Lake Phalen?

[Guest]

Thinking about fishing Phalen tomorrow. Never fished it before. Any reports or suggestions?

mike

[Guest]

I was out there this evening and there was 17 poratables setup off the boat ramp on the north end. Sounds like it was pretty slow though. Ice was 4-5 inches out about 100 yards. I'm planning on getting out there in the morning sometime. Maybe we'll see ya!
I'll be in my Black Carhartt's. good luck

[cwmn]

Phalen still had lots of open water as of last Wed, the 26. Be careful, it's one of the last lakes to freeze up good in St Paul.

[Guest]

Still want to fish Phalen. Anything good happening over there?
mike

[cwmn]

I was out on Phalen on Sunday. Worked it hard from noon till 6 and didn't catch a darn thing. There were probably 50 people out fishing and I didn't see or hear of anyone catching anything. That was about the same luck I had all last week on east metro lakes.

[SpikeRoberts]

I fished Phalen twice on Sunday (once in the morning and again in the afternoon ) In the morning I fished the north end by the boat landing and only got 1 crappie. In the afternoon, I fished near the boat house on the west side and got four walleyes jigging and missed two others on my tip-up. Others around me seemed be be catching fish as well, HOWEVER, the walleyes were all small -- the biggest one I caught was about 13"-14". All were sent back so I can catch them again after another year of growth.

[Guest]

Thanks cwmn and spike. Anyone fishing the beach area? Do you have to access the beach area from the public access on the north end or is there a closer access?
mike

[This message has been edited by jacobm (edited 01-08-2002).]

[SpikeRoberts]

mike,
There were a few people fishing by the beach Sunday -- that area was frequently fished last year too (I've never tried it though). There is a variety of ways to access the lake. 1) there is the boat landing on the northside accesible from Frost Ave and East Shore Dr. 2)Two parking lots in the park proper accessible from Wheelok Parkway, one right by the beachhouse and the other right by the boat house.
good luck -- send back a report or two.
Spike

[Guest]

I've heard the walleye fishing has picked up, is that true?
mike

[SpikeRoberts]

Mike,
I don't know if the walleye bite has picked up on Phalen or if its just that more people are fishing the lake than ever. I live less than a mile away from Phalen so I've fished it pretty consistently over the last couple of years and have always done fairly well. Granted, I'm not pullin in trophys or limits everytime I head out, but can usually catch a fish or two during a couple hours on the ice. This year Phalen froze a little earlier than some of the other lakes so folks gravitated to it, caught a few fish, and word suddenly spread like wildfire that Phalen is the place to be -- I've even seen it mentioned in the StarTribune as a 'hot spot.' IMHO the fishing is no better/worse on Phalen than it has ever been, but it does amaze me how people flock to a lake because some newspaper tells them to. Last year it was Lake Gervais, this year its Phalen. I just hope the drastically increased pressure doesn't adversely affect the fishing there over the next few years . I fear that, unfortuantely, it will like apparently last year's pressure on Gervais decimated the crappie population. I guess I'll just have to find myself another quiet little lake to fish.

[Guest]

Doesn't sound like I'm missing too much. I prefer avoid the major crowds whenever possible anyway.

thanks spike

mike