Splake and Rainbows

[Mnfisher]

Going out Saturday. It's been awhile. If i remember right, I use small swedish pimples or crappie jigs and wax worms or dead, salted minnows. Any other suggestions? I'll be going in an inland lake NE of Finland.

Thanks, Jim

[reinhard1]

i wish i were there with you. fished that area for many years. swedish pimples are great along with any small jiging spoon. i have had luck with gulp minnow heads also along with waxies and eurolarva on the spoons. i usualy use the head of a preserved minnow also. rainbows like to roam the shallows and just under the ice in deeper waters. splake are usualy in deeper waters than the rainbows as a rule but have cought them along with the bows. hope you have some great luck. it's great just being up there. some good trout lakes there. good luck.

[Mnfisher]

Thanks Reinhard! You are a big help. I will try and make it to Grindstone on Feb 14 and see you there! Jim

[JBMasterAngler]

Swedish pimples, forage minnows, or frostee jigs are go to baits, but anything you would use for panfish is fair territory.

[monstermoose78]

I like jiggin raps for splake or chubby darters. Buckshot rattle spoons have been also good.

[jjz]

One trick if they are coming in but not biting. Use spawn chunks or whole crawlers and fish it close to the bottom. Move just enough to get the attention of the fish and let it settle on the bottom. Usually I do this sight fishing with a plain hook pretty shallow. Got my biggest splake doing that and often when rainbows are spooked by jiggin this will still catch them. All the other stuff will work too if the fish are somewhat aggressive too.

[reinhard1]

it's Feb. 18th. . it would be nice to meet you. good luck.

[mainbutter]

monstermoose, do you bait your darters/raps?

[Nate McVey]

Mini-Mites tipped with a waxie just a few feet under the ice have been a go to for me for a long time.

[JBMasterAngler]

I'm gonna switch from lakers on saturday (in a few hours) to rainbows on sunday...I have a couple chubby darters that I have never used, that sounds like a good idea

[monstermoose78]

No bait on the darters I do add a small minnow head to jigging rap sometimes.

[Mnfisher]

My son and I had a good time on Echo lake but fishing was slow. We caught one nice 12+ inch rainbow and 2 splake. We didn't stay for the late afternoon bite. I can't try again until 1st weekend of February. Does it pay to make the trip at that time or will the bite be done?

Generally, bite was slow for other guys, although I know of at least one pair each got their limit.

[reinhard1]

is that the only lake you went too? there are some others to go to which can be better at times near by. echo lake is a good lake but i have had good luck in a couple of others in the past. rainbows love to roam the shallows during hard water. good luck.

[Mnfisher]

Yes, Echo is the only lake I've tried. Would like to know other good lakes in the area with easy access. Catching the rainbow sure was fun. Would love to cath a mess of them. Thanks.

[reinhard1]

well the catching is always the deal but being there is a bigger deal. PM me and i will help out as much as i can. good luck.

[OnAFly]

We were hammering splake on #2 nickels glow swedish pimples with waxies and rainbows were hitting Northland Bro Bugs in pink without any hesitation.

We caught probably 40 fish between two guys in 3 half days of fishing. Sight fishing them is a blast. We would have 3 fish come in at once some times.

We were sitting in 10ft on an inside turn on a point going into deep water. Many fish can in from shallower water, some from deeper water, some straight along the break.

[Mnfisher]

Sounds like a great time. They are fun to catch. Hope to catch a few more on my next try.

[LunkerCity]

I am thinking about trying to get a few rainbows, is it common to find them in 10 ft or less? Should I be on soft or hard bottom? Could you find them in flooded timber or should I just be on a point/shoreline/structure? I remember fishing on Moonshine lake when I was really young but don't remember where we were looking.

[OnAFly]

We hit a transition from rocks to sand on an inside turn. Brush could be good too, but I might worry about getting a big one on and losing it. We fished ~10ft, but like I said, many were comin in from shallower, so maybe up to 5 ft could be good, I don't know the upper limit.

[Kyle]

Where can a guy go around the Brainerd area to get on a good trout bite in the winter?

[jjz]

Big Trout or Roosevelt for lakers. Almost all stream trout lakes in Cass and Crow Wing are closed to winter fishing. A few in Aitkin are open. Otherwise go to Itasca, lots of good options, or to Big Watab in Stearns.