-spinners) was what they were hitting on as well.

Smallies were the one fish that varied in size; however, we caught our fair share of 4 to 6 pounders. They preferred leeches the majority of the time but also went after crawlers as well. I don't remember any of us catching them on anything artificial.

Northerns were truly the least of the three we caught, I would say we caught a dozen or so with their size ranging from 14 to 26 inches. Leeches seemed to be what they went for the most, followed by artificial (Rapala's and Spoons).

We caught all these fish in 2 main locations. The first was off the island I mentioned in my previous post. South side and East side of the island were the hotspots. The second location that did well was directly at our campsite. When you are at campsite #408 facing the water to the right through a small trail is a rock ledge that we fished off of to the right. There seemed to be a deeper hole then most of the other areas around that campsite and we caught Smallies and Walleyes out of it on a fairly decent clip.

One other location that we did very well at was the bay you pass as you come into Red Rock from Sag. At the point we nailed BIG Smallies and then in that bay amongst the weeds and rocks/boulders we used spoons and spinners and caught several Northerns.

All in all the fishing on Red Rock didn't disappoint once again. Definitely reccomend leeches for constant action, however, crawlers and artificial would provide someone with enough fish for a shore lunch or evening meal as needed.

We did see several LARGE snappers around camp and in other areas of Red Rock so don't leave your fish on the stringers to long or they will be gobbled up by one of those prehistoric beasts.

Good luck in September!! I will be doing the Missing Link to Brandt Lake loop from Tuscarora Outfitters during that time and hope to come in contact with some LARGE Pike on Tuscarora or Gillis.