Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports

[reinhard1]

i am guilty of not fishing them at night. so i welcome your posts as well. i have had great luck during the day as well. however my best luck has always been in late february and early march as long as there is safe ice to walk on. they do bunch up this time of the year. just my opinion, just makes sense to me because it's near spawning time. i'm going to stay later though when i go there next time soon. lot's of fun. good luck.

[247outdoors]

Reinhard, you better start this week. Lots of them on Sunday. Fished from 3-8, none stop action, ran out of bait and came home. Ice condition measured around 16+ on the north end.

[leech~~]

Reinhard, you better start this week. Lots of them on Sunday. Fished from 3-8, none stop action, ran out of bait and came home. Ice condition measured around 16+ on the north end.

What were you using for bait? Waxes?

[247outdoors]

fiskas wolfram jig (E61) glow(5mm)tipped with minnow tail.

[reinhard1]

going up to fish the Duluth area for a few days and then i got the grind down for saturday the 10th all dayer. glad they are getting more concentrated and active. are you getting any 10 inchers as far as smelt? love them smoked and the smaller ones fried. thanks again for the report. good luck.

[1johntimm]

Do you eat them whole smoked, or pick out the bones?

[reinhard1]

the bigger ones i just pick off the meat. the bones come off easy. i smoke them whole of course. last year i did get some 10 inchers. not that many but i froze them in batches after cleaning them. brined them in apple juice,brown sugar, and salt. the smaller ones i deep fry and eat whole. good luck.

[leech~~]

Do you eat them whole smoked, or pick out the bones?

They are a little bigger then your avg Lake Superior ones so some you may not be able to just deep fry and eat!

[247outdoors]

going up to fish the Duluth area for a few days and then i got the grind down for saturday the 10th all dayer. glad they are getting more concentrated and active. are you getting any 10 inchers as far as smelt? love them smoked and the smaller ones fried. thanks again for the report. good luck.

Most of them are about 10 inchers, full of eggs.

[reinhard1]

thanks for the info. looks like the smoker will be busy this year. there was a thread in the cooking forum about eating fish eggs. i even looked it up online and there were recipes to cook up the eggs. may have to give it a shot. could be good or a one time taste test . good luck.

[247outdoors]

not your typical caviar, but i tried it leaving them inside the smelt and deep frying it was ok.

[rough_rider]

I concur that Grindstone is producing almost exclusively larger smelt, I grew up eating Duluth smelt and these Grindstoners are monsters compared to. They were slurping up whole (crappie) minnows so that says a lot.

I'd like to go back up next weekend (March 9 or 10), please post up ice conditions as well as smelt report as you are able to. It's about 1 hour and 15 min drive for me so I'd love to know conditions beforehand. Thanks.

[SpecialK]

Unless I read the regs wrong, stream trout is open until March 31st so I may be back out there this weekend after rainbows and browns.

[reinhard1]

i think you are right on there on that date. i cant make it till the 10th of March, spending some time up north. let us know how you do. when i'm near the smelt hole i will put a tip up with a small fathead 3 to 5 feet under the ice for a wandering rainbow. over the years i have caught crappies, eater lakers, and even some pike suspended over the deep water while fishing for smelt. one never knows. good luck.

[bigred84]

I was up there on mon. and we did decent on browns and bows(5 bows and 3 2-4lb browns) on the shoreline just left of the access. Also 2 15 lbish lakers strolled through. Been up there twice hoping to get up once more before northshore steelheadin starts!!

[reinhard1]

glad to see you had a good day out there. good luck.

[leech~~]

I was up there on mon. and we did decent on browns and bows(5 bows and 3 2-4lb browns) on the shoreline just left of the access. Also 2 15 lbish lakers strolled through. Been up there twice hoping to get up once more before northshore steelheadin starts!!

bigred84. The boat access or the Red Barn access? I'm trying to go on a sleding outting this weekend with all this good snow but if that doesn't pan out I may make a trip up there and give it a try again. Thanks for the report.

