Lake Cenaiko Thread

[slipperybob]

I went yesterday for the evening run. Windy but caught three little ones on my trusty kastmaster spoon. I don't understand but they all had major mouth rip damage.

[reinhard1]

i just returned from there and fishing was real slow. probably 20 other people fishing there mostly with bobbers. i seen one trout cought off the fishing dock and one lost on the way in. i casted with a small spoon and tried a spinner as well and not a hit. sounds like some people are not being carefull unhooking the trout they catch. looks like the dnr is thinking about reducing the limit for trout to only 2 as soon as ice season. talking to a few folks out there, leaves me with the impression that not many fish were cought over the weekend. i will go tommorow for a little while again to see whats happening. good luck.

[JBMasterAngler]

I'm all for a 2 trout limit, maybe C&R only to begin and end the season also. Works for square lake...full of trout there

[reinhard1]

the lake gets a lot of pressure as one might guess. i think if it wasn't for the weather last weekend it would have been packed. plus they only stocked between 1000 and 1500 rainbows this spring. they also have a restoration of prarie plants program around the banks of the lake. good intentions, however soon to be trampled to extinction once again. i think this may be a good lake for a two trout limit and barbless hooks only. going there this morning to check it out once more to hopefully see a CO to see if i could suggest some of these things. the fishing dock ramp is under water at this time. some are just getting wet walking out to the dock or using waders. good luck.

[fishingnoob763]

I got nothing when I went there Saturday morning. Ton's of people there. I was only able to cast straight ahead. shared the shore with people that were a few feet away from me, seemed that way all around the lake. Cast a few, gave up and left. everyone that was around me had nothing also.

[reinhard1]

one idea i have that may work. try a plastic casting bobber [filled with water] and put on a nymph or fly about three feet behind the bobber on 2 pound test. late afternoon would be a good time for that. otherwise keep trying the spinners and small spoons to cover area. i seen guys catch suckers on worms there. also a flu flu under a bobber about two feet down with a waxie on it. good luck.

[monstermoose78]

There is not reason to change the limit if you want to release trout there are better waters to wet your line in. Its in the metro and its a put and take lake. Trout hooked deep dont release well and most are worm fisherman or powerbait down there. Reduced limits will only make the trout last a few more days at most. I fished the lake alot with my grandpa and it was nice to 10 trout so we could eat some grilled and smoke some. Why do people always think we need to change things.

[reinhard1]

the two trout limit idea is from the dnr people. i think they are trying to strech the time people can fish and so more people can have the ability to take some home. i think it would be a good idea. the fishery dept can only provide so many trout with budgets tight and many waters to stock. each lake is unique with it's plus's and minus's and what the need are for that body of water. in this case it gets heavy pressure so adjustments have to be made. good luck.

[reinhard1]

just returned from the lake and still nothing happening as far as i can see. there is construction going on in the parking area of the dam but you can still go through to the lake. some trout were surfacing. everyone i saw was using bobbers and worms. but in two hours not one bite including myself casting with spinners and spoons. thursday will be a cloudy day and maby some fish will be cought. good luck.

[MNcz]

Saw Reinhardt at the lake today! He gave me a lucky white flu flu and I floated it 1-2' below the water in the only opening without weeds in the first spot where they have the parking spaces. Both of us saw plenty of fish. I was there from 9-12 but didn't have much luck and needed to go eat. The rainbows still lurk and cruise and jump though... I'm going again here REAL soon.

[reinhard1]

it was a beautiful day yesterday, maby too nice. so far three days out there for a couple of hours each and only saw one rainbow caught and one person loose one. a few suckers caught. yes they are still out there. nice meeting you. will go out today one more time then next week up north for some trout. good luck.

[reinhard1]

today i seen one trout on a stringer. whatched a guy loose a nice one and heard of two other trout caught before i got there. the person who caught one got it on a mepps spinner size 0 bronze. the guy who lost a nice one had on some berkley trout bait he squeezed on his hook. yellow in color. lots of trout still jumping but the action is a little better but still slow. if there is a fly fisherman out there and he gets there toward late afternoon i'm told the trout are realy surfacing at that time. good luck.

[slipperybob]

Put like an hour plus of fishing and caught a brookie on my trusty kastmaster spoon. Saw a few people pulled in some rainbows fishing powerbait trout dough.

[reinhard1]

i have never used the power bait dough. it seems to work though. guess i'm more of the injected crawler guy which i have used for years. along with spoons and crawlers. i have to say a lot of people were using the stuff. good luck.

[slipperybob]

I started using the trout dough bait a long time ago because I hardly ever make plans to go trout fishing and didn't know well enough about spoons and spinners. That little jar would last me years. I've just gone through one jar in about 8 years. Not even sure if there's an expiration date on that stuff. Back then nobody used that stuff, even my friends were skeptical of it. After catching trout with it, they all became converts. In fact everyone who sees me caught trout with that stuff kind of became a convert. Now I see people use that stuff all the time. It works but, when everybody is fishing the same, there's fish to be missed. It pays to do things differently at times. So I'm always tossing out a spoon or spinner. I've never done the injected crawler but have just set a peice of crawler down on the bottom. I probably catch more suckers than trout though.

