Lake Phalen - Saturday, January 7

[Mr. Pike1]

Pikeharms, you are of course welcome to attend. I ran into D-rocks and they quickly put on a new pull cord. I also needed to replace that little spring in there.

Should be a fun time.

[Jughead]

Hey Mr. Pike,

I might "prefish" on Thursday morning/afternoon. I have only fished this lake twice....I was going to the N/NE corner of the lake tyrying a variety of depths. Any recommendations? You could email me at [email protected] if you like as well.

Thanks!

Jug

[Maximum12]

Hey Mr. Pike, if you're planning on going out & doing a little prefishing on the weekends/early evenings & want another couple of lines, let me know, I'd be game. I may well take a day off the first week of January, too, if you're around.

Last year for the White Bear outing, almost as many folks showed up for the "prefishing" as did for the event itself.

[maj330]

Looks like great fishing weather coming up this weekend. May be a good opportunity for some pre-outing scouting for interested parties. Please post if and when you'll be able to hit the lake this weekend.

[Mr. Pike1]

For all the posts on the pre-fish I think it is an excellent idea. Learn a few spots and share at the event. From my perspective I have from Thursday until Tuesday of next week off. Thursday I have to finalize X-mas shopping with my wife. Friday I am heading up to Little falls area to hit a 70 acre little honey hole for a full day of ice action. The weekend is filled with holiday stuff but I will do everything in my power to get out a few hours here and there to get my fishing fix in and maybe see a few of you on the water. I will keep my eye on the posts to see who may be going out to pre-fish and when and may try to join for a few hours if I can.

My limited experience with this lake I can share this knowledge. The fish seem to be tight to or right in the weeds. My advise find the weedline and drill alot of holes along a defined weed edge. If you can find a opening inside a weed pocket that would be the ticket. Set up a tip up and then spend time hole hopping along that weedline until you find the aggressive fish. I honestly believe at the event a 10lb plus pike will be caught and I would guess a few muskies make a showing as well.

There appears to be a pretty strong year class of smaller walleyes that are bitting. Many 12-16" fish to be found at dusk again on the weedline. There also appear to be a healthy supply of the 1-3 pike to keep a guy busy.

I know there are panfish in this lake but I am at a loss as to where they are located or the size class. I had my camera down many holes the last time out and did not see one perch, sunfish, or crappie which I found very very odd.

[MetroEye]

Hey guys,

Had 9" of good ice on the east side of the lake last Tues.(12/20). BUT....it is 45 degrees as I write this! Caught a half dozen small walleyes and a 12" crap. Tough lake to figure out

[Mr. Pike1]

Metro- Hey, it was a gorgeous day and you bent a stick and did not have to go to far to do it. Good to see you got one quality crappie. I have got some larger ones in Gervais and these lakes are connected.

I drove two hours to a lake North West of here and found less success then expected. Some small pike, bass, and loads of perch. Had nice fish at dusk but he tanged me with my partners line and eventually broke me off...

I may get out on Phalen again on Sunday morning or Monday for a few hours

[hondavxr]

Phalen is one hell of a lake to crack. It always seems like it always hit or miss. Phalen is a great metro fishery though. Did you guys know that Phalen is one of the few lakes that the stocked walleyes from a long time ago are actually naturally producing. Most lakes the DNR has to constantly stock to replenish the supply, because they don't naturally reproduce. GOOD LUCK on your Phalen adventures, I might get the line wet also, this Sun or Sat, cuz I want to try LX-3 with the TC upgrade. Have fun fishing and Merry Christmas.

[AQUAJOE]

I'm in.

Mr Pike could you put a list together like Matt does to see who all is going?

[Mr. Pike1]

Sure can.

[maj330]

Made it out this afternoon. Fished the north west end of the lake. About 7 to 8 inches of good ice under two inches of sluch today. Fished from about 2 to 6 PM. Mainly to experiment with my new Marcum and test ice thickness. Managed to catch one little micro perch on a jigging spoon in about 20 fow. Marked several more fish in about 25 fow. Nearest neighbors said they caught many small walleyes yesterday on anything tipped with a minnow head. Think I may try a little further south tomorrow to see what happens.

[Mr. Pike1]

Maj, what time are you going out on Monday. With the warm weather I may stop down and punch a few holes late morning. I will go out for the access and fish off the defined weedline.

[maj330]

I was thinking late morning myself. I'll go out from the access lot too. Probably about 10ish. Can't miss my lava red jacket.

[Mr. Pike1]

Maj, My wife was on call today and called to work at the hospital. Thus I have day care duty. I did drive down to the access about 12:00 and saw a few shacks. I visted with one guy on the ice for a bit and then had to head home. If you did get out hope you had some success. The person I spoke with got a few pike

[maj330]

I had great success getting to know my flasher and my new polar portable but they didn't bring the fish my way. Made it out from about 1030 to 1230 then from 230 to 530. Fishing on the north and east end of the lake in 10 to 20 fow this time. Saw a pike or two laying on the ice over on the west side near the ramp and a couple of tip ups popped on the east side but nothing for me. I think I need to rethink my strategy and tactics. Lots of other people out but I didn't hear any of them catching fish.

