2020 Forest Lake-Hinckley-Lindstrom-Pine City-Rush City Fishing Reports

[eurolarva]

Fished South Center today and was surprised to see only one other boat at the launch. After doing Pelican lake and the zoo that was there it was nice to not see a crowd. Lake is sure low. This is the first time I have had to have my motor trimmed at the launch. I hope the rain forcast comes. Did real well on sunfish and caught some crappie and a couple of bass. Did real well with a flu flu and wax worms. I bet I caught over a hundred fish. They were all small but it was nice to cast and fight fish again.

[ozzie]

i agree with the whole letting fish go thing to a point i mean ya gotta think most of the crappies and sunnies gulp the hook down so is it wise to throw back a fish like that it could look great when you release that fish but ive seen many time the same fish belly up behind the boat its gotta be a jugdement call

Well I have caught about 200 crappies this spring and I have yet to have one hooked other than in the lips or the mouth area and able to get the hook out and release with no harm......it does and will happen occasionaly that a fish will die from swallowing a hook to far and then it will get eaten but if you are paying attention and have the right set-up the fish should not be deeply hooked......I will admit sunnies inhale a hook further than crappies but I usually use a set-up that sunnies can't or don't hit as much.....Good Luck- the crappie fishing should only get better the next 2 weeks!!!

[ozzie]

went out yesterday afternoon to my local crappie lake in the wind and although it was tough dealing with the wind my buddy and I ended up catching around 70 crappies biggest 10.25" and I also landed a 24.5" 4.9lb walleye!! We tried all over the lake and stayed away from the usual early season shallow water areas as we have not had much luck in those areas and we tried some of our summer spots and sure enough the crappies were stacked and willing to chase a bait. Atomic Teasers were working for me including the orange/yellow one that caught the walleye. The females were plump with eggs so I would say the hot action is still to come.......Good Luck

[kaine]

just got back while we where out i pulled up a 33 inch 9 pound northern, man talk about fun when your not expecting it!

[kaine]

[TravP]

Kaine

Thats a pretty sweet shirt you got on in that pic.Lol, my girlfriend said," you would notice something like that". Haha.

[Spider]

Crappie Minnows: $2.00

Crappie Lure: $3.50

Beer: $15.00

Wearing the shocker t-shirt with a wierd stain on it while catching the biggest fish you have ever caught, With your Mother:

PRICELESS

[kaine]

the weird stain was northern slime but yeah the shirt is one of my favorites

[countryboy222]

been out on west rush a bit catching little northens last week. Pulled up a 32' on the south side off of a power bait in really shallow water. But wondering about the eyes anyone any luck??

[jdbigeye]

pretty slow, and the walleyes we are getting are small. However, the sheephead are rippin it up, go get 'em!

[bassphish2005]

Did well on a small lake up by Duxbury for bass on the opener,water temp 62-63.9 degrees,males on the beds,females just starting to move up.20+ fish in 4 hrs,biggest two were 18 1/2in females,released everything to continue their life cycle.Tons of fun though!

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Just got back from South Center. Had a little bit of fun. Went to a couple of secret spots and I had a tough time keeping a leech on! Little walleyes and sunnies would just pound on a jig with a leech. Let everything go, but caught a dozen or so small walleyes a bunch of sunnies, 1 decent largmouth, and a couple of small crappies.

Noticed a good weed edge stops at about 14 feet.

[RumRiverRat]

Fished Spectacle this morning.

Boated:

12 Largemouth Bass

Biggest was 19.75 the rest were between 11.5 and 16.75".

Focused on the deep weed line, 3" Chartreuse Power Grub with 1/8oz jig head caught the big one.

Searched for fish using a sunfish color Bomber Fat A, the 16.75" was caught on this.

Fished the jig slow with short hops on the bottom, seems like all the bass were just inside the weed line. I tried to work the jig parallel to the weed line

6 Northern Pike

34" was the biggest caught on a 1/2oz Yellow and White Spinnerbait with a single #5 Silver Willow Leaf blade, caught all of the Pike Trolling the deep weed line.

The rest ranged from 14" to 22.75"

Was on the water at 6am.

[Wavey Davey]

Nothing happening! Boat's put away, ice fishing stuff is ready,

so I fished from shore on Sat. 11/28. Not a thing, even used live bait. Oh well, at least I got my "fix" by getting a line wet.

