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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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i called the DNR in Hinkley on the 28th of Dec. and the guy told me that they had 2 inches of ice there that day on shore. this cold is helping but we have a way to go before even a wheeler can get on there. there are some perhapst that see 10 inches on other local lakes and think this lake is no differant. but it is, and can be a dangerous choice to even walk out in the deep areas now. good luck.

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I was crazy enough to go check it out on January 1st after fishing

Rush I went out on the north side of the lake and drilled out across the lake avg ice was about 4 inches and and south of the launch is still pretty thin 2 to 3 inches only the river channel had wet ice so I imagine its very thin....

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thanks for the report. i have fished this lake for over 40 years. not just once in awhile. over the years i have seen thin ice up to the trout opener in winter a few times. one time i remember we had 8 inches by the red barn out from the shelf in mid january. however on average by this time we have more ice than there is now.

this is one of those years where it's critical to be very cautious on this lake. there is always someone who will push the envelope. there are many springs near and on the shores of this lake. i always tell people to not drive near the shorelines. the south end where the creek runs out of the lake is usualy open where it exits with some current. also where the creek runs into the lake by the landing can cause problems in years like this.

this is a very deep lake and is the last to freeze in the area. hopefully on opener people use caution and not drive vehicles on that lake until we get a longer stretch of cold weather. i know i have said this before, but i cant stress it enough. good luck.

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this years Grindstone Getogether will be on Saturday February 18th. it's a good way to meet up with people with similiar interests and learn from each other on ways to catch trout or anything else in this lake. very informal. on saturday we normaly just go fish anywhere on the lake. the getogether is at noon by the "red barn" area on the lake.

there we eat some lunch and sit around for awhile and talk about the day and get to know some new folks and say hello once again to those that were here last year. i plan on making something to share for lunch. i'll post what i'll bring later. i made the getogether later this year because of the thin ice conditions that are present as of now. hopefully we can drive on there by then, but i will have my wheeler along.

i'll be fishing the grind before then as usual. hopefully a week before the getogether we wil have some idea of how many will be there. good luck.

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full-29757-16014-grindstoneopen.jpg

Get your canoe's boys... Don't see anything on other than walking on the shelf by the barn.

I live about 2 miles north of the lake itself and you would have to get me out with Ice Pics, Life Vests and rescue team on standby. Yesterday's temp hit 49 5 miles west of Finlayson with a heavy wind. Whatever was built up was destroyed by said wind.She is 24 right now with a light breeze so that helps, but this next weeks forecast is for more warm temperatures. Might be time to drive north to find the fish for this opener.

Ted

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thanks for the report and that picture tells it all. i have been warning of thin ice conditions on this lake for awhile and now back to open water. i hope people look at this picture and keep that in mind once the cold comes and keep in mind what people say when they talk about ice not being uniform everywhere on a lake. this lake is deep, and it gets deep quickly from shore in most places. this is why i put our getogether in late february. needless to say we need some sub zero temps. good luck.

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personaly i will not be going to my favorite lake this weekend. as of January 7th as noted above in a much appriceated post, the picture shows the lake is open for the most part. please stay off the lake until colder weather makes safer conditions for all of us. even if the lake looks frozen with a few days of cold weather in the next few days, stay off the lake. i have never seen these conditions in the over 40 years of fishing this lake.

there have been a few times i have seen 8 inches of ice on the opener but never like this. stay safe and wait until better conditions come along. good luck.

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full-29757-16014-grindstoneopen.jpg

Get your canoe's boys... Don't see anything on other than walking on the shelf by the barn.

I live about 2 miles north of the lake itself and you would have to get me out with Ice Pics, Life Vests and rescue team on standby. Yesterday's temp hit 49 5 miles west of Finlayson with a heavy wind. Whatever was built up was destroyed by said wind.She is 24 right now with a light breeze so that helps, but this next weeks forecast is for more warm temperatures. Might be time to drive north to find the fish for this opener.