[Mr. Pike1]

Maj, I guess that is why they call it fishing and not catching. Phalen will be no different then any other body of water. If you put your time in, use your electronics, and keep mobil you will find the fish and have success.

Over the many years on the water I have a few lakes that I believe I have mastered, so I feel comfortable anytime on these waters producing fish. However, part of the fun I find is trying new water and putting my time in to learn the new body of water.

The other local lake I really want to target when the ice if more stable is Silver lake in North St. Paul. Very small with a couple of deep holes. With two or three guys on this body of water you could fish all the spots in one day.

Well it sounds like you got to test out some new toys and now that you are comfortable with them you can start focusing on other techniques to find the fish.

I find when ice fishing in the metro that early and late ice always seem to be the best for fishing. You have to work a little harder in January.

The other metro lake I really like is Medicine lake. Lots of crappie, pike, and recently walleye action.

I also found this little mudhole in the metro that can really put out the 10-12" crappie and nice pike. It also has a very surprising good population of bull sunfish. I try to keep this one under the radar as I just love being one of the few people on this tiny little pond loaded with fish.

[maj330]

Hey Mr. Pike. Thanks for the encouragement! The new toys are definitely fun and they make a windy day very enjoyable. I think a trip dedicated to being entirely mobile will make packing for the portable and packing up the portable very efficient. Going to focus on those two things this week and weekend. Will test out some other parking spots along the lake next time too as I want to explore a couple of other interesting bottom features. Hope other people post their success stories for Phalen. Will make the anticipation of the upcoming gathering that much more exciting!

[Jughead]

Mr Pike,

I am hitting Phalen tomorrow. I noticed about 2" ice loss between last week Thursday and this week Tuesday. Is Phalen still holding about 6-8"?

Thanks!

Jug

PS- I will bring a coleman road tripper for 1/7- capacity 40 brats, or 20 brats 8 burgers.

Thanks,

Jug

[maj330]

Was still at 8 inches last night all over the north end of the lake.

[Jughead]

Maj,

Thank you!

I will be there about 10:00 am......purple otter sled (multiple exterior patches, auger incident) if anyone wants to stop by! And I will report my progress (or lack thereof).

Jug

[Mr. Pike1]

I have Friday off and may sneak down for a bit to check things out. I also may have to catch a bit of the Gophers in their bowl game.

The grill sounds like it will handle anything thrown at it. I will make sure to bring enough brats to keep everyones appetite under control. Brats might not be for everyone and maybe others have things they prefer to toss on the grill.

[MetroEye]

Hey guys,

Hope someone is bringing thir "A" game on 1/7 to that big, dark hole they call Phalen. That lake has got my number and from talking and watching others on the ice, that seems to be a pretty common theme. Just got off the ice at 6:00 pm tonite. My son and I spent four hours on the saddle in 16 fow and saw one northern on the aqua-view. Didn't measure the ice but looked like 6" of clear and 3 or 4" of re-melt. Someone PLEASE post something positive about this lake I know there are nice fish in this lake. Someday maybe I will find them

[hovermn]

Hey Pike1, email me at [email protected] I'm interested in Silver lake as well. I may go out there sometime tomorrow after work, but I'll most likely hit it this weekend. If you're interested, let me know.

I'm looking forward to Phalen. It should be a great time. Fish or no fish!

[John Mickish]

If anyone wants to do a Silver get together after this weekend I'd organize that one. Maybe the 14th? I've only fished it once but it's close to home as well, and it looks promising.

[Mr. Pike1]

I am very interested in Silver. It has been on my list of little lakes to try since I moved to Maplewood. I would have went out there already this year but the warm weather, slim ice, and the fact that the lake has an aerator on it has kept me off this body of water.

[Jughead]

OK, my good thing to say about Phalen- it's only 15 minutes away!

Seriously- was out from 11 am to 4:00 pm yesterday on the NE side. Popped about 30 holes in depths of 10' to 40' and fished most. I covered alot of ground.

I found the perch! But I did have a couple good strikes. I talked to some guys on the NW side and they had some look in 30 ft.

Wish I had better news. Some reporters from Channel 4 bugged me for a half an hour about some ipod business, I missed a fish in a tip up.

See you on the 7th and happy new year.

Jug

[Matt Johnson]

Saturday is coming up quick! Looks like the weather should be decent too...

[AQUAJOE]

Weather looks great but hows the Ice going to be?

[Zaraspooks]

I was out last night. I found 7" of solid ice with slush and water on top.

As for fishing, I set up in my favorite walleye hole in 22ft. The perch bite was constant which usually indicates a walleye bite to follow. Unfortunately, once the perch bite stopped, I never caught or marked another fish the rest of the evening.

I noticed when I left that there must have been 8-10 portables setup just out from the beach. I must have been in the wrong spot.

[maj330]

I found the perch on Sunday. Caught pretty big ones on large spoons then as day light wound down, I had to switch to smaller and smaller jigs. Didn't see a single walleye though. Or a single sunfish.