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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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I have seen a few cars driving on the north end of the lake and a couple of half ton trucks as then tend to stay closer to shore, but a couple times the trucks have drove to the area people fish for smelt. The point by the Audubon froze mid January so be sure to check the ice conditions before taking an untraveled path in that area.

Seen a couple people coming off the lake at 4:30 AM from the smelt area on Monday. Maybe with the warmer weather they are becoming more active. Have noticed not as many people fishing trout as years past, but the smelt fishing is becoming more popular ..... One meal a year of those little guys is enough for me.

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some of the smelt are not bad size for smelt. the bigger ones i smoke. realy good stuff. ya, deep fried smelt are filling. the thing about fishing for smelt out there is sometimes you do get a bonus laker, crappie, and even a pike. as i stated once before i nailed a 12 pound pike near the smelt hole with 4 pound test, small pimple and a minnow head. i thought i had a big trout on. fortunatly it was hooke in the corner of the mouth. i did release it. nice and fat. also got one out there on a small minnow and plain hook. good luck.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

How is the creek at the Public landing looking? Is it running where you can't get out of it with a sled if parking at the landing? Are people parking on the ice by the Red barn? May still make it up for the GTG this Sat. wink

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
Have noticed not as many people fishing trout as years past, but the smelt fishing is becoming more popular
Don't know why when Rein's is talking about it all the time! whistlelaugh
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hope you make it up. yes, you can park on the ice there with no problem. with your snowmobile you can go anywhere on the lake even to your "secret" hump out there. good luck.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Thanks for the update. There's still going to be a few warm days until then so hopefully she holds up! eek

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Got to spend only a half day on Grindstone this morning due to other commitments that came up. It was great to meet a few of the guys on this forum. Reinharts son in law picked up a beauty of a Brown Trout about 1 1/2 lbs and other saw some nice fish below the ice but as of noon, not much biting. Hope that changes for everyone. The food was awesome. Rinehart, that was the best kelbasa i ever ate!! And the saurkraut, a favorite of mine, was awesome too. We had venison salami, cheese, chips, potato salad, beans and venison jerky. I might have left something out too. Hope we can do it again next year. thanks Rinehart for putting it together and all your work.

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are the fish bitting, as of this weekend, heading over from brainerd hope to catch some fish.

I saw 5 bows and 2 lakers thru the spear hole today and none of them would bite,the 2 lakers played around for a couple minutes and charged the baits but wouldn't eat them. Also saw one pike around 15# the girl didn't know it was a pike she had never seen one that big before and it only stuck around long enough form me to get a quick glimpse of it.

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Today was good for rainbows. I got a 12" right under the hole in 54 FOW and a 17" about 15' down in 84 FOW. I went to 8 locations today. Little luck with lakers, a 7"er.

By the way, the 34' humps at the NE side were fishless. Usually smelt, perch, crappies and mudpuppys are found here, not today. Smelt over deep water were not interested either.

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thanks for the report. glad to see you had some luck. there were people on the humps on saturday all day long without moving. no idea if they had luck though. the smelt hole had a bunch of people in one big circle. i'm going up again and fish deeper water for suspended fish. good luck.

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Was out saturday myself got 3 bows didnt get there early at all so probably could got a limit if I did. One was 18 inches though so that was nice. smile

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that is a nice rainbow for sure. also that is not a product of the adults they stock in there once in awhile. that is from the carry over from stocking. i have noticed the average size of rainbows i catch are larger than they were over the years. not because they stock larger bow's but because the DNR stocks bows twice a year instead of once a year as in the past. thanks to the increased interest of the hard water season. good luck.

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the wife and I will be up to Audabon Center Friday thru Sunday for a workshop. Have all afternoon on Friday to fish. Never been on the lake before, in past postings it was said that we might have some luck out from the creek that runs into the lake near Audabon. Any suggestions? Also does anyone know of someone with a dark house on the lake. I am doing a class for the DNR on decoy carving and would like to try out the one I am having the class carve to see how it performs. I'ts tough to tell in a washtub.

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there are some locals with dark houses on the lake. try the north west side by the barn. there has been someone in them on weekends anyway. i dont know what your after while your there. however you dont have to walk far from shore by the Audabon point. walk out from their beach area in anywhere from 6 to 10 feet for rainbows. south of the point on that east shoreline is a good place for pike also.

straight out from that creek there is deep water not far from shore. it's a short walk to 80 feet where you may see smelt suspended down 25 to 30 feet. just a small pimple with a minnow head or waxies/eurolarva will do the trick. it also gets deep from the Audabon fishing pier on the north side of the point. close in for rainbows and deeper for suspeded fish.

there is a 25 foot hump just north and even with the tip of the point that would be a good spot for lakers and trout. good luck

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last saturday there were a couple who drove trucks out there. most drove along the north shore and walked out or used wheelers or snowmobiles. i heard the ice was at least 15 inches out there. in reality the entire lake is a smelt hole grin.

however that north east bay is very popular with smelters. there was a little "village" of portables there saturday. you can walk out from the landing and reach deep water in short order. or drive past the landing and park half way down the bay on the north side and walk a short distance to 60 plus feet and should see the smelt 25 to 30 feet down. most of the trucks i seen were parked on the north side of the north east bay. good luck.

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has anyone been on the lake at the north end lately? Just wondering if anyone is still driving on it or how thick the ice is. Was there on Monday and it was scary, ice cracking all over. So just need to know if i should bring the sled this weekend. Thanks.

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I was out there today as the DNR was removing the thin ice sign from in front of the red barn. My son picked up a 22" Brown

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that will be a tasty meal for sure. way to go!!!! glad you nailed one. i'll be up there soon as well again. good luck.

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yes, especialy with snow comming this weekend, so they say. they say not much here but mostly up north. probably get some in that area as well, who knows how much. sure would be nice to get some for the snowmobilers. good luck out there.

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as of last saturday there was pretty much 15 inches all over from where i was and from reports from others. not that many full sized trucks driving out in the deep areas. a couple, but mostly mini-vans, jeeps, and some cars. there were trucks parked on the ice on the north east side near shore by the smelt hole. plus trucks parked on shore by the barn. some wheelers and snowmobiles also. good luck.

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There were some full size trucks out on the ice as of sat. night.

There is still ice being formed on the lake right now, after sunset the ice was cracking all night.

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we were on Grindstone surrounded by a bunch of other vehicles as of Saturday. Smelt bite was hot from 5-7 PM then slow n steady until we left @ 10:30. From the looks of it, I think that slow but steady bite would have ran all night?

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good to know that they are biting sooner in the day, we usually fish late at night so next time we will try sooner in the day. thanks for the tip.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • 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. 
    • 11-87
      Looking for recommendations on scope or red dot    I basically hunt turkey and whitetail, live in southern MN. So it’s all deer/ shotgun    looking to add a scope/ red dot as my eyes don’t work like they used to to with the open sights.    my gun options are 11/87 12. Browning BPS 12    not looking for the most expensive or the cheapest    pros and cons of one over the other
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