Lake Cenaiko Thread

[Zenit]

Another update:

Mornings & evenings continue to be good. Mornings on the south end, either throwing Kastmasters or wading out with a fly rod are producing fish. People are also fishing the south end with bottom bobbers and Powerbait and getting fish; those of you that frequent the lake and know Joe- he pulled a 23" rainbow out of the lake bottom fishing 2 weekends ago. I hadn't been down there for a while, got down there Saturday morning, pulled a brookie out of the south end with a Chernobyl Ant, as the sun rose over the trees, I switched to the dock and had 4 more rainbows for the smoker before 9 AM, slip bobber between 8-12 feet using a single butterworm. Sunday, just went down to take pictures with my new Nikon D60 DSLR and share some smoked trout with some of the regulars, didn't fish at all but saw quite a few people taking 2-3 home.

The guy next to me on the dock on Saturday also pulled his limit, which included 3 brookies, one of which was nice sized, about 16 inches. DNR HSOforum said they only put the 1500 rainbow yearlings in this spring, but I've seen looks of brook trout come out of the lake so far this spring, including adults, so I'm wondering if Metro Fisheries East put some more fish in the lake than they have disclosed online. The brookies in the lake are usually nearly impossible to catch in the open water season.

[Katman]

Thanks for the update!

[turn_in_poachers]

NO FISH IN THIS LAKE!!!

[Zenit]

Sasha & I got 4 rainbows & 6 brookies yesterday from 6 AM to 8:30 AM, fishing redworms on #10 hooks between 18-20 feet off of the dock. Sasha had a brute on about 8 o'clock, snapped off fresh 4 pound test right off of the dock, would have liked to have seen that fish.

[Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting pictures again. Thank you.]

[jcoleman]

First off, thanks for starting this thread. My wife and I recently moved to the area and I have been itching to get back into trout fishing. After searching the net for twin cities trout destinations that don't require fly gear, I settled on Cenaiko lake.

I was just out there this weekend with my wife. We wasted about 3 hours bottom fishing with power bait on the south end. I tried floating between 2-5 feet off the bottom and anywhere from 20-60 feet out from the shore but we weren't having any luck... Pulling weeds off your rig every cast is annoying as [PoorWordUsage] too. We went through a LOT of bait since we were losing it on the weeds. How do you bottom fish this lake?

We got tired of this and migrated to the Dock. Tried some more bottom fishing with all the depth/distance combinations but no luck. We decided to have my wife switch over to bobber fishing with nightcrawlers about 3 feet down and 15-30 feet off the dock. Around 6:30PM she caught the first rainbow. I quickly switched to nightcrawlers and top fishing too. All in all, we caught 3 rainbows and 1 small bass in the next hour.

Gave the first rainbow to a nice guy on the dock who seemed like a regular. Cooking the other two up tonight.

Also, I noticed that there is a 'no live bait' sign. Are nightcrawlers considered live bait? I wasn't going to fish with them until I saw 6+ people using worms.

Still fish to be caught here... We'll probably show up at dusk several times until the season closes.

[sbro73]

Yes , Nightcrawlers and Waxworms are allowed, No Minnows, If you look in this thread seems to me everything is pretty much explained in the earlier pages, otherwise you can connect to the Minnesota DNR for info. Good Fishing, S

[jcoleman]

thanks I was just re-reading the whole thread this morning and realized how much info I had missed by not reading all 14 pages in depth.

[sbro73]

Had a beautiful morning today, caught my limit!!! Was down there a week ago or so just after they stocked it, you could not keep them off your hook, I must have hooked at least 20, (all catch and release). They are now much wiser. Get down there while you can, 31st is not far away. Tight lines! S

[Katman]

What seems to be the FLY of choice for fly-fishermen down there? I actually picked up a few off white and red scuds. Anyone try bh pheasant tails or wooly buggers?

[sbro73]

Opener is right around the corner, anyone checked the ice lately? ---------------------------------------------------------------Every day is a good day, if your not 6 feet under, with dirt in your face !!!

[The Dogger]

Nevermind..

[HookEmHard84]

Well I couldnt get out of work today for opener, but I may possibly be able to get out to Cenaiko tomorrow. This will be my first trout opener in the metro and I've never been out to Cenaiko (or any of the other metro trout lakes) so maybe someone can help me with a few questions:

1) Since its a park, i'm assuming you cant drive out on the lake. Is this true?

2) Whats the water clarity like, is it worth bringing my camera?

3) Does it get really get as fished out on opener as folks make i sound?

4) So no live minnows, but can i just grab some dead ones out of my pail and tip my lures with the heads?

For anyone that made it today, how did it go? Still got all fingers and toes?

[Will]

heh84, you can't drive out there, could see about 5 ft down, in the past years the best action was the first two days, not sure on the dead minnow thing and the wife and i did well and escaped with our fingers and toes.

when we got there at 6 a.m. the truck read -24

[Dragon Fish ll]

Sounds like you fished there today . was wondering if there were any fish being caught by you or anyone else on the lake.? was it crowded>?. and dont use minnows that are not salted or preserved. its still a fine just bring plenty of waxies and some power bait. go with the glitter

[Will]

we had some luck. i did'nt talk to anybody else and there were probably 50 or so other shacks there.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Thanks for the reply. Since work got cancelled for a couple days iwill be trying my luck tommorow

[so haaad]

50 shacks for Cenaiko on opener isn't bad! Was the game warden out there as usual?

[Will]

did'nt see him/her.

[twon]

Fishing was average to good considering it was opener. The game warden was present so expect to be checked. Could see bottom in nine feet of water. Fish biting on normal grubs and powerbait...

Good luck and I hope you have warmer weather

[team wild]

What time of day is best?

[Bowks]

Went out to Cenaiko for the first time (ice fishing anyway) yesterday for opener. We got about a 13" Rainbow within the first 5 min. we were there and then nothing. We probably saw about a dozen or so swim past our holes though. If I had to guess I would say some of them were easily 24"+. Anyone have any tips on how to get those big guys to bite? We were fishing in about 5ft. of water with ice fishing jigs and waxies. Also does anyone know if the trout bite around sunset, or is mostly just the morning?

If anyone's willing to give some tips to a couple beginners, that really want to catch some trout, we'll take whatever we can get. Thanks.

[sbro73]

Alot of times ,its trial and error. What"s working one day, may not work the next there. I've always had good luck with the smallest Swedish Pimple they make, in silver or gold with a couple waxies for flavor. Tight Lines!

[jigginjim]

correct if I'm wrong, but the regs says trout open lakes open on the 17 Jan. 2009. how are guys fishing before that?

[jigginjim]

Researched found my own say, didn't know regs changed after book was printed.

[sbro73]

Your Right, I think alot of people were not aware of the change.From my upstairs office at home, I can look at the Coon Rapids Dam area and watch the traffic to Cenaiko. Thursday as cold as it was, I counted about 23 cars heading for the trout pond, this was around 6AM.