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Posted

Wondering if anyone has info on Lake Phalen in St.Paul.

I was thinking about giving it a shot this weekend but have never been on it in the winter. Just had a couple question.

Any known bad ice spots?

Any kind of night bite? I can rarely make it out before 7pm so I'll be fishing in the dark.

Posted

I'm going to take the lack of response as a sign that the bite is so hot on Phalen that no one wants to even talk about the lake, either that or its a dead sea that no one fishes.

Either way I'll be out there tonight seeing what I can find.

Posted

No wonder no one has had anything to say. Doesn't look like many people have been out there lately. Only saw a few tracks where people had pulled out shelters. We ended up having the entire lake to ourselves from 7-11pm.

Didn't catch a thing but it sure was nice hanging out with a friend and enjoying a nice quiet night on the lake.

Posted

I know I mentioned it previously (last year), but if you park at Phalen, make sure to not leave ANYTHING of value (a phone charger is valuable... go figure... ugh) in your cab/car that is visible, you have good chance to return to smashed glass. Summer or winter. Sorry to be a bummer, but it is the unfortunate truth.

Posted

I fished phalen a couple of weekends ago and didn't get anything. Had a couple of little masks come off the bottom but didn't even get them. Did pretty well if the fall a couple of years ago, but not much lately.

Posted

I know I mentioned it previously (last year), but if you park at Phalen, make sure to not leave ANYTHING of value (a phone charger is valuable... go figure... ugh) in your cab/car that is visible, you have good chance to return to smashed glass. Summer or winter. Sorry to be a bummer, but it is the unfortunate truth.

The sad thing is that this is probably true for almost every lake in the metro area now days. I try to be careful no matter where I am at.

Posted

Sleeper lake for big eyes if you can find them.

Posted

That's what I've heard as well. Not sure what kind of numbers are in there though. I'll try to get out there a few more times to see what I can scare out of the hole. Fished rather deep the other day. Might try up shallower next time.

Posted

I might give Phalen another try this Friday after work, tried a couple times 2 years ago with no luck but I cant give up on it yet. Where about on the lake did you try?

Posted

I fished just off the south east side of the saddle in the middle of the lake. I fished the base of one of the steeper drop offs.

Posted

Can you use a gas auger out there? I know it is a motor free lake, but not sure if that counts for augers or not.

Posted

Gas augers are fine. Just can't drive any sort of vehicle out there.

Posted

How was it your second time? I have been wanting to fish it for a while. Long walk to spots? Have a sled but just wondering. Would like to find a decent spot in metro. I know probably impossible. Want to try como too.

Posted

You can get to the mid lake saddle area fairly quickly by parking in the second lot of the park - I tried out there a couple weeks back for eyes, stuck out in the short time I was there. You can also get to the beach area in with a short walk from the first lot in the park, that is another spot to try for eyes. When I was a kid (25 years ago) my buddies and I used to do real well for eyes on the east side of the lake real close to shore in the area where Arlington runs in to the lake just park on English street and it's a short walk to the area. I have heard round lake on the northwest end of phalen is a decent crappie and eye lake, I have yet to try on my own but it has my interest peaked.

Posted

The 2nd lot on the west side does offer the shortest walk. I parked there but ended up walking across the lake to fish a spot on the west side. Maybe 200 yards, so not far but the snow added some resistance. I made it out with my flip over but was a little tired when I got there.

There are spots much closer along the east shoreline if you don't want to walk that far. I'm guessing its going to take a fair amount of drilling and moving around to located the fish. The surveys don't show much for quantity but the size is there.

I haven't made it back out yet since last weekend.

Never have fished Como but it never really interested me. Haven't heard of much other than stunted gills and some small pike coming out of there. Also I've heard water quality is fairly bad as its a catch all for the entire como neighborhood.

Another small lake I've wanted to look at closer is Loeb lake in Marydale park. I fished it once last year with little luck but its a deep little lake that might have potential. Its known for bad ice though with a couple springs so if you are tempted to go out bring the spud bar. I fished it late last January and thankfully I had my spud with and was using it to test the ice. I was walking on 14-16 inches of ice and then suddenly the spud broke through a good sized spot of only 1-2 inches of ice where a spring was.

Posted

A friend of mine pulled out a 27 inch walleye from the dock by the pavilion last year. This was during the summer fishing with a leech on a bobber.

Seen 10lb channel cats, huge muskies, 5-6lb largemouths etc... ALL during summer months.

Lots of pressure, but every once in a while, a monster sized fish will be pulled out.