Ted

As much as I'd like the lake to freeze, so we can do some hard water fishing, I might consider taking the canoe out for a troll if the lake never gets frozen enough.

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i'm sure it will freeze over, but it will be unsafe to even walk on for awhile in the deeper water areas. the smelt hole will not see me for awhile frown. i have seen 6 to 8 inches on openers before but never anything like this in over 40 years. good luck.

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Has anyone stopped by in the last 24 hrs? I am hoping for an ice update. if I go this weekend I'll be walking for sure.

Thanks

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the lake is very dangerous this week. just a few days ago it was still open if you look at the picture on the previous page. there may be some shoreline areas to walk on near the north west bay but there is no way i would even walk out very far. next week i see some cold weather too so stay close and stay safe. i may drive up next week to fish the north west shoreline in 6 or 7 feet of water for bows and pike. good luck.

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Thanks for the update. I do appreciate that.

Although I am still interested in an update within the last 24.

Thanks

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Buddy stopped by there last night. he said its not lookin like much fishing will be happening until at least next week. open water still and waves comin in. not a good formula for ice on a lake like this. there will be some disappointed anglers tomorrow. not the news most of us were lookin for...

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thanks for the report. it is realy appreciated. i just hope everyone takes it as it is and waits for better conditions. good luck.

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Anyone been fishing out here yet? I know it wasnt looking too promising not too long ago but i was thinking about heading up there this weekend to try fishing trout first time through the ice?

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should get cold the next few days and warm up for the weekend. I'm debating between grindstone or the horseshoe chain for a long saturday of fishing.

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i'll be going next week, during the week. i still wont be walking out in the middle or deep areas. i think the shorelines will be good to walk on to fish for rainbows and pike. seeing that open water on the majority of the lake last week will make me leary of driving a vehicle on the lake other than parking near shore any time this year. i will be bringing my wheeler for the getogether on the 18th of february. good luck.

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In spite of the grave warnings, I made the trek to grind on Sunday morning. I took all the ice warnings seriously and made sure I understood the conditions myself.

When I arrived, I noticed that no one was more than 100 yds from shore. I've seen that on this lake before so I headed out with an auger in the sled and walked out with chisel in hand. I also saw several trucks parked on the ice just feet from shore. I found as much as 10 inches and as little as 1/2". Yes 1/2". The spot I wanted to hit was near the small pockets of open water surrounded by 1/2" of ice.

That said, I had several fish on he vex that I know were lakers but could not get them to move much. I left skunked but can't wait to head back when I can get to my spot.

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thanks for the report. i have never seen the ice conditions this unsafe in over 40 years. i'm going next week, during the week and fish the shallow depth for bows and pike. i'm glad to see people being cautious out there. hopefully wheelers stay off the lake for awhile. good luck.

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Ok not trying to be nosy or get to one of your hotspots but is there a decent community that is safe to walk to yet. And what is a good all around depth for trout on the lake i know trout can be found just about anywhere just seeing if there is a certain depth you have luck in? And being my first time trout fishing in the winter is a trout stamp required then? Will be up saturday and post a report once i get back.

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the only community spot i know of is the smelt hole, but it isn't like your normal crappie hot spot. no perms and just holes to show people were there. i dont think it will be safe to go to this spot for awhile due to thin ice in the deeper areas of the lake.

this is not a designated trout lake. but i would suggest haveing a trout stamp if you are going to keep the trout or not. at this time lake trout may be more difficult to get because of the ice conditions. rainbows, browns, and pike are probably the best to go after at this time.

try for rainbows in 10 feet or less. they can be caught a little deeper but i would suggest the 10 feet or less. use a small pimple with a minnow head or panfish jigs with eurolarva or waxies. i always put out a tip up with a shiner in the 10 foot level half way to the bottom. this will get the attention of a pike and brown trout. a tipup with a fathead will get a rainbow as well at these depth

hopefully by the getogether there will be enough ice to get to the smelt and lakers. if the cold keeps comming it will be sooner. good luck.

