Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports

[reinhard1]

great to have a grindstone site! i fished this lake for forty years, and loved every minute of it. i have had good times and like many of you come back home with no fish. i am new on this site and probably could write a book on this lake. i will look at this site daily for information. i have read all the postings on this site and appretiate all the input. you never stop learning and i hope i can be helpful. i was on the lake last sunday during the storm that wasn't sposed to come. we were by the barn and this wind came out of nowhere from the east side. we could not get back to the landing so we headed straight accross into waves and buckets of water. anyway we managed 7 crappie,two rainbows, and realeased 7 largemouth and two northerns. there was much debrie on the lake after the storm went by so trolling was difficult. crappie were cought on small redwhite tubes and rainbows were cought on mepps bronze syclops spoons. northerns and bass were cought fishing for crappies.

[KG243]

Thanks Reinhard1 I have fallen in love with this lake even though I have yet to catch any fish on open water, and not many to talk about on the hard water season. There is just something about the lake that draws me to it. Hopefully this will be my year for a laker!

[reinhard1]

one thing i know for sure as far as i'm concerned the idea of several mn. state record fish that are in grindstone. remember the brown trout and stugeon record came out of this lake. carl lovegren cought both of them. they have since been broken but both species are there to go after. i read all the past posts and all of yours. I dont have all the answers butt i like your attitude. I have cought a 17in. crappie there and several 4 to 5 pound brown trout. my brother has cought a 15lb. lake trout and an 8lb. i watched my brother lose a northern well over 30lb. now this is a period of over 40 years and many other nice fish were cought. Pictures? the big crappie I realeased and i do have a picture of a 8lb. brown trout. I'm a rookie at the computer. when i learn how to put pictures on this site i will post them. i have a picture of my brother in 1972 at the landing with 6 crappie that came to 13lb. there is so much to say about this lake i dont want to take too much room right now. when i was at the landing on sunday one of the guys told me they cought a 22in. smallmouth and released it. i believe there is a state record smallmouth here along with northern, brown trout,and black crappie. why? smelt. june 7 i will be going with my family to bear head lake. we will be there for one week. yes i do fish other lakes. bear head lake state park is awsome and i look forward being with with my family in our anual get together. keep in touch.

[Big_Man]

Any news on this lake? Also is there any good shore fishing opportunities as well? For times I am unable to bring the boat there. (My friend has the boat and it is stored at my house but I can not tow it though.) So I am curious how the shore fishing does there if it is possible?

Thanks in advance!

[reinhard1]

sorry for the late reply. i was on vacation for a week up in ely. the only shore fishing on grindstone is on the north east side by the red barn. the north end by the boat landing and the south end along the road side. bring your wadders for the north and south end for it is shallow for a bit and walk until you feel comfortable to cast. be carefull because it drops off sharply.

[brrrr]

How is this lake during July (typically), I have fished it a few times before with sporadic results, is there a better time of day (or night) to fish in the summer?

[Fisherman45]

I have had my best fishing earlier in the morning for pike and smallies. Later evening for crappies and the few trout have been sporadic through out the day.

[reinhard1]

i always love to reply to any grindstone questions. it realy depends what your fishing for. now is the time for trophy smallmouth. there is still time for crappie early and late in the day. the pike,large ones, have moved into the deeper waters. for rainbows you have to go to at least the 15 to 20 ft. levels instead of the surface. post me some questions in detail what you are looking for and i will try my best to tell you were to go and what to use. what size boat do you have thats important also because the landing conditions can change depending on the rain. rainbows, lake trout, brown trout, crappie, blugill, largemouth, northerns, and even smelt. for lake trout and browns you need a downrigger this time of year. but you can have fun with largemouth and smallmouth on the shorelines. post back for more info. i have fished this lake since the early 70's. i'm sure there are guys out there that can also give you good advice i learn stuff all the time but i'm ready to help.

