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Grindstone Lake Fishing Reports


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It doesn't surprise me that there might be a walleye or 2 in grindstone, and big ones at that. I'm sure at some point in grindstone's history it was stocked with walleyes, otherwise a few migrate in from the kettle river. I haven't seen the outdoor news yet, but are you sure it wasn't the grindstone lake in WI?

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Nevermind, just read the outdoor news today. Very nice walleye.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Just got home from my first trip to Grindstone. What an interesting lake! The wind today made it tough to control the boat but other than that it was a great day to be out.

I ended up catching a fat 17" smallmouth and a 28" northern on the south/southeast shore casting up to the shoreline with a black and silver x-rap shad. I tried trolling with small/medium crankbaits all over the lake for trout but didn't get a bite. I also tried trolling a larger crankbait for northerns but had no luck with that either.

I noticed huge gobs of bait about 50-60 feet down over any where from 70-100 feet and from reading this thread I'm guessing those were the schools of smelt? That's where all the trout (and big northerns) are I bet. I don't have down riggers or anything so they'd be tough for me to target but maybe they come shallower in the fall?

Also, the boat launch itself was deep enough to launch my small 16' aluminum boat but once I got to the end of the channel at the main lake it was less than a foot deep. Luckily, when I was on my way out, a homeowner on the lake was on his way in and was already in the water pushing his boat and he offered to push mine out to deeper water so that was very much appreciated. But on the way in I had to get out and push over the shallow water. The homeowner that helped me said that the channel was going to get dredged in the coming weeks so that should help a ton and make it much easier to get out.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

There are some walleyes in Grindstone, but catching them is usually dumb luck. One of the homeowners on the south west side of the lake pulled a pair of them through the ice last winter. He's lived there for 30 years, and those were the first two he's seen, although he had heard stories of folks catching them through the years.

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As of last week, channel has NOT been dredged. I have a 16' deep V and I was able to use a push pole to get out, with in a very narrow trail of maybe 2 feet of water and once into the lake, be really careful as it gets shallower....and I had to bench press my boat off the trailer. Once the sun started setting the surface came alive with bait fish, trout, perch etc. But headed back as I did not want to negotiate the channel in the dark. Hope this helps.

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Ick... I knew it would be shallow, but not that bad. Someone a while back used to talk about using the tire on the dock to determine the depth. I don't suppose you recall where the water was in relation to said tire?

They really need to dredge that, everyone knows it's horribly shallow for a while outside of the mouth of the launch, but its where the stream kicks in all of that silt that is a killer.

I may just have to wait for the ice before I make another trek down there.

Thanks for the update.

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For selfish reasons, that is my favorite boat launch! Keeps all the other people off the lake grin I'll be up there in a couple weeks, enjoying the solitude.

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For selfish reasons, that is my favorite boat launch! Keeps all the other people off the lake grin I'll be up there in a couple weeks, enjoying the solitude.

I'm normally the same way, but I don't want to put my canoe in that lake. Just too big of an area to cover where I want to fish.

A friend of mine tried to contact the Hinckley Fisheries office this week, and hasn't heard back.

Ice fishing will be here soon enough...

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  • 3 weeks later...

Went out to grindstone today. The launch is SHALLOW! There was juuuuuuust enough water for me to paddle my 14 footer out. When I got there a group was bringing in their pontoon for the season. Took 2 guys pushing it, and 1 guy pulling it through the channel. Then they had to dig holes with a shovel so the tires could get in deeper. Even then, I couldn't believe they were able to crank it onto the trailer.

Anyway. Right off the bat I watched a northern pike chasing a school of trout around in less than a foot of water. I was mostly trolling spoons around. Lost a fish right away, he even followed my lure back to the boat, looked like a lake trout. Lost a really nice pike, broke my line. Seen a couple schools of trout swimming around, and had a couple more strikes. But in the end I got the ol' skunkaroo!

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Thanks for the good report. It was fun listening to your stories about the fish you saw. Guess we'll have to wait a bit for some good ice!

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  • 1 month later...

Hows the ice coming along? With this cold snap plus more...im feeling there should be some decent ice out there. Anyone been there yet?

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  • 3 weeks later...

fishin' must be good cus no one is reporting. In addition to ice, how's the snow level for driving smaller cars?

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I don't think the lake sees too many anglers until trout season opens. Up until then it's mostly just dark house spearers.

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I doubt there is enough ice to drive on yet and there is a lot of snow on the lakes up here. There are a couple of perms out but that is about it.

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A friend of mine was there Friday and he said only 8" of ice under slushy and snow on top. A truck went through the ice to the left of the boat launch. Becareful if anyone is venturing out.

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I've been wanting to fish this lake for a long time and this Saturday will be it. I plan on trying about everything I can think of to try and ice a trout or two. I just hope it isn;t super slushy on the lake.

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Kid Moe,

I have fished the Grindstone opener about 8 years in a row so I'll tell you what I know.

Many people start shallow early and sight fish in say 5-10 FOW. I like small Forage Minnow spoons tipped with a fresh crappie minnow head.

Late morning I go deep for the rest of the day, say 60-90 FOW and look for smelt clouds usually halfway down on the graph. I use the same setup in 2 of 3 different depths: just off the bottom, halfway down in the smelt cloud, or just under the ice like 3-15 feet.

Rainbows often swim around right under the ice in all depths and are very aggressive and move through quickly so keep an eye out by sight and high up on the graph for an unusual blip.

A mix of trout and smelt with an occasional slab crappie can be caught in the middle column. Smelt and lake trout are often on the bottom too. Larger fish like a 3/8 oz bucktail jig with a stinger I tip with a filet of a small sucker. Typically out deep I do not run into any brown trout either.

My portable blue Clam Yukon says MUNTZ in big letters on the front if you want to stop over for a report. My friend has the same and we will be there Saturday and Sunday if you want to say hello.

Here is last year's Grindstone opener gem, a 26" laker caught on 4 lb test. It took 30 minutes to get in and bit just before dark!

IMAG0730_zpsac6afced.jpg

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Good report. Very nice fish!! Join us on 2/8/14 for the day long Grindstone Getaway. Potluck at noon on the ice near the red barn.

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I finally got through reading most of the great info on this thread and I think this thread needs some more photos of caught fish. Im not knocking anyone, there is just a wealth of info, but about 12 pics. Good luck to everyone fishing this weekend and beyond.

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Thanks for the advice Muntz! I'll stop by when I get time. I'll be in an Eskimo 1 man. I'm getting excited. Do most people release big trout like your dandy laker? I'd like to hopefully keep a couple but I'm not sure what most do since it is kinda a limited resource.

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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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