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Thank you Reinhard sounds like some very good advice just one more question sorry which access would be the safest i see the one on the Northwest end is on a river or can u get around the unsafe ice?

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most people drive on the northwest side by the red barn. you will see a spot to get on the lake there. depending on the ice conditions i usualy park near shore at that area. once on the ice stay to your right and park where others have parked and do not venture out with a vehicle. there is a shallow shelf there. the shelf is aprox 50 yards strait out from the entry and goes about a 75 yards to the right or south. it also would be a good idea not to drill a hole in that area. i have seen people do that and dull their blades.

it's important to know the lake. please check out the conditions before driving out, even to park near shore. there should be sighns of vehicles parking there. do not drive anywhere on the lake other than where people have parked near shore. i would not recommend driving out from the river area. on normal conditions people do drive out from there. there is a shallow shelf that comes out from the boat landing for about 50 feet and then drops off quickly. again, the ice conditions there are unknown at this point. by walking out from the boat landing, deeper water can be accessed faster than by the barn. remember, last week i believe the lake was still open over there and on most of the lake. good luck.

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I have never fished Grindstone but would like to try for some smelt. Any help with what to use for bait and where to fish for smelt?

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Welcome to HSO Steve. right now i dont know if it's safe to get to the productive areas for smelt. the ice conditions are very unsafe in the deeper areas where i like to fish for the tasty fish.

this is the general information i give. i like to fish for them suspended. that means deeper waters although they can be cought at times in waters from 20 on up. however not as consistant as suspended in deeper waters.

the best spot is the smelt hole. that's in the north east bay. that area is not safe at this time in my opinion. we had open water there last week.

here is an example of what i do. if i'm in 80 feet of water i turn on my old FL8 and i will see smelt at 25 to 30 feet. i put on a small pimple [copper in color] with a minnow head on it. i twitch it here and there and usualy while it sits still, a smelt will hit it. it is usualy noticed by a light hit. you can also put a waxie or eurolarva on the pimple.

the smelt can run from small to up to 11 inches. the larger ones are for smoking and the small ones are for deep frying. i hope this helps. good luck.

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A gold hali jig with minnow head has produced smelt for me up on Superior. The key is putting the hook through the head, then threading the head up to the first link in the chain. This helps keep the minnow head in place and the smelt literally hook themselves.

Rhein, we need to talk fishing soon!

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thanks for all the information on smelt fishing. We will be up at Audubon Center of the North Woods teaching at a Becomming an Outdoors Women workshop at the end of February and would like to get up to Grindstone before that to try for smelt. We aren't doing a fishing clinic this year so I am hoping to get some time out on the ice for myself. What are the best times to fish smelt? Is there any spear fishing on the lake? I am doing a clinic on carving spearing decoys and would like to get a good video on how the decoys work.

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Steve, the point by the beach at the Audubon is a good place for pike, trout, and smelt just a little north of the point. there is a creek on the east side just a little ways up from the Audubon fishing dock that enters the grind. the shoreline there drops off quickly and you will find smelt suspended there also. especialy in March. i think they bunch up there and in front of the boat landing more in March getting ready to spawn [just my opinion].

and then there is the north east bay where the smelt hole is popular. while the smelt can be everywhere, they seem to roam there more in masses. again safety is the big issue this year more than any year i have seen. walking out from the boat landing will get you to deeper water faster. i think if you can get to 40 feet safely you will see some smelt on the flasher. i'm going there Thursday to check things out, but will be fishing shallow that day and not roam much. deep water is definatly out of the question for me for walking until i can check things out.

if you have any questions you can PM me as well. i spoke at a lakeshore association meeting at the Audubon building a few years ago. they were selling some great maple syrup there that day as well [made there].

Spearing is becoming more popular at the grind over the years. there were always spear shacks in the north west bay for years. now you see them scatered here and there. the water in the grind is very clear, and you will see trout swimming by your hole while waiting for the gators. good luck.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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