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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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i want to correct my last post. thanks to one of our posters [ 401TE ] the correct opener of stream trout on inland lakes outside the boundary waters is Saturday the 14th of Jan. 2012. i was looking at the 2011 date. good luck.

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@ Rheinhard1:

I would like to speak with you about Grindstone since you seem to be the leading authority of that lake. Fishing soft and hardwater lakers is my gig and have pursued them on Lake Superior for 32 years and counting. I would love to apply my techniques on Grindstone and am willing to share my tips and tricks with you.

Cisco

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i will send you a email and give you my phone number. i like speaking one on one more than emailing. looking forward to talking with you. good luck.

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Will do a drive by of the lake on Tuesday, and give a report if it is iced up although if it is I won't be checking it, casue it would be quite thin if it is iced up.

Kettle

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thanks, Kettle. the first thing that pops up there are the spear shacks by the barn. the cold and no snow is helping a lot. i would also once more urge anyone that plans to fish this lake is to not drive a vehicle on this lake until proper ice is made. this is the LAST lake to freeze in that area and is very deep and has numerous springs near the shorelines. also there is always open water where the river goes out. good luck.

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Lake completely open as of 1600 today, fished two other lakes about an hour northwest of there, both had 8''. Caught some nice gills and crappies and a 32'' pike on 3lb test

Kettle

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thanks Kettle, i realy appreciate you taking the time to drive by the grind. doesn't surprise me to hear it's still open, but i thought perhapst there would be ice forming near shore during the last cold snap. i have seen as little as 6 inches of ice on trout opener and 10 inches on some years. i'll probably schedule our get together in February sometime. good luck.

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it will be nice to see you again. i will post the date soon so people can plan ahead. i'm thinking of making up some pulled pork and bringing it up there. keep it simple and good for our noon hopefull fish talk and lunch. good luck.

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When do you think the ice will be good enought to get out and do some fishing on this lake. I do know that this place takes a bit longer to freeze over but I was just wondering how the ice is.

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i have fished this lake for over 40 years and i wish i could give you a "safe" report. keep an eye on this site. there will be some that will give reports, but don't even try at this point. i dont fish this lake until the winter trout season opens on hard water [Jan 14 on a saturday]. this is a deep lake and extra caution should be taken. keep an eye on this thread and i'm sure information will be comming. good luck.

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I'll be visiting relatives this weekend in the cities and will be working my way down on Friday. If I have time, I'll check the lake out. I'm anxious to get out there and see what Grindstones early ice action is like. Not crazy early ice, but enough to get a wheeler out. Been fishing on hard water up this way for a couple of weeks.

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Jeremy, as of Dec. 13th the lake was still wide open, thanks to the report by Kettle. i dont fish the grind on hard water until the trout opener. and from then on i go at least once a week until the season ends for trout. Jeremy we will have to get together with Tony and make one of those trips up there. good luck.

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Anyone have any idea how the grind is looking right now. I would like to get up there and do a little bit of smelting. I know its a deep lake and takes longer to freeze. And this warm winter hasn't helped much with ice making either. So if anyone can report back-that will awesome. Thanks in advance and be careful out there.

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the lake was still open a couple of weeks ago. i would not walk on this lake at this time. smelt are in deeper waters suspended, so i would not take a chance. i wont go on till mid january and will walk out until i see safer conditions for a wheeler. good luck.

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As much as many of us love to try GS on trout opener, I am going north. The ice should be better here by February.

Last year was a record setting mudpuppy year for me with 3! Strange creatures.

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i think this year it will be wheeler only for me and that may not be till February. i have to much respect for that lake. i have caught a few of them puppy's over the years. good luck up north. lot of good trout lakes up there. good luck.

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LOL!!!!unless we get some cold soon we may just be able to fish the shallows. i'm confident we will be able to walk out, but the question will be how far. i'm going near there on monday with my wife so i will drive the extra 20 miles to check it out.

just after i posted this i called the Hinkly fisheries office and they said as of today there is 2 inches of ice near shore and the whole lake is covered except the area on the south shore where the river goes out. so as for now please stay off the lake for awhile. good luck.

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well we did have that mini cold spell prior to Christmas. the week of the 13th it was still open. calm nights, and cold will skim the top. the many years i have paid attention to this lake just confirmed to me not to go there until trout opener. there are exceptions but few as far as safety is concerned. good luck.

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thanks for the info reinhard. really looking foward to getting up there and chasing them lakers and trout up there. not to mention the SMELT. gotta be one of my favorite places on the hardwater.

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ok... this is shocking, a friend called me this morning and said he was out last night for smelt, and there was about 8 inch of ice in the northern section of the lake. he said he saw some ATV's and there were lots of people. he also said he caught over 50 smelt in the night.

so he could be lieing to me to get me out there or there is just a section where it is thin and a section where it is good. can someone report definitively what the condition is like? thanks.

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as of the 13th of Dec. the lake was wide open. as of Dec. 28 the DNR official told me there was 2 inches of ice near shore. it's now only 4 days later. could there be a spot 8 inches thick now. perhapst but not in the middle. i wont be there until the weekend of trout opener on the 14th of January and i for one will not bring me my wheeler along then. just walk. i find it hard to believe wheelers were all over the lake. if so its very dangerous to even walk out in deeper water at this point. good luck.

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I might have to try and get up to that lake this winter it would be fun to get a trout threw the ice. For the summer is thrie a different launch for the boat other than the one on the north side my boat did not like that stream and my motor did not like the sand bar.

