Trout on Foster

[fishinbros]

Could anyone give me any advice on how to get trout through the ice at foster, I went out there 2 times last year and didn't get any

[Paul_Kramer]

I think the hardest thing about Fosters is all the weeds in there. Try to find a hole in the weeds or a weedline. They can be found in deeper water or cruising just under the ice, but most of my fish have come from just off the weed edges. Sonar always helps, you will often be fishing deep and see a trout come past you shallower that you never would have gotten. If you don't have a sonar, just keep an eye down your ice hole, you can often see them swim by and coax them in to biting. 4lb line is about right for targeting them, but 6 would work. For baits, you can almost never go too small. When they are active, small spoons, minnows, and Jigging Rapalas will work, but a 1/16 to 1/64 ounce jig with a waxie is my favorite. Powerbait is good too. I remember one some guys could see the trout eating their used minnows off the bottom but wouldn't bite their hooked minnow. As soon as they left, I pulled a trout ot of their hole with a jig/waxie in two minutes. Last Febuary a trout about two feet long snapped my 2lb line and he had gone after a 1/64 ounce jig and waxie. A tip-up baited with a minnow or Powerbait Trout Dough along with your rod can help. Good luck!

[Tyler Holm]

Most of the active trout are in the top 6' of the water column. Often times the top 3'

You really don't need to go far below the ice to get these trout for the most part. During the winter, I believe I've only got 1 or 2 deeper than 15'

Paul had some great advice. The north and south flats of Foster will have weeds. Often times pockets of sparce weeds among the thick weeds. Before the snowfall, you could look right through the ice and find these pockets. Now, you will have to drill a hole and physically look down it to see if there are weeds or not. A flasher/camera can be used as well.

[hanson1287]

Like they said before the top 5 or so feet of the water column is where you're going to pull 95% of your trout out of there. Waxies is the main bait and smaller jigs are preferred in my opinion

[fishinbros]

what reason would they have for being so high up ????

[james_walleye]

I have a friend who does nothing but fish the deep water and fishes 2' off the bottom and usually pounds them.

[fishinbros]

We just got small gills and weeds when we where out there, but nothing werth keeping and no trout, I dont even know if there are even any decent size gills in there

[Paul_Kramer]

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what reason would they have for being so high up

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I think they just cruise around looking for something to eat. During the summer, they've got to go deeper to find cool water, but in the winter they don't really have any temperature restrictions. But like I said, I've gotten a lot of trout within three feet of the bottom ice fishing with Powerbait.

[Paul_Kramer]

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I dont even know if there are even any decent size gills in there

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Not really, 7" is a whopper.

[WxGuy]

I think a lot of those fish are conditioned to looking "up" for their food.

...and yes, they spend a lot of time just cruising around the pond and don't linger in one specific location.

[fishinbros]

so i shouldn't be looking where to fish but what to fish with

[crazyice]

I have actually caught an honest 8" gill out there, but it was in the summer, and I was out in my float tube in deeper water. I felt pretty proud of that "monster"!!

[Pointer_Pride]

I've have caught a few larger sized gills out of there with my fly rod when they are spawning, but there definetly are not many. For trout, I have had good luck with the 1" version of a fire tiger jigging rapala. The trout love them when they are going, but a flasher is almost a neccesity with this method.

[lookincalifornia]

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a flasher is almost a neccesity

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in my trout pond ice experiences, the trout move around so quickly and aimlessly that a flasher is not really needed.

you really just need to keep your rap jigging as if they were there. they come through so fast and shallow at times that they would be gone before you had time to work your jig.

however, a jigging rap is one of my favorites and powerbait on a deadstick(if you are keeping fish)

[fishinbros]

I do have a flasher, would buckshots or other jigging spoons work, would a waxie or just a minnow work

[Pointer_Pride]

A swedish pimple with some waxies on it can be good too.

[PGS]

What is the season and limit on Foster? Looking at the DNR web site it seems that the season is currently closed and will open 12 Jan 08? The limit listed is 5 with no more than 3 over 16 inches.

If that season is correct then you can't target trout until Jan?

[WxGuy]

It's open to trout all year long...

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FOSTER AREND LAKE (Olmsted County) trout: Continuous season. Possession limit three with One over 16".

-A valid MN trout stamp is required to possess trout

-2 lines are allowed for angling through the ice

-Live bait is allowed

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[PGS]

Thanks, I thought that must be the case with the number of people fishing it but could not find it in the regs. If I would have thought to use a search on Foster Arend, I would have found it....

[KSW]

Tyler, have you been by there lately? Just wondering how the ice is. Thinking about heading out for the first time this year on Sunday.

[Tyler Holm]

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Tyler, have you been by there lately? Just wondering how the ice is. Thinking about heading out for the first time this year on Sunday.

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I have not been out there yet this ice year, but hear reports of 4-5" in most areas. You should be fine as long as you don't go into uncharted territories. I may give it a shot Friday morning.

Good Luck.

[dufek]

anyone know what the time restrictions are? til 11pm like the regs say or is foster different? anyone been out after dark?

[Paul_Kramer]

The crappies bite a little better after dark, but anything else you can get just as well during the day.

[Duncan7709]

Any reports of what has been catching the trout on Foster?

[sodajerk]

I caught 3 last Saturday on a chartreuse 1/8 oz Flyer jig tipped with spikes (eurolarvae). Had 8 or 10 others toying with it but not biting hard. Jigging it hard so it "flew" around got their attention and when they got close to it just a little twitching seemed to help to convince them to bite.

They were ignoring my Genz Bug with spikes. The 2 dink sunnies I caught bit on that.

I was over 11 1/2 FOW and most of the fish activity was at about 5-6 feet, though I saw some scooting along just under the ice, and a few lit up the flasher near the bottom too.

I may go back this weekend and try some Little Atom Nuggies on my jig pole and some powerbait on a tip-up. I'm trying to learn what those trout like, so I'm experimenting a little.

[DEADhead]

I've always had the best luck using a fathead on a slip bobber at Fosters. Foster's gets hits hard, and waxies didn't seem to do much for the trout. However, on the trout lake I fish up here in the winter, I use waxies tipped on a size 10 or 12 genz bug. I like the way they jig. Occaisionally I'll use euro larvae or even powerbait. Sometimes you need a back-up plan if they are being selective to a particular bait.

In my years of chasing stream trout through the ice, I've noticed one thing, jigging doesn't increase your chances of catching trout, in some instance it spooks them. The majority of the trout I've caught were deadsticking. When a trout shows up in my hole and is staring at my waxie, depending on the bite, I may feather my jig slightly. I've noticed that an aggresive jig may occaisionally call trout in, but the majority of the time they refuse to bite or are spooked off. Rainbow trout, especially, love to cruise a lake in pods. Pay attention to the time between strikes, it is pretty reliable. The typical timeframe between "laps" is between 15 and 45 minutes.

I know some guys get all in to it with tackle set ups when chasing trout. I'm just letting you know that it can be real simple, you just need patience.

[mitch]

How's the ice on Foster? I'm hoping to get out there before New Years.

[PGS]

I stopped out there yesterday afternoon to test the new auger blades I had put on and punched one hole close to shore on the north end. There the ice was about 6 inches. I can't say anything for the rest of the pond but there were people fishing all over.