[zzz]

how about the smallmouth . and largemouth thanks

[reinhard1]

there is better smallmouth fishing than for largemouth. the only reason i say this is i catch more smallmouth. for largemouth start in the bay on the north east end by the boat landing. be carefull leaving the landing when entering the lake for it is shallow for a ways and then drops off big time. this bay has a good growth of kelp. you will also get smallies mixed in. in front of the red barn there is a shallow flat that goes out for a ways surrounded be a dropoff all the way around it. another good place. for smallies the whole lakes shoreline will do. especialy the south east side from were the grindstone river leaves the lake up to the first major point. you will see a mixture of gravel and kelp. fish the docks and the kelp weeds out to the drop off. the west side has more gravel and boulder mix. this lake can give you a chance for a trophy. a friend of mine has caught and realeased two 6 pounders here in the last 10 years. one other note, there is a crib in the neast bay i spoke of earlier in 20ft. of water. this is always a good sunny spot with crappies and smallies in the mix. i have seen groups of smallies cruising around it with my underwater camera. there are 3 cribs in the lake and i have the location of each crib on a map given to me be the dnr guy who put them in in the mid 1980's. the one in the bay i spoke of is known by the locals for they fish it during hard water. i hope this helps a little. good luck.

[Pigeye79]

How has the access been? I am going to get in the 2050 Sportfish?

[reinhard1]

as of last monday it has been normal if you know what normal means. there has been quite a bit of rain latly in that area so it has kept the landing stable. i would suggest you use the electric motor to get out because you have a big rig. i have a 1850 crestliner myself and thats what i use. good luck. when backing in your boat keep the trailer near the dock for it is deeper there.

[brrrr]

Thought I'd try for some smallies and crappie, and maybe give a try for some trout if I get the urge. Seems everytime I tried for trout in that lake I had little success, I have picked up a few rainbows out htere though. My boat is a 16' lund and I will have no problem with the landing, I can easily get through 18" of water. I also have a downrigger ball that could use a wash so I will probably through that in also.

My first time out on that lake many years ago (before I had any electronics) I was fishing the east side of the lake by a dock and put out the anchor to keep from drifting. I was about 10 yards from shore and the anchor held in about 18 feet of water for awhile, the wind pushed me out about another 5 yards or so and I figured I would put the anchor down a couple more feet, much to my suprise I let out all 100 feet of rope and hit bottom with about 6" of slack. I just kind of stared in disbelief, I was only a couple boat lenghts from shore. Also around the same time I watched the dnr stock several rainbows in there (over by the barn) and talked to a local who told me how the big northerns would move in and have a feast for the next few days. sure emough I seen a few just hanging out not at all interested in wahat through at them. Kind of suprised me there are no walleye in there though.

[Pigeye79]

I am going to be out for Trout on Sunday. Any advice? Lures depth ect.... I am going to be bringing lead core and dipsy's.

[reinhard1]

brr. as far as walleys. none have been stocked. the guy who caught the state record brown trout out of the grind once told me he knew of a guy who caught a 13lb. walley there. the brown record has since been broken. carl lovgren who lived on the lake has died a few years ago and told me this back in the 80's. a person who lives on the n.east bay (he is in his 80's) lived on the grind all his life. he told me of an occational big walleye being caught over the years but very few. a local once told me he caught a 1lb. walley, who knows,i never caught one in 40 years. pigeye79 one thing you got to remember the grind, depending on the weather, does get recreational use on weekends and the 4th. the gear you have will work. 35ft. deep usualy is a good starting depth for browns and lakers. check your electronics and look for the clouds of smelt and you will have the predatures not far behind. large northerns also will follow the smelt. sutton spoons, and others will work along with stick baits. i usualy use bright colors but try your favorits first. rainbows will be between 15 and 25ft. now. this has been my experience anyway. toward evening try for crappies along the weedlines in the neast bay. there is a diving platform in the bay. there is a deeper spot there surounded by shallower rocks and kelp. good luck. for rainbows use small silver or bronze spoons. my favorite is a mepps syclops bronze spoon.

[Fisherman45]

Was out on Grindstone about 5:00am Saturday looking for a few smallies and largies but didn't land any a few smaller ones were hitting fuzzy grubs and gold and black mepps but didn't get any to the boat. We left after 7:00 to try another lake in the area.

[reinhard1]

sorry to hear you had poor results. i fished around my house sat. and sun. fished on lindstrom on sat. and lindwood on sun. had poor results both days. even the sunnies were slow. so what i did was blame the storm that came through and the lakes were busy with people enjoying the water. there are days i fish the grind and i do well and then there are days that you experienced. is the boat landing still capable of landing an 18 ft boat? good luck.

