Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports

[Fisherman45]

Got to Grindstone at 6:00 Saturday morning I failed to get the boat launched due to the low water and sand build up about 20' out from the dock. Will try the john boat and a pole to get through next weekend man the water is real low.

[SpecialK]

Did you sell the alumacraft Moose?

[Moose-Hunter]

Did you sell the alumacraft Moose?

Yep. The big bad Trophy is down the road. It was a great boat, but we just weren't a "good fit". Picked up a new model 1875 Pro-V to take it's place. So far, I'm VERY VERY happy with the switch. It's been about a week now and I still haven't worked up the nerve to drill any holes to mount the downriggers. LOL!!

Bummer about the low water. I was hoping to get up to The Grind with the new boat. Besides the BIG lake, any recommendations where to go to chase them lil' ol' troutskies?

[SpecialK]

I am sure Rein will pop in with some wisdom on the trout. Grindstone and the lakes in that vicinity are my home waters now so that's where I play mostly. My little 14' row boat usually doesn't have a problem getting in there.

Congratulations on the new boat!

[reinhard1]

thanks for that report as well. ya, it's a bummer when it's that low. i got a 12 footer and a canoe which i usualy use under those conditions. smallmouth should be active all around the shore. good luck.

[reinhard1]

if you cant get out on the Grind i would try Square Lake east of the cities. if you dont have downriggers i would try vertical jigging with Cicada blade baits once you locate some suspended rainbows. i'm just guessing but i would think the rainbows would be 25 to 30 feet down right now with this hot weather. otherwise try the streams in the south east part of the state. the inland trout lakes up in the Arrowhead would work but there i would fish off shore with a slip sinker and injected crawler. good luck.

[NowthenJoe]

Square Lake is a fun lake to fish. I found this bass out there a few weeks ago while trying to get into some trout

.

[reinhard1]

must be feeding on some of the trout and some nice gills that live there. that is realy a nice bass. congradulations. good luck.

[john.wells]

Moose, there are a bunch of mine pits in the Crosby area that have trout. Pennnington pit is a good place to start, it is stocked yearly, but gets hit hard in the spring. It has a fantastic access, though, and you can navigate through a couple channels to a couple other lakes.

[SpecialK]

Stopped by last night to check the guage. It is about 3" down from the top of the tire. Lots of sand around the launch so be careful. I don't know what the channel looks like as we were out for drive.

[Dakotabassbeast]

Hey is there anywhere to shorefish here? And if so, what could i catch? Stayin at the casino and was wondering if there was anywhere to fish. Thanks

[reinhard1]

fishing off shore is very limited. there is a beach area on the south end where the locals swim with parking off the side of the road. dont go by the bible camp beach which is private. also by the boat landing you can fish off shore if you walk on the left side of the landing and out to the mouth of the landing. it is very shallow there but you can walk out a little and then it drops off quickly. right now i dont think there will be much as far as trout off shore. the right side of the boat landing is private property as is most of the lake. my advice would be to get a canoe or boat to fish this lake for the best outcome. good luck.

[Moose-Hunter]

what's the latest and greatest from The Grind? Hows the tire gauge?

[rumeye]

I would be careful.........LOL. Buddy was there earlier this week water is really low. We are going on Saturday just a fun in the sun day no fishing I think I will take the small boat.

[Moose-Hunter]

As long as there's a little better than a foot in the creek, I can just walk the boat out to the lake. Loading and unloading may be tricky though...

Meh... No matter... If the Grind is not accessible, a quick jaunt down 23 get's me to a different, much larger pond.

[reinhard1]

well it wont be long and hopefully we will have enough ice for at least a wheeler on Grind. go after some lakers, rainbows, pike, or maby a brown like this. good luck.