Posted

Be really careful if you go out on Loeb. Used to live just up the block & fished it a few times, there are a couple of springs along the western edge of that little lake. I, too, have seen people put their foot through the ice in mid-January when the rest of the lake has a foot of ice. Between that, the aerator, & the fact that I never caught anything bigger than 6 inches, & my interest waned pretty quickly.

I know there are a few bigger fish in there (buddy hooked one once, lost it at the hole), but unless something's changed, not worth the time & risk.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • SkunkedAgain
      If you fished with me more often, you'd never have to make this statement...   38" of ice - love it. I'm really going to have to dig around for my auger extension. I don't think that I've needed it in over a decade.   Too bad nobody has a locomotive chugging across the ice to do some logging, like the good old days.
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  Ice fishing remains strong across the south shore of Lake of the Woods out on Big Traverse Bay.  Resorts and outfitters on some parts of the lake have ice roads extending over 16 miles staying on nice schools of walleyes and saugers.  Many fish houses are over deep mud.  Some are on structure.  It is always fishing of course, but overall, February has been very productive for most anglers.   Extensions are being used on ice augers as the ice continues to thicken.  The thick ice this year will be good for the extended ice fishing season Lake of the Woods enjoys with fish houses out through March 31st, walleyes and saugers open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes. Most fishing activity is taking place in 26-32 feet of water.  Anglers are finding a healthy mix of walleyes and saugers, with a good number of jumbo perch in the mix this year.  Some big eelpout are also showing up.  Anglers are reporting plenty of fish for fresh fish frys and usually extra fish to bring home.   The one-two punch of a jigging line and deadstick is the way to go.  On the jigging line, jigging spoons with rattles tipped with a minnow head have been consistent.  Lipless crankbaits and jigging rap style lures also doing well.     Lures with a light have been working well in the stained water.  Please remember, in MN, lures with a light or water activated light can be used as long as the battery is mercury free and the hook is attached directly to the lure and not as a dropper line.     On the deadstick, a plain hook or a small jig with a live minnow 6 inches to a foot off of the bottom.    Some days, mornings are better, other days, it's the afternoons.  There is no distinct pattern, they could come through at any time. On the Rainy River...  The start of the day and end of the day have been best for those targeting walleyes on the river. A jig and minnow or a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head is also producing some fish. Some big sturgeon being iced by ice anglers targeting them.  It is a catch-and-release sturgeon season currently.   Although ice conditions on the river are good, they can vary significantly due to the current, so anglers should always consult local resorts or outfitters for the most up-to-date safety information and fishing advice. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing has been strong in the islands area of Lake of the Woods. Resorts continue to move their fish houses around, staying on the best schools of walleyes.     Anglers are catching a nice mix of walleyes, saugers, and jumbo perch with an occasional pike or tullibee as well.     Big crappies are still being caught just over the border.  Fish houses are available, check with a NW Angle resort for info on crappie fishing.   Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended ice fishing season with fish houses on the ice through March 31st and walleye and sauger seasons open through April 14th. Perch, crappie, and pike seasons remain open year-round.    
    • leech~~
      Maybe you should put rattle wheels down, if your going to sleep for 6hrs! 🤭 😆
    • JerkinLips
      Monday was my worst day of winter fishing on Vermilion in the last 4 years.  Caught only one 14" walleye in nearly 8 hours of fishing.  Missed two other bites and was marking very few fish.  Maybe the fish were taking Monday off after a big weekend.   No more water came up on the ice under my house.  Think it was because I haven't banked snow around it for a couple of weeks so the bare ice around the house is getting very thick.  I measured 38" of ice under my house and the Ion barely made it through even with the extension installed.  Needless to say I banked around the house this time.  Another lesson I learned today is don't drill holes if ice is frozen on your blades.  I did that on one hole and it didn't center properly and drilled at an angle on the edge of the opening.  Hope I can correct the location and angle on my next trip up.   Not much change in the surface lake surface conditions.  The drifts may be a little higher and are definitely harder.  There are still a few bare ice spots on the lake.  Very little activity on the lake today.  There are about 3 dozen houses from McKinley Park out to Birch Island.  Another person pulled there house off today, and I am sure many more will pull theirs off this coming weekend.  Only 13 days left of walleye season.    
    • leech~~
      A good start for never picking up a bow!   IMG_1910.mp4
    • leech~~
      Um, #metoo   leech~~ Author 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders Posted January 26 My whole goal for the rest of this season.  Is to watch KC lose and Taylor cry!  🥳
    • smurfy
    • Wanderer
      Smurfy is happy.
    • Dash 1
      Great looking food. So far not much of a game and I thought the halftime show was worse I've seen. 
    • leech~~
      Oh is there a Superbowl game? 😋😋
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