[Duckslaya]

Got the 18ft Warrior in there 2 weekends ago. It was pretty close though. I'm sure an aluminum would make it through still.

[Fisherman45]

I was the only one at the launch Saturday morning and launched my Stratos 386 xf and just barely made it out to the lake had to use my push pole through the channel. Going to have to use the john boat from now on I think. We did better on other lakes in the area on Saturday. I boated my Largest bass ever a few miles away on a smaller lake 6lb 3oz on crank bait and we had about another dozen decent ones on senkos along pad edges and pockets. That's the benefit of the smaller lakes give em a few hours then move to the next one.

[reinhard1]

thank you for the landing info. just to be safe i will take my 12ft. i have cought largemouth in the grind since the 80's. at that time they were 8-10in. since then my largest has been 3lb. i predict a hog out of there at any time, with the food and lack of pressure. smallmouth have been there since 1970 when i caught a 3 pounder my first time on the lake fishing for trout. i believe there is a state record smallie in there, again because of the food,smelt, and lack of pressure. i can go on and on, thats why i fish grinstone. where else can you catch lake trout this side of duluth? 10-11in. smelt on hard water. thanks again.good luck.

[KG243]

I love this lake for hard water. I cant wait for the lakes to freeze just so I can go laker hunting again! I just cant seem to make it up there in the summer.

[reinhard1]

stay tuned i have seen your posts before. i will be on the grind a lot this winter [especialy to try the other two cribs] for lakers,pike, rainbows, browns, and those tasty smelt. keep in touch, hopefully we will meet out there. good luck.

[SpecialK]

I was out there a couple times this week, launch is definitely sketchy at this point and used an oar as a push pole just to be safe. 14' shallow hull boat at that. Caught one smallie out in front of the red barn and that was it.

I was not fishing prime time (early morning or late afternoon) either time as I was really just trying to get a feel for the lake. I was marking fish all over hanging out with the bait balls just couldn't get anything to take the cranks.

What would say is the better time to be out on this lake, early morning or late afternoon evening? Would trolling a jointed rainbow rapala out about 10 colors do me any good for lakers?

[reinhard1]

sorry you had a tough time as far as catching fish. this lake is tough to fish until you get to know it and get a feel for it. i have fished the grind since 1970 and i have had good days and so so days. i'm just going to give you general info right now otherwise i would have to write a book on this thread right now. the bay by the red barn this time of the year you should be able to have good results with smallies and largemouths. more smallies on average. also sunnies and crappies. use bass techniques such as top water or plastics such as wacky jigs with plastics. get into the weedlines and the outside edges. if you want more action for smallies try the west shoreline from were the creek goes out up to the first point on that side. there is a shelf were from the shore out to the lake it stays around 7 ft. for aways and suddenly drops to nowhere land. stay on that flat with the kelp weeds. there will be a bonus pike waiting. the east shorline is rocky, full of boulders and sand. a lot of area to cover but use bass techniques. the trout are deep now. rainbows and browns will be 20 to 30 ft. down. lakers will be much deeper. it would be nice to have a downrigger this time of year. it you see clouds of smelt you will get the predators. maby i already wrote a book. i hope this helps.good luck.

[SpecialK]

Yep I was seeing the clouds of smelt and the bigger fish hanging with them down about 40 ft. My next question is what speed are those fish looking for?

[reinhard1]

just fast enough so you are satisfied with your lures action. hope to hear a report. good luck.

[luap]

Anyone know the latest ice condition?

Thanks.

[leech~~]

Anyone know the latest ice condition?

Thanks.

You mite get more feed back in two weeks once Lake Trout opens.

[Fisherman45]

Went by there yesterday and saw 5 or 6 houses on the west side we went out by the red barn and drilled a few holes and found 16" of pretty nice looking ice. We went to Big Pine found 16-18" and Lake Eleven 16-18" no snow left to bank the house and the darn ice shavings and slush from drilling the holes froze so hard and fast we had a time getting the house up when we were leaving.

[reinhard1]

thanks for the ice report. i am surprised that there is 16 in. there already but that's good to hear. i'll be there on trout opener for the whole day. start shallow for pike and rainbows and later move deeper for a shot at a laker and crappie and smelt. good luck.