Lake Trout

[BigStevie]

Has any body fished for lakers on Grindstone lake over in East Central MN?? Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Steve Foss]

You should also post your inquiry on the geographical boards. Grindstone is in Pine County, so you could get info by posting on the metro-area board, or, perhaps the Mille Lacs one too. Pine is a decent sized county, and I'm not sure how close Grindstone is to Mille Lacs.

But I bet folks from the Twin Cities fish it, since Pine County is within easy striking distance.

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"Worry less, fish more."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[knoppers]

we did ok with the lakers this year at our annual canada trip, to bad that we had to be there during the coldest week of the year, since we fish outside.

g-man, I took the lx3 with me this year, and now I do get a better idea of whats going on, you are right, and I was wrong about using electronics for lakers. besides it is a blast watching a laker come off the bottom in 80 feet chasing your cicada and smacking it at umbelievable speeds.

big stevey, yes I have caught some nice lakers in grindstone lake, but in the summer, have not tryed it in the winter. trolling a walleye type rig with a large golden shiner close to structure in about 40 feet.

[Animal]

G-Man

I talked to the owners of Barker's Bay at the Duluth Boat Show last Thursday night (2-19. They seem to be on top of things and are very nice people. They just bought the place last spring and have plans for some improvements. They had plenty of pictures of nice lakers caught this year. Once you are there you don't have far to go to find fish.

[g man46]

Back to the bait issue, as far as size what length should we get? They have some pretty large frozen smelt at Cash Wise. Also, will smelt work or should we look for other bait. Ciscoes suckers etc...

[Animal]

I usually use ciscos. For a set line I just hook one on a big razor sharp hook. For jigging I chunk on about 1 inch piece onto the main jig hook and always have a stinger off the back of the tube.

[g man46]

What size ciscoes?

[Animal]

Sorry G-Man. One of these days I'll learn to answer the whole question instead of blabbing the first thought that comes to my head. Most of the ciscos I use are 5 to 6 inches. One of my fishing buddies uses live 3 inch minnows and swears by them. He catches lots of trout. I don't care to use live bait because they are too much trouble trying to keep alive in the cold weather and they turn to frozen mush when the die.

Your trip is comming up pretty quick. I suppose you have your bags packed.

[This message has been edited by Animal (edited 03-03-2004).]

[Xplorer]

G-man,
You cannot take smelt into Ontairo at all, Doesnt matter if they are frozen, salted or pickled. No smelt over the border, period.
Cisco can be taken, most come packaged a half dozen to the pack and can be cut up in chunks for use on all types of jigs/spoons or as a deadstick bait.
What we have done is also taken salted shiners (lake shiners preferred). Simple process, take shiners and put in ziploc, drain water. put in a mixture of 50/50 pickling salt and borax. Let sit for awhile, drain any excess liquid out, and either pack in ice or freeze.
Xplorer

[g man46]

I need help with bait. I called every grocery store in the St. Cloud area, and no one has anything but smelt. Byerly's has salt herring, will that work? If anyone has any suggestions as to where I can get ciscos I'd appreciate it.

[Guest]

Try Vados bait in Spring Lake Park

7895 Hwy 65, South CR 10 on Hwy 65
Spring Lake Park, MN 55432
763-795-0110 Phone
763-795-0325 Fax
1-866-584-FISH(HSO)

http://www.vadosbait.com/

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[knoppers]

g-man,
we used to bring up smelt, or frozen golden shiners, untill they would not let us bring them over anymore. what we do is stop at a bait shop in onterio and they sell frozen ciscos, which work very well. make sure to read the regulations closely, as there are trophy lakes that don't allow any bait.

[g man46]

Sorry it took so long to get back. We all had a blast laker fishing. The weather was terrrible but we still managed to catch 17 in 2 days of fishing. In a day and a half we got 18" of snow and whe it stopped, it was replaced with a forty mile an hour wind for a day. Luckily the resort had a suburban that was chained up to pull us out, or we probably would still be there. We took a twelve mile snowmobile ride back to a walleye lake for an afternoon of fishing. The trail was across different lakes and through narrow trails in the woods. Pretty much everyone agreed that trip was worth it even if we didn't catch any fish. In two hours we caught 16 walleyes. I've been to quite a few different resorts, but Barker Bay was truly amazing. They went to great lengths to make us feel comfortable. We are going back in July for a week to try some open water fishing up there. Thanks to everyone who helped me out. The trip was great!!

[Outfitter17]

To G man and animal:

I own Happy landing lodge on Pipestone lake, and camp manitou on lower manitou. If you are interested in great laker and muskie action I believe there is no better lake out their than the manitou. If you want non stop walleye action, we have a couple of great lakes over by Happy Landing. If you would like any info you can go to our HSOforum at www.happylandingfishing.com or just e-mail me at [email protected] Have a great summer.

Take care,

Matt

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