Green Lake - Chisago

[LwnmwnMan2]

Here's a report from Green.

Fishing out in the hole, the crappies are stacked up.

However, you have to fish about 8 hours to get 5 that are over the 9" minimum.

They'll come through, you catch 10-15 in 10 minutes, then you're waiting for 20 minutes. Then they'll attack the bait again, then wait. You'll get about 1 fish every 60-80 minutes that's legal to keep, if you're lucky.

Last night I got 2 back to back, and for that stroke of luck, my cell phone went down the hole.

Always a price to pay.

Anyways, anything that glowed red with the minnow hooked through the tail, or anything that glowed green with the minnow hooked through the head.

I was out from 4 pm Tuesday until Midnight, 6 fish brought home, probably 70 thrown back, with zero floating at the top, from bringing them that far up.

[Dan Brelje]

Nice post lawnman. I remember fishing in the spring or later ice on green and having a lot of success in years past. The hole is a very good destination if you have a graph and are seeking numbers.

[Matt_Billing]

Just got back from Green. It was my first time on the lake and it may become one of my new favs. I caught 25-30 bluegills and crappie starting at noon. The crappie bite started up around sundown. All were released. (None were hurt.)

[lotsofish]

Welcome to the site Matt.

Yep Green can be a really great lake for numbers, but it's rare to find any gills much over 6.5-7" though. It seems like most of the crappies I get there are at 8.75", just under the limit to keep (not that I always go to keep fish, but they always seem like they are just under the slot.) I did have a really nice crappie on a couple months ago. It was probably 13", but it unhooked when I got it to the top of the hole.

If you go to the left from the access along the shoreline, back to the corner, that can be a pretty good spot. I took the kids there one day when it was sunny out and we fished in the portable and were able to sight fish the sunnies and a couple crappies during the day in about 6-7 FOW. We also saw some bass and pike come through which was cool to see.

There was a really cool looking bass that we saw (didn't bite). It was pretty good sized, probably 4-5 pounds and it had a dark black spot covering half of it's back. It was pretty distinctive. I wonder if any FMer's have caught this fish before? (Maybe Dietz? He's caught almost every 2+ pound bass in the Chisago chain right?)

[polarsusd81]

I wouldn't put it past him. I know I haven't caught that one in particular, but my buddy and I did catch a few out there this year.

[hugonian1]

Has the 9" minimum made any impact on the overall size of the crappies? Seems like this has been in place for quite a few years but the quantity of "keepers"is still sparse.

[LwnmwnMan2]

 Originally Posted By: hugonian1

Has the 9" minimum made any impact on the overall size of the crappies? Seems like this has been in place for quite a few years but the quantity of "keepers"is still sparse.

My dad and I talk about this all the time when we're out there fishing. Just like lotsofish said, it seems like 1/2 of the fish you catch out there are 8.5-8.75".

My personal opinion is that you catch so many fish, and that most people are there to take fish home.

I realize on this board, there are many people that will catch and release, but let's face it. There's alot of people that like to eat fish as well, including myself, so I'll catch 3-4-6-8 that are over the slot and bring them home.

You know darn well that I'm not the only one, and I would bet that there aren't too many that are thrown back that are over the 9" mark.

I feel, personally, that with having the 9" limit, it almost makes people feel they're required to take home anything over that size, almost like it's a trophy, because "we finally got one!!!" As soon as one hits 8 7/8", there's a good chance it's getting thrown in the bucket, not with me, but when you talk to guys on the lake and they say "yeah, it's been a feeding frenzy here for 4 days now"..... well.....

I'm not drawing any conclusions, or making accusations one bit.

That's just my opinion. Personally I HATE cleaning fish, so normally I'm just out there to prove to myself that I'm smarter than a fish. The last time out, my cell phone ended up at the bottom of the lake, so I and the fish are still in discussions on who's smarter.

[Deitz Dittrich]

 Quote:

I wonder if any FMer's have caught this fish before? (Maybe Dietz? He's caught almost every 2+ pound bass in the Chisago chain right?)

LOL--- I wish!!! and I will continue to try 8-)... On a serious note, I have caught quite a few fish in Green that had a "birthmark" on it.. but none as large as you are saying. Green lake here I come, there is a bass in there I havn't caught yet.. LMAO!!!

As for the size of the crappies... I think in Green lake.. with as much pressure as it gets.. the slot has helped, but if they want it to help more.. they would have to make it even larger.. as it seems any fish caught over the slot now goes home in a bucket. Hence, very few fish over the slot... same way with walleyes on Green, or so it seems.

[LwnmwnMan2]

I agree with you Deitz, but if they increased it to 12", everyone would complain, "[PoorWordUsage], 11.78", and the whining would start how you have to catch (30) 11.78" crappies before you get (1) 12" crappie to take home.

I personally don't see how Green gets any less pressure than Chisago / S. Lindstrom, yet there's not a size limit there.

But then again, there's a size limit on Bass on Chisago, and I know that structure on Chisago is quite a bit different than Green, but still..... from my perspective, I think alot of these slots / size limits are more of a trial and see what comes of it, than an actual thought of we're now going to be able to have "Red Lake" type crappies on Green, or "Florida-sized" bass in Chisago.

I suppose most of it gets down to having a larger fish to be able to reproduce, therefore increasing the chances of a lake being more sustainable, while not having too large of a fish that would compete too much with the smaller ones to grow as well??

[FL SNIPER]

That would be interesting to see a 12" limit on that lake to see what happens. I'm no marine biologist so I don't know if all the crappies would get that big or if they would get stunted because none are coming out of the lake. I like to eat fish..more than average guy even...but I wouldn't mind going to a lake where I had to throw all the crappies back if I had a chance at catching a few big ones around 12". There's a lot of other lakes in the area to go get a meal if you really want one. It sure would be nice if someone at the DNR could get mother nature figured out!!!!

[Deitz Dittrich]

I'm maybe not saying 12".... 11" I think would be fine.. Myabe it doenst need to be a trophy crappie fishery? Which is fine...

Chisago is a trophy bass fishery.. and I htink the large bass help and keep thes mall crappies in check. Green too has a very very decent large bass population. But doesnt have the structure that chisago does.