[JBMasterAngler]

How can you think about ice fishing when there's still some righteous fall trout fishing to be had? I don't know if I'll make it there before laker season closes, but should for sure make it sometime in october...I need to catch a brown trout before the season is over to complete my trout grand slam

[reinhard1]

probably a good idea to bring a canoe or small boat. the landing is probably pretty shallow now. i have caught browns off the shore from the boat landing casting spoons in October over the years and on bobber and minnows along with a rainbow here and there. good luck.

[SpecialK]

I was thinking I might try to get out there this weekend. If I do make it, I will post up what I find.

[reinhard1]

thanks, i would appreciate that. last year i went and fished for smallies and pike. the big pike will be in the shallows when the water cools down. i saw some pike last fall that would go in the twenty's [two of them] and cought some nice smallies and lost one that would have gone 5 pounds easy. i was using a yellow spinnerbait with a yellow gulp paddle bait attached. best spots were the shoreline from the Adubon point south and the south west shore from the bible camp up to the firt point. stayed in 6 feet of water and casted into shore and out. i think trout will be easier in October. good luck.

[JBMasterAngler]

It's about a month sooner than I had planned, but I might hit the grind tomorrow. Not an ideal day weatherwise to fish for trout, so I might target other species primarily. I want to fish a lake because all the rivers are high and dry, but the local lakes are probably gonna be busy with recreational traffic with everyone wanting to get out for one last hurrah. So the super shallow launch at grindstone might be ideal for me

[reinhard1]

i would be there also with the 12 footer but taking care of my wife's mom is a priority now. last year in the fall i did well. especialy for smallies and pike. didn't realy try for trout at the time. saw some big pike cruising the shallows. good luck.

[SpecialK]

Tire guage for 9/15/2012

It is pretty shallow all around up there but doable for smaller boats

[reinhard1]

thanks. ya, that, leaves my big boat out but like you say a guy with a roller trailer and a 14 footer would go ok. i love that tire guage. thanks again. good luck.

[185Competitor]

Why doesn't the dnr just dredge out the landing, or does that just make to much sense.

[JBMasterAngler]

There would be more to dredge than just the channel, it's just as shallow for quite aways out after you get out into the lake. The lake is about 2 ft low. Even if they did dredge it, the creek would just fill it back in after the next big rain storm.

Anyway, after a very late start, I had no problems at all launching my boat there today. Trimmed up my eletric motor and back and fourth easily. I caught 1 chunky 18 inch lake trout trolling a silver/black flat rap on a 3 way rig about 45 ft down. All the fish I marked seemed to stay down in the 57 to 60 ft range, while the smelt were either 25 ft down or 40 ft, nothing up, down, or inbetween those depths. Only seen a couple trout surfacing. No bass or pike to be found. I wasn't even planning on fishing for trout today...was a good thing I did

Just about had the lake to ourselves, and the weather couldn't have been better. Does anyone know if the DNR fin clips the stocked lakers in grindstone? The laker I caught still had his adipose fin.

[reinhard1]

there used to be a beaver or two over the years that tried to build a dam across the channel and the dnr removed them when they appeared. i dont know of any plans to improve that landing.

i thought maby you would at least get into some bass. crappies should be in the weed edges as well. glad you got the trout. i have never caught a laker with the fin clipped. nearly all the lakers you catch have been stocked. good luck.

[maxpower117]

Quote:

Does anyone know if the DNR fin clips the stocked lakers in grindstone? The laker I caught still had his adipose fin.

I emailed this question to the DNR about 2 years ago. They don't clip the adipose fin on lakers. If they clip a fin, it will be one of the fins on the belly. And they dont do this every time. They really weren't tracking the natural reproduction in that lake.

[JBMasterAngler]

A fin on his belly? Interesting...he was missing one of his fins down there. I'll probably hit the grind again, but don't know if it'll be the weekend of, or weekend after laker season closes.

[nwhunter]

JBMasterAngler - Can I ask how big your boat is? I've got a 18 ft. Lund that has had trouble getting in and out of that lake when the water is that low (tire gauge,) but I'm itching to get back down there this week.