[reinhard1]

i'm going to buy me one of those jars. i'm thinking scent has a lot to do with it. the slip sinker [lindy type rig] inflated crawler thing i use up north and so far no suckers but probably not many in the lakes i fish. i have seen people get some suckers in cenaiko though. i would take them home and smoke them. good luck.

[slipperybob]

The only thing I don't like about the dough is that it gets all over the fingers (under the finger nails) and everything else you touch.

[Zenit]

It has been a real odd year at this lake. The opener was really hit and miss, probably the worst/best opener in years (worst if you wanted to go there and put 5 on your stringer and come back next opener, best if you like to see some of the fish in a put and take lake get to a little better size.) Metro Fisheries East put a reasonably good sized amount of fish in the lake, but these were easily the smallest yearlings I think I have ever seen. A 10-12 inch rainbow makes a fine meal,but a lot of the early opener fish when caught barely broke 8 and there were a lot caught that were in the 6-7 inch range. Inspired a lot of folks to put fish back when they ordinarily wouldn't; of course, there's that certain segment of the population that will keep everything and anything, regardless of size.

The lake level was the highest in decades, and that really threw the fishing off I think- the water warmed way too fast, the fish went deep virtually right after opener (usually the first couple of weekends one can do pretty well in various parts of the lake slinging a small Kastmaster or Panther Martin), and even in the middle of June, slip bobbering at 28 or so feet just wasn't deep enough.

The lake has not gotten nearly as much pressure as it usually does, due to the unusual opener and the road construction at the park. I guess if there is a positive, it should set up for a decent late September/October and a better than usual ice fishing season in 11-12.

[fishingnoob763]

Has anyone else fished there lately? What other species can I expect there?

[Trues]

Two weeks till the ice opener!

[TroutYammer]

I drove to Cenaiko today and checked it out. It looks like it is gonna be touch-n-go this year with all the warm weather!!!

The water level appears to be about 2 feet lower than last year as can be seen by the exposed mud flat on the east side of the lake. There is open water by the west-side beaver house (open from shore to 10/15-feet out) just north of the fishing pier for about 100-feet. So be careful on that side of the lake....cause it is WIDE OPEN!!! The beaver has been active all winter and keeping the ice from forming. There is also a small patch of open water up against shore in the corner of the the NorthEast bay.

The ice didn't look very good so OF COURSE I grabbed my hand auger, took a running jump to get out away from shore, walked out on the ice (East Side) and bored a couple of test holes. The ice was a solid 5-inches in one hole and 6-inches in the other hole. The big challenge for me was to get from the shore to the solid ice and back again without getting a boot full of water...SUCCESS!!

Then I went back to the main building and talked to the park rangers. They said they will be testing the ice next week to determine if they will allow people on the ice for opening trout weekend. If the weather cooperates we could be in business...but if the warm weather continues it may be touch-n-go!

Anybody that wants to get up to date information on ice condiations can call the park main desk starting next Wednesday (1/11/2012) afternoon. Don't bother calling before that because they won't make the final determination until then.

Hoping for the best.....

[reinhard1]

That's what i call reporting. thanks for the effort and the information. there will be a lot of people on the lake so i'm sure they will take a real good look next week. good luck.

[mainbutter]

If I want to buy my year pass to CRD, what's the best way to go about it?

[TroutYammer]

Yes you are correct....you need either a automobile year pass ($25.00) or a one day pass ($5). Of couse you could park just ouside the park and walk...but that would be quite a hike if you are carrying much gear.

So the options are:

OPTION #1 Day Pass: The lady at the main desk told me that you could buy the $5-Day pass but that the office would not be open until 7AM. So you could get a day pass at about 7AM and then run like mad to get on the lake by 7:30AM. The problem with this option is that fish start to bite as soon as it is legal (one hour before sunrise) and last year the hot bite tapering off by 8:30AM. Sun rise on January 14, 2012 for the metro area is 7:48 AM so youcould legally start fishing at 6:48 (befroe the office opens). the lady at the main desk also told me that you can only buy a day pass on the day that the pass is valid (so you can't buy a day pass in advance today for use tomorrow or next week).

Option#2: Year Pass

This is the expensive option ($25). I will get mine next week during the lunch hour and thus avoid the hassles at the main gate opening day. Yeah..I know this is not the cost effective approach but I think of it as a donation to a revenue strapped organization. I'd rather give the money to the park system to keep the Cenaiko Beaver well fed than to give it to Obama for healthcare benefits for criminal illegal aliens...but hey...that's just me!

[reinhard1]

the Anoka County Park anual stamp of course covers all of the parks in the county [Centervile lake park for example which has camping as well]. we buy the anual stamp every year [ i walk daily with my dog at Bunker Hills which also has the "wave pool"]

so like stated above, if you dont visit the parks much, just get the daily pass. hopefully there is safe ice by next saturday and the rangers let people on the lake. i dont know why they just dont trap that beaver and ship him up north where he will be much happier. good luck.