[MuntzAngling]

Went out on South Center yesterday 2pm to 7pm. Setup for jiggin in 14fow got 6 crappies all 8 inches. Jiggin spoon with live minnows or heads worked. Had some nice marks within the schools but nothing big. Tip ups in 12 FOW failed with small suckers, no action. West of Sunset Point.

Saw wheelers and 'biles on the ice. 8" where I was. We parked immediately next to shore. Driving is NOT close to happening. Walking out was fine. No thick snow to contend with either. Good luck out there!

[PmDavis300]

moved here in june and the only bait shop i can find is the one at gander mountain and mikes bait on 8.... is there anything else in town? maybe a little closer to the lake?

[gurkster]

Mikes Bait on 8 is a good one. It is off of HWY 8 and Greenway Ave on the south side of town. It is in a strip mall with a liquor store and Holiday gas station.

[PmDavis300]

ya i know, thats where i go now, its just a ways out of my way

[TimR]

moved here in june and the only bait shop i can find is the one at gander mountain and mikes bait on 8.... is there anything else in town? maybe a little closer to the lake?

Mikes Bait is what... 2 blocks from the shore of the lake, equidistant between the landings on lake 1 and 2. How much closer do you want?

Tim

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

ya i know, thats where i go now, its just a ways out of my way

It is only a mile from a lake access, how much closer can you get???

[PmDavis300]

Originally Posted By: PmDavis300

ya i know, thats where i go now, its just a ways out of my way

It is only a mile from a lake access, how much closer can you get???

i was hoping there was something in town, i live off 97 and snowmobile to my house... sorry for asking if i was that snippy with someone i would get banned

[tunrevir]

PM, your baitstores to choose from right now are : Mikes on 8, Rich is a great guy and we need to keep our smaller baitstores around. Frankies in Chisago, again, Brad is a good guy and will steer you in the right direction. Holiday,Bp, Lakeside grocery all carry waxies but depends on the store as far as Holiday goes. Then there is the little store on 15 south of 97 that carries minnows and bait. Gander of course, carries bait as well and could be a quick easy stop on your way home if you come off the freeway. The coop in Scandia typically carries suckers,fatheads and crappie minnows but the stock isn't always in supply there. Those are the major retailers in the area that sell bait but only a few sell minnows and they dwindle when it comes to getting bait in the early a.m. hours. Hope that helps1

Tunrevir~

[Wanderer]

Great info Tunrevir.

PM, my guess is ECC and Tim were a little confused and didn't realize you weren't driving your car/truck in from further out.

Pretty cool, I think, that you can sled from home to the lake and back.

[PmDavis300]

ok thanks tunrevir. that helps alot

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Great info Tunrevir.

PM, my guess is ECC and Tim were a little confused and didn't realize you weren't driving your car/truck in from further out.

Pretty cool, I think, that you can sled from home to the lake and back.

My bad I didn't realize you were down on 97. I live on North Shore so I usually ride the wheeler out as well. I usually ride my wheeler the 2 miles down North Shore to Mikes to get bait and or fill up the wheeler. The cops don't mind just stay to the far right. Usually i get the nice nod or wave.

[FL SNIPER]

There's also bald eagle bait off of hwy 61 south of hugo....i know its a ways a way but maybe you drive that way home from work and can swing in there before hitting the ice! Mike's gets my choice!

[lrrpinman]

Any reports from Forest?

[tunrevir]

My bite pretty much dried up this past week. Lots of small crappies and 0 walleye in the last couple nights on the water.

Tunrevir~

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

My bite pretty much dried up this past week. Lots of small crappies and 0 walleye in the last couple nights on the water.

Tunrevir~

I thought it was only me. I was out today and had one bite the whole time. My dad managed to catch a half dozen of those little 4" perch.

I fished the northwest side of lake 2 next to the lone red shack measured 18" of ice. And for everyone that drives on the lake......SLOW THE HELL DOWN! Not sure what it is with the idiots that think they need to travel at warp speed across the lake. I had a 1 ton come by the shack at about 50 mph he had a pretty good wave in front of him because it dang near flooded my shack with water coming out of the hole.

[Chefd]

Just moved up to forest lake in september. Spent last night on the lake only perch any tips on where to find some crappies? I fished the third lake in about 28 feet of water pretty slow. What are those guys targeting around that big village on lake two. Any info would be great going out tonight after the game if any one has time