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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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Any new ice reports for the grinde? I saw the last one was from last Sunday, just wondering if the smelt hole has enough ice on it to trek out? Hoping to make it there this week, since I have a scheduled Hinckley visit with relatives. Hoping for smelt, crappies, and some rainbows just below the surface...

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i'm going to be there thursday. however i will not go to the smelt hole. just dont trust that yet even for walking. just last week before the cold snap the majority of the lake was still open except the westers shoreline [gets the least sun]. i could be wrong and maby someone walked out there. the closest place to reach deeper water is to walk out from the boat landing. there is a shallow shelf going out from the landing that you probably know about and then drops off quickly.

the crappies will be out suspended in deep water as well. i'll stick close to shore in less than 10 feet for the day [thursday] and venture out farther the next week. i'm going for bows and pike. one thing about rainbows and browns. you dont have to go hole hopping. stay in one spot, and find someplace where there is not much or any noise. they will roam till they find you and then the next pack or strays. then it will come down to see if they are in a feeding mode. love sight fishing for them. and of course a tip up for Jaws. good luck.

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Was fishing nw shore in 20 fow on sat. Tons of little perch and couple nice sunnies. It was my first time fishin the lake and did see quite a few people over on the n.e side also one person was out quiet aways into deep water.. where i was it was 11in of ice cant say how thick in other places because i dont know the lake yet and am not a fan of thin ice situations. One of the locals was nice enough to show me a pic of a 30lb 46in pike that was speared on the lake last week, apparently the pike get HUGE and i have seen evidence.

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Was also wondering what the best depth for crappies is in this deep lake and is there much of a night bite out there for anything??

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my brother had one pike on about the same size back when the Grind was a experimental lake. it was an early spring and there was open water. he was trolling down on the southwest side by the 34 foot hump. he hooked the big pike on a silver loco spoon [dont know if they sell them anymore] and to make a long story short the battle lasted about 20 minutes. he had no net. we were in another boat and tried to get close enough to toss him a big net. anyway the big pike came up and rolled around, twisting the line around her body and took a run and snapped the line. one memory that will last with us forever i guess.

the largest pike i saw speared in the lake was 25 pounds on the east shore. when you have an endless supply of trout and smelt to eat, the pike tend to grow big. just be aware that this is a deep lake and you have to fish the lake accordingly for larger pike on open water. there is no guarentee that you will get one. it takes work and time and a lot of effort.

as for crappies all i can do is tell you what my experiences are on hard water. this time of the year i do get into them when i fish for smelt. for example the smelt hole will have the smelt be suspended in 25 to 30 feet from the surface in general over deeper water. i dont care if it's 60 feet or 100 feet. seems like the "magic" depth for suspended smelt there. i have cought crappies by the humps also. they top out to 34 feet surounded by deeper water.

here is the crazy part. i have fished this lake for over 40 years but have never fished into the evening. this year will change that. so i cant tell you how the night bite is. i am planning this year during open water to fish through the night trolling for browns. browns feed nocturnaly for the most part [big ones anyway]. that is how Carl Lovegren cought the former state record out of there. i talked to him about that day, or should i say that evening. has a cabin on the lake, has gone home to meet the father awhile back.

he had a live sucker on the bottom off the point he lived on. that's when it hit. saw the picture when he cought it. great guy. was a violin maker and we had some good conversations. well anyway---good luck.

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Thanks for the info! It really help guys like me who havent been on a lake like this very often. Good luck this wknd!

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got on the ice at about 9:30 this morning and left about 4 pm. we fished in about 7 feet of water. two of us, myself and Jim who lives in Cambridge. Jim seen trout come by but only bumped his baits with no takers. he had a pike about 10 pounds look at his bait and turned around. must of came to me because my bobber went down and quickly cut my line.

we used minnows with bobber, pimple with minnow heads, crappie baits with eurolarva, and had tip ups out as well. so a slow day today but a nice day to be out. there are thin ice signs posted by the landing, bible camp, and red barn entry. were we were in the north east bay we had about 14 inches of ice. i'm sure it's not the same out in the deeper parts of the lake.

did see some wheeler traffic and one truck off a point south of the red barn area.

take caution out there but wheeler traffic is looking better all the time. still not brave enough to drive one out to the middle though. did see a couple of guy's pull portables around out there though. not many people out there today. good luck.

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It was a great day to be out on the ice. I had only fished this lake one time before in the winter with no luck. No luck this time either (other than a small sunnie after Reinhard left). It was fun to see the trout and big northern though and learn some new stuff from Reinhard. Thanks Reinhard. I will definetely try again! Jim

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there were no vehicle tracks to the smelt hole. only one person pulling his portable around in the middle. i did see a small red car drive past the thin ice sign and drive all the way to the other side of the lake to a small perm going pretty fast. i got out my cell phone getting ready to call 911 but the car made it. i hope that there is nobody out there that follows those tracks. just crazy. the thin ice signs are there for a reason. driving that fast over thin ice further weakens it. hopefully they made it back. good luck.

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Hey buddy, checked the forums to see if you'd hit the lake yet. We have to hook up this season for the lakers. I was hoping today smile

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Michael, i'll be going back next week [every week hopefully till the season ends]. got my grandaughters birthday tommorow and sunday my wife and i are going to a fishing contest up in Duluth. PM me and i'll give you my number and we can keep in touch better that way. good luck.

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thanks for the info reinhard....what i meant to say was foot traffic to the smelt hole. planning on going up there either tomorrow or sunday and using full man power to pull the sled to the hole.

