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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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Toying with the idea of heading up there Saturday morning. Only been there a couple times, never on the opener.

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The opener was a zoo as usual.  There is 15" of ice in some spots, less as you get closer to the center.  It looked like there was quite a few folks out over the weekend when I drove past the south end.

I fished mid afternoon on the opener and had one miss in 5-8' of water.  I had planned to go out last weekend as well but went west to fish with my son in law over by Melrose.  The reports I heard about opener was that it was slow all around but some fish were caught.

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I didn't get there either.  Planned on it, but found a good crappie bite in Wisconsin that I couldn't pass up.

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checking to see if anyone may have found a otter sled fish house combo, my son was fishing Grindstone lake today heading to Pine City and lost it off the back of his trailer.  his name is Derek and can be reached at 218-393-1486, thanks if anyone has found it

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I haven't heard of anyone finding it but I'll keep my ears open.  Does he know about where he lost it?  Freeway or back road?

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Fished grindstone today. Someone was already set up at my go to spot, so I fished farther down the shoreline than I’ve ever been. Looked for rainbows in 5 to 17 ft, nothing but a few dink perch. Tried for lakers in 45 to 68 ft. Marked a couple smelt, but that’s all. Ice was a consistent 18 to 20 inches.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
4 minutes ago, JBMasterAngler said:

Fished grindstone today. Someone was already set up at my go to spot, so I fished farther down the shoreline than I’ve ever been. Looked for rainbows in 5 to 17 ft, nothing but a few dink perch. Tried for lakers in 45 to 68 ft. Marked a couple smelt, but that’s all. Ice was a consistent 18 to 20 inches.

Grindstone and can be a tough bite lake. Thanks for the ice report. I usually try it once after Walleye closes.

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My brother and I are headed up to grindstone this weekend for some lakers. Is there any tips that you can give me? I've never been trout fishing. Not looking for anyones spot, just some helpful advice to start me off in the right direction

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Look for schools of smelt. They are typically 40 to 60ft down in over 80ft of water. Lakers should be nearby.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Old Grindstone can be tough.  I've caught them in 70' and 12' but the biggest ever was only about 3-4lbs. Good Luck.

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I went up there for the opener and didn't catch any. Had one following my lure around in 60' but couldn't get it to commit. I'm thinking of going this weekend. Is the ice good to drive on to get to the 60' humps in the middle and south ends of the lake? Is there an access on the south end? I have a Chevy Colorado. On opener I was in 16-18" of ice but I know the lake can be sketchy.
 

My Eskimo Quickflip 3 is too difficult to pull by myself when there is snow on the ice. Flat bottom, tons of drag so I need to be able to drive out there.

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  • 11 months later...

As of last weekend ice was 13 inches in most places. Sure to be thicker now with the cold temps. Just be careful, even during the coldest winters, there can be some thin spots out there.

Edited by JBMasterAngler
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I went out on sunday and monday.  I set up on 15+ inches but found quite a few spots that were closer to 13"   as for fishing all I could manage was perch.  seen a few smelt on the buddys camera but they didnt cooperate. lost a small rainbow at the hole in the morning but that was the only trout action for me. 

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  • 11 months later...
  • 11 months later...

Went out for the opener today. Waited for the morning rush to be over, got there about noon. Probably more than half the people had left already. Lake was a slushy sloppy mess! Ice was probably about 7, maybe 8 inches out in the middle. But along east shoreline was only about 4.5 inches. Fished 4 to 20 feet and nothing! Had planned to target lakers as well, but my feet were cold and wet, so I called it a day fairly quickly. Nobody else I talked to or saw, caught anything either.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
2 hours ago, JBMasterAngler said:

Went out for the opener today. Waited for the morning rush to be over, got there about noon. Probably more than half the people had left already. Lake was a slushy sloppy mess! Ice was probably about 7, maybe 8 inches out in the middle. But along east shoreline was only about 4.5 inches. Fished 4 to 20 feet and nothing! Had planned to target lakers as well, but my feet were cold and wet, so I called it a day fairly quickly. Nobody else I talked to or saw, caught anything either.

Thought about it but know Grind takes a lot of cold weather to get safer ice being so deep. May be in a week or two as it's suppose to start getting colder by the end of next week.

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Went there around 5am and got in to the row on the south side in about 10 ft. I got a couple smelt, my buddy got a 13" rainbow and a couple smelt. As usual, seemed to die down around 9am, so we moved out between 27-55' and got some more smelt, but couldn't locate a laker to target. Nice size smelt tho. 

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
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    • Rick G
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    • monstermoose78
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    • monstermoose78
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    • monstermoose78
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    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
    • monstermoose78
      How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
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