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that is the only public boat landing on the lake. when there is normal water levels i have no problem with my 1850 chrestliner with a 115 merc on back. i just use the hydrolics to get the motor up to a safe level. i have used my electric motor as well. when the water level is down, i have used my canoe or 12 footer at times. as you go out from the dock stay in the center of the channel until you get to the slight bend and then stay to your left, for it is there a sand bar comes out from the right. then stay in the center and keep the motor up until you get to the drop off. lighter boats usualy have no real problems unless there is a long dry spell. good luck.

good luck

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Kettle
      Walked today and yesterday, flushed 9, shot at two and got two. Hopefully next year I'll have a dog to hunt with. Still warm up here, skim of ice on ponds. Weather has been nice. Hopefully walk a bit more the next few weeks. Been pretty cautious walking for birds to not interfere with deer hunters. There sure are not the deer hunters there used to be 
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  The focus for many this week is the ongoing deer hunting season which is a big tradition in these parts, even for avid walleye anglers.  There were some that either already harvested their deer or are more into catching fall walleyes than hunting.     Those that are fishing are taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and excellent walleye and sauger bite that is happening across the lake.  Cold weather is in the forecast in the upcoming days and weeks so that is also getting many excited. The best depths on the south end of LOW are 22-28 feet of water.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners is catching most of the walleyes, saugers and jumbo perch.  Depending upon where on the lake you are fishing, some slots and big trophies are in the mix as well, but most reports are talking about good numbers of eaters.    Jumbo perch are coming in good numbers this fall which will serve ice anglers well.  Watch out for an occasional pike or even lake sturgeon mixed in with the walleyes.      There are good numbers of walleyes and saugers across the south shore which is setting up nicely for early ice.   On the Rainy River...  There continues to be good numbers of shiners in the river, and consequently, there are good walleyes in the river as well.     Walleyes along with saugers, pike and some sturgeon are coming in up and down the river.  Most walleyes are being caught in 10-25 feet of water in various stretches of the river.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners is the key. Some anglers are also still slow trolling crankbaits upstream to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing remains strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  As temps are getting colder, most are in the woods hunting and not fall fishing, however, for those who bundle up, fishing continues to be excellent.     A nice mixed bag with walleyes, saugers, perch, pike and crappies being caught. Very good muskie fishing with the colder water temps and shorter days.  Some big fish and some good numbers are being caught amongst the islands.  Both casting and trolling is getting it done.  
    • gimruis
      I hunt in the rifle zone so I don't have a need to use a shotgun to hunt deer, but I would be looking at this if there was ever a need to.   There could be state legislation introduced next summer that eliminates the shotgun zone completely.  It has bipartisan support.  Wisconsin removed theirs years ago and MN is usually later to follow.  They've tried to pass it more than once and it came up just short both times.  Probably just a matter of time.
    • Wanderer
      Oh, h e l l no! 
    • leech~~
      Screw that, here's whatch need!  😆   Power-Shok Rifled Slug 10 Gauge 766 Grain Grain Weight: 766 Shotshell Length: 3-1/2in / 89mm Muzzle Velocity: 1280
    • Wanderer
      20 ga has become a real popular deer round in the last 5 or so years.  The rifled barrels are zinging those sabot slugs with rifle like accuracy out to 100 yards easily.  Some go so far as dialing in for a 200 yard shot but really, by 150 they’re falling off pretty low.   I have a single shot Ultraslug in 20 ga that shoots really well at 100 yards.  Most everyone I know that has bought a slug gun lately has gotten the Savage 220 in 20ga.  Problem can be finding the shells you want.
    • leech~~
      My son always bugs me about getting a nice light over-under 20ga for grouse hunting.  I say Heck no, I'm getting a 3 1/2" 10ga so I can put as much lead in the air that I can!!     So, I'm keeping my 12ga.  
    • 11-87
      That’s almost exactly what I was thinking.  Have slug barrels for both   One for turkey and one for deer.      I have a 20ga mosseberg as well. (Combo came with the scope but never used.   I always liked the 12 better
    • leech~~
      Wanderer is right on the money and covered it well.  I was wondering too if you had a slug barrel for one of your guns?  If so you could make that your slug gun with a scope, and the other your turkey gun with the Red dot.  As you can afford it. 
    • Wanderer
      Kinda depends on if you want magnification or quick target acquisition.   More magnification options and better accuracy with a scope.  You get what you pay for too so get comfortable with a budget for one.  Tasco and Bushnell work but I find they lose their zero easier, have low contrast and don’t gather light well in low light conditions.  That said, I’m still using one I haven’t replaced yet.  Vortex has been the hot brand for the past several years for bang for the buck.  Good products.  Nothing beats Swarovski though.  Huge dough for those.  Burris is another decent option.   There are some specific models for shotgun/slug hunting in the economy brands and bullet drop compensation (BDC) reticles.  Based on experience I’d recommend not falling for that marketing ploy.   Red dots are usually lower magnification and easier to get on target.  Reasonably accurate but don’t do well with definition, like searching the brush for your target.  I put a HAWKE red dot on a .22 for squirrels and it’s been good.  For turkey, that’s probably the route I’d go.     If your slug shots are normally not too far and too brushy, I’d think a red dot could work there too if you’re only buying 1 scope.  You’ll be better off dimming the reticle to the lowest setting you can easily use to not over shine the target and get a finer aim point.   If you don’t have a slug barrel, you might appreciate one of those.  I had a browning with a smoothbore slug barrel that shot Brenneke 2-3/4 inch well.  The 11-87 would well fitted with a cantelever rifled barrel. 
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