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maby you can save some time by parking at the boat landing. then walk out to the lake and go left about 50 yards on shore and then head out from shore until you get to about 70 or 80 feet of water and drill a hole and check for the suspended smelt. could save you some footwork. they should be out there everywhere in that depth even at 60 feet deep and 25 30 feet down suspended. you will see them on your flasher much like crappies. you may even pick up a laker or crappie while going for smelt. good luck.

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there were no vehicle tracks to the smelt hole. only one person pulling his portable around in the middle.

Hey Reinhard; I think that was me you saw pulling the green Otter portable. Had the picks around the neck and lifejacket on as I used my spud to check the ice. I didn't find anything less than 14" everywhere I drilled. Of course I never strayed over any water more than 60' deep. Would still advise caution over the really deep holes but it looks like the lake is fairly well locked up. Was looking for lakers but didn't have any luck. Did see a couple of small schools of smelt go by on the flasher around 20' to 30'.

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thanks for that report. ya, you must have had a nice workout grin. reminds me of my younger days, although i still can get around pretty good. only pulled my stuff from the barn to almost the landing though. i would think its safe for the wheelers now and the snowmobiles. maby it was ok for that small care but man he was going way too fast. still a big maby for trucks but i did see a full size truck down by the first point down from the barn.

i saw a few fishing reports from yesterday and it seems it was slow from what i saw in a few places, not just the grind. i talked to a nice guy in a spear shack there and he nailed a 10 pound pike a couple of days ago. hope to see you out there sometime. if you can, come to the getogether on the 18th of Feb. good luck.

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Keep me posted Reinhard,we are trying to get a spearing group together for the 5th and then back for the GTG. Let me know how it goes,it would be a blast to spear and fish for Bows at the same time.

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Today is the day! Been waiting for a while to get back out on the Grind on the ice, and today is my lucky day. Going to try to sneak out onto the smelt hole and see what's there. Will probably walk out from the boat landing. Report to follow...

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Found 15 inches of ice in the northern bay (smelt hole?) Water is everywhere on top of the ice. Walked out from the boat landing and took a left. I did chat with a local who said there are still parts of the west shore that have less than 6 inches. (Reinhard1 may know him?)

Was in 70 feet of water, and the smelt were 30 feet down. 12 smelt, 1 crappie, and 2 bows in 9 hours of fishing. Both rainbows were caught while my lure was just below the ice trying to fix a tangle. Funny, after I setup a pole just under the ice, I didn't get another. The smelt were hit or miss all day, and the crappie was caught just after dark in the same smelt return I was watching all day which made me stay out longer thinking I might get into some more. Best fishing was with a purple sweedish pimple (not the smallest one) tipped with a minnow head. I threw just about everything in my box at them, and the pimple worked the best.

I'm heading down to my old stomping grounds in New Prague this morning, and will be trying my luck on the south side of the cities for the weekend. Looking forward to hitting this lake on the way back (Sunday or Monday.)

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thanks for the report!!. the east shoreline has some springs near shore and on shore as well. as i've always said that 25 to 30 foot suspended depth for smelt and other fish hasn't changed in years. when i'm concentrating on smelt or suspended lakers [and occational crappies] i usualy put on a tip up with 10 pound test with a larger crappie minnow or small fathead just 3 feet or so under the ice for bows. see you on the ice. good luck.

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I originally had a tip-up out with a fathead on it for bows, but it wasn't until I had the tangled line with my jigging rod that I caught one. So I pulled up the tip-up and rigged another pole with a spoon and minnow head and set it up just under the ice and ended up with nothing. Don't know if it was just the timing or what.

The guy I talked to (John something) said there are some springs along the shore just south of the red barn access that keeps the ice pretty thin. According to him you shouldn't be within 100 yards of the shoreline until you hit the second point. He said he's lived on the lake for 30 years, I'll take his advice. The conversation came up because I pointed to the 36' hump I wanted to give a shot at and he said don't drive that way...

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i drive to the humps all the time in normal winters, although it is at an angle away from shore. i know the springs he talks about. i think 100 yards is a little much though. maby 50 to 100 feet away from that spring with a vehicle. keeping away from shorelines is good advice on most lakes. the spring is located a little south of that old wooden dock laying at a angle from the first point. there is usualy a little bit of open water right near shore [3 or 4 feet] there.

i think i have stated many times to stay away from shorelines on that lake. that doesn't mean the entire shoreline is full of springs because it's not. just a few and it's enough to stay cautious. this has been one crazy winter with the lack of cold temps. i see the temps staying in the low 30's for a week ahead. good luck.

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Thinking about heading over tomorrow afternoon. Where is the best place to get on the lake? The normal boat access? Also what is the ice looking like? I am pretty sure there is no driving on the lake right now.

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prior to getting to the landing on the north west side you will see a place to get on by the barn near the end of the lake on your right side. you can park on the ice as you drive out to the right of the thin ice sign on shore there. the ice is about 14 inches there. the spear shacks you see on your left in the bay have 14 inches of ice as of last thursday. if you fish near the thin ice marker, dont drill a hole there but go another 50 feet out and work yourself in, instead of out. it's very shallow there and you may dull your blades. you can walk anywhere in the lake right now. i also think a snowmobile and a wheeler can go anywhere as well. if your after bows than just stay in 10 feet or less. if you have any other questions ask. i'll reply tommorow in the early morning. good luck.

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1 Brown and 1 Rainbow this morning and had one drop off the hook literally with his head outta the hole (good 16 inches...). Started at 12 Degrees. Ended up at 40 when I left smile 300 yards south of the red barn in 11 feet of water.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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