Christmas Lake

[jmg]

Has anyone been out on Christmas Lake this past week angling for trout? If so, any luck? Any hints as to best presentations and depth? We used to do the best in 10 ft. or less.

Thanks for any info.

[Acemac]

I have never seen a picture of a trout from X mass

[schr0563]

I gave it a shot on Friday. 3 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the afternoon. Didn't see any trout.

My experience has shown me that if you see them then you can catch them. And the driving factor for whether or not you will see them, is how many are stocked in a given winter. In years past I have ran into the conservation officer out there who has had first hand info on the stocking numbers. Without that, I can only guess what was put in. I am sure there are some in there but I don't think I will be back unless I get word that people are seeing fish.

All you need to catch them is a small panfish jig tipped with wax worms. I prefer a horizontal style in pink and white, with two waxworms dangled on the hook (I always squeeze them to make them flop around better). Then just jig 3-4 feet under the ice. By jig, I mean a fairly agressive pounding action that doesn't stop, just keep jigging. Sometimes they come in and take a look, or even a swipe at the bait, and then spin on a dime and comeback for a second grab. Point is to keep jigging. I have caught them up shallow in 3-4 feet of water, but prefer fishing the drop off (8-10 feet) because if you hook into one it is easier to bring in without all the shallow weeds getting in the way.

Several years ago I caught seven of them in one winter. The smallest was 24 inches long. The biggest one weighed 9.6 pounds and is now inside a coffee table I made. (Only pictures I have are actual prints.) I've only caught two since then that were 18 and 22 inches long. I tell people that fishing on Christmas Lake it is like muskie fishing, definitely a fish of 10,000 jigs.

If anyone else has info regarding what was stocked, or has reported seeing some fish, please share.

[trappingaddiction]

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/westmetro/index.html

[schr0563]

Interesting. 141 Adults released. I think I will hit it again. There are a few swimming around in there somewhere...

Thanks for the link!

[JBMasterAngler]

If the DNR can get back to stocking yearlings again, I'd to see the same rules implemented on this lake that they have on square lake. Would make for a pretty good trout fishery

[IamZombie]

I think we're going to go give it a shot this weekend.

I've never fished for trout, but I bought my trout stamp this year.

Thinking I need to rig up a pole with some heavier test line, or will 4 & 6lb test be ok?

I saw on TV where they were catching trout (forget the species) on fireball jigs.

[castmaster]

4lb line will be plenty good. You definitely dont want to go heavier than what you mentioned. I've been running 3lb PLine this year and its been great line.

[MichaelSwan]

Hey Matt. I went to Christmas earlier this year. I've tried it once but did not catch or see anything. A guy out there told me they are wicked hard hitting and will zip out your line till gone as it happened to him twice while crappie fishing. He referred to them as "submarines". Good luck, and let us know how you do!

[IamZombie]

Well, we tried Christmas this afternoon for about 2 hours or so.

Setup on about 12ft of water.

I think we might have been too close to a break, because about 10-8ft away the depth dropped to 20ft.

Marked a few fish, but we think they were crappies.

They'd come up and look at the lure/bait and then swim away.

That water on Christmas is so clear it's crazy.

We tried keeping the windows shut on the ice house to keep flashes of light to a minimum.

You can just peer down the hole and see your bait, and if you really shaded the hole you can see the bottom.

We only caught small crappie, and then decided to head to Lotus lake, where we had about the same amount of success.

[IamZombie]

Trying to convince my buddy to give christmas lake another try this weekend.

I told him we need to setup on a shallow flat not on a steep break, but he doesn't believe me. He wants to go to deeper water.

[reinhard1]

you would have a much better chance for rainbows in the shallow areas. i'm not much for hole hopping for rainbows. too much noise and besides the rainbows move all day long. not saying that rainbows dont roam out in deeper water this time of year but they would be just under the ice as they roam i have found over the years. if i had my choice it would be shallow for rainbows. good luck.

[IamZombie]

Well, we didn't hit christmas today, we went a different direction.

I still want to go back out there.