[fsnrod]

How much snow did they get in the grindstone area?

[SpecialK]

About 12" in the local area, lots of wind with it so there was a lot of drifting. No clue what the lake actually got though.

[leech~~]

About 12" in the local area, lots of wind with it so there was a lot of drifting. No clue what the lake actually got though.

Ouch! That could put some nice slush out on the lake for this weekend!

[reinhard1]

i think next week a lot will be melted. they are talking maby upper 50's to maby 60 by tuesday. that's what they said yesterd if i remember right. i'll be there on the 10th even if i have to walk out. real close to smelt and the rest if you walk out from the boat landing and then go to your left aways and then strait out. good luck.

[rough_rider]

i think next week a lot will be melted. they are talking maby upper 50's to maby 60 by tuesday. that's what they said yesterd if i remember right. i'll be there on the 10th even if i have to walk out. real close to smelt and the rest if you walk out from the boat landing and then go to your left aways and then strait out. good luck.

I'm not familiar with the lake but I too plan/wish to do one more visit but minus driving on the lake. Is it fair to say smelt can be found anywhere deep? I believe we fished in the north/northeast corner last weekend and it was mini-shanty town around us--making me think fish were not else where? I think we entered from W. Grindstone Rd and didn't drive too far across the lake if memory serves me right. I'm trying to gauge how far of a walk that would be (from west end to east end), seems a very narrow lake.

[reinhard1]

i think it's fair to say smelt are all over the deep water. the smelt hole is more popular i think because it's become the go to place over the years. the northeast bay has one of the deepest areas of the lake. i think this time of the year in front of the boat landing and a little bit down from it out to the lake is good as well.

i'm not an expert on smelt but they seem to concentrate around the area that they spawn which they will soon do. the creek that flows from the east shore from the audoban property also has a deep drop off on front of it. dont go too close for there is a shallow sand bar that goes out 30 feet or so. that is also a spawning creek and i have had good results there as well in 60 to 80 feet, 30 feet down suspended.

i have caught them on the south end in the deeper waters as well. but i'm stuck on that north east area for smelt, especialy if the ice is not safe for driving. that smelt hole has always been a consistant place though for one reason or another. good luck.

[247outdoors]

How much snow did they get in the grindstone area?

drove on there today, about a foot of snow on ice, more on the northeast side, almost got stuck there, so stay away from there. Oh yeah, thanks to the fella who had the red truck with the ice house who plowed the road from the red barn to the north end, we as fishermen appreciate the kindness.

[lispeej]

are u driving a 4x4 and hows the ice?

[247outdoors]

yes, 4x4, but learned that even 4x4 when the snow is half way up to the tire,plus ice, not good. Ice thickness is about a good 18+ or more. The only safe access right now would be by the red barn, like a mentioned before, it's plowed. You could use the boat launch access,depending on "how good of a 4x4" you have, but becareful, it's about a foot of snow on ice. My advice, make good judgements and have fun fishing.

[lispeej]

it's good to know. thanks.

[rough_rider]

yes, 4x4, but learned that even 4x4 when the snow is half way up to the tire,plus ice, not good. Ice thickness is about a good 18+ or more. The only safe access right now would be by the red barn, like a mentioned before, it's plowed. You could use the boat launch access,depending on "how good of a 4x4" you have, but becareful, it's about a foot of snow on ice. My advice, make good judgements and have fun fishing.

Where are these "red barn" and boat launch access points? Again, we entered from along the west shore (West Grindstone Lk Rd). If I'm walking and need to park my car, any suggestions on where to park? The west access had an incline and with this snow I suspect it would cause issues in a 2WD car. Thanks.

[247outdoors]

Those two access pionts are on W.Grindestone lake road. The "Old Red Barn" is just south of the public access boat launch.

[bigred84]

boat access!