Little Trout Lake & Grassy Bay

[bigtoe]

Hey Guys,

We're coming up to the park for our 15th annual Crane lake trip...nine guys with guitars and fishing tackle! We're going to camp up in Grassy Bay area over Memorial Day weekend. For years, we've heard the Crappie fishing can be good in Browns, Staege, and Grassy Bays...but they're big places. Can anyone narrow down our search for crappies? Do they relate to shoreline brush, any particular shallow areas, etc.? And how about the extreme NW corner of the bay...does that hold spring crappies?

By the way..."Big Toe" comes from the movie "Stripes"...it's a nickname I can't quite live down.

Thanks!

Bigtoe

[JBMasterAngler]

Your sargent hulka aren't you?!?!?!

[bigtoe]

Yeah...I'm always driving the trip in new directions to keep it from getting old. Once I talked the guys into going all the way up the Redhorse river into Redhorse Lake...during low water. It was a tough trip!

Another time me and another guy got float tubes to bring into portage lakes, and they thought the suits, flippers, etc. were pretty funny. They were.

We're also musicians and songwriters, and last year I spearheaded the cause to record a CD of some of the songs we sing on the trip. We play in the bar the night before we leave Voyagaires Lodge (they also sell our CD there) then we load up the houseboat the next morning and head out for three days of music, beer, and fishing (in that order). But a few of us still take the fishing pretty seriously.

So they called me "Big Toe" after the sargent. You can see the sarcasm drip off when they say it.

So...any advice for the crappies in Grassy Bay?

Big Toe

[Wade Joseph]

Can't help with the crappie search as I fish eyes and northerns but I'll be up there while you are. We'll be tent camping but I will be sure too look for you guys and share a few of my homemade brewski's.

[hop sing]

WADE JOSEPH I'm an old NAVY guy myself AND I fish with BigToe on this annual trip. we're probaly gonna be hanging out in the ssandpoint/grassy bay area a bit. Gonna make a trip into little trout for a day as well. look us up when youre up there. I also do the music thing with bigtoe and the gang friday night memorial weekend at the voyaguer houseboat lodge. Its some good stuff i must say.

we can share hot spot secrets, have a few brews and enjoy a tune or two before we get out on the water. see you there.

[duckster]

Hop,

Don't want to rain on your parade....but. There have been some changes from last year as far as going into the interior lakes(little trout) in the park. The spiny water flea has shown up and infested the waters of Crane to Kab and Rainy. What this means is that although you can fish the interior lakes you can no longer bring in a boat or bait. The interior lake are all artificial only. This is an attempt to limit the spread of exotic species while the park and the state try to determine how wide spread they are. Just want to let you know so that you don't get into trouble. If you have questions you should stop and talk to the Park Ranger at Crane Lake.

Duckster

[hop sing]

I appreciate others interest in this issue. However.... I just got done speaking with VNP Park Ranger Mr. Sheffer. A decision regarding bringing boats into interior lakes (little trout) has not yet been reached. Investigation as to the best method to combat spiny waterflea and possible boat restrictions on interior lakes is ongoing.At this time they are not even certain if little trout has or has not even been infected. I was instructed to call him in a couple weeks as the official spiny waterflea decision making people are discussing it at this time. So as of right now it is still allowed to bring boats/canoes into little trout.

I was planning on going into little trout memorial weekend so I will stay on top of this and keep you all posted as best as possible.

VNP Crane Lake Ranger Mr. Sheffer can be reached at 218 993 9821 if need be. He's a real nice guy and very informative.

Only 16 more shopping days till the fishing trip. Shop early and shop often.

[hop sing]

I just got off the phone with Kate Miller 218 283 9821 VNP(the final decision maker on the interior lake spiny water flea issue) and as of today it is not allowed to portage a boat or canoe into the interior lakes. It is also not allowed to use live bait in the interior lakes. This is meant as a temporary measure to allow VNP and the available resources & time to investigate and find a solution that will please all those involved (park users & mother nature). At this time there are boats that are left in mukooda and can be used in mukooda (no live bait). I am in the proccess of convincing them to provide at least one boat/canoe for little trout. They are also looking into whether or not a user can donate a boat to the park to be left in a certain lake. They are also looking into whether or not float tube fishing is allowed in these lakes. so may questions .......we will have to wait for the answers.

Thats the skinny on the spiny water flea issue as it stands now. I'm not happy with the decision.

[duckster]

To add a little more info. State law also prohibits the transfer of boats from infested to noninfested water without cleaning and/or drying time. Also state prohibits transporting water from infested water in minnow buckets or live wells. So.... it will take more than just trying to convince the park about it, it is also against state law. I guess we will all be fishing from shore for now.

Duck

[jonny_redhorse]

Post deleted by jonny_redhorse

[duckster]

Jonny,

Just to clear it up. You can go into the lake and fish from shore but cannot bring in a boat or anything but artifical lures.

Duckster

[jonny_redhorse]

I may have understood the ranger wrong....thanks Duckster........maybe a guy can at least walk in for a "look see"

[LazyIke]

Duckster, thanks for the heads up on the new interior-lake regs about personal watercrafts. My buddy and I are heading up on Thursday morning and were planning to bring the canoe and tow it to Mukooda and then portage in, as per usual -- you just saved us a bunch of wasted effort! We were able to rent a resort boat for a day, and decided to go out on Mukooda only once, rather than all weekend. I've been fishing up there almost once a year since birth -- my Grandpa used to live in The Narrows -- so we should be able to find a few on Crane, Grassy Bay, etc. My dad is up there right now, however, and called from Handbergs to say that the bite is really slow, so who knows... Portaging into Mukooda has been a family tradition; it stinks that it won't be able to continue. Glad I took some video last year on my digitial camera (posted at www.youtube.com key words: "lazy ike"). Anyway, thanks again for the heads up!

[cozzene]

Don't let that big turtle get you!!! He lives in the little bay behind the big rock wall up towards the NE end of Mukooda . . .I swear that sucker is 3 feet across, and was probably a baby a hundred years ago! I saw him eat a crabby old lady one day, and then he washed it all down with a bottle of vintage Merlot! Wonder where he got the Merlot . . . . ummmm???