courthouse lake

[Will]

anybody have any info on the lake since the oxygen problem last year? will the DNR continue to stock this lake? anybody fish it this past open water season?

thanks for any info.

[HossFisher]

Fished it all fall and did really well down there. I know they stocked it this fall, but i dont know if the oxygen problem will be the same because i did really good the fall before last winter too.

[gundy89]

I haven't heard anything. I did make it down there a couple times this last summer. Didn't catch anything but had some hits, lost a couple and saw some surfacing, so there is still some in the lake. I'll give it a try this winter again. Hopefully it's better than last year.

[Sifty]

Anyone going out for opener?

Sifty

[HossFisher]

I'll probably be down there... its worth it just to see how ridiculous all the houses look!

[tweedlap]

I am hoping that with all of this snow we don't have an early die off or kill like last winter.

They were going to put an areator in. Not sure why it was not done. Money or time, I suppose.

About 5 or 6 years ago, on opener, all of the fish were laying on the bottom dead.

tweed

[HossFisher]

Its a deep lake i dont get how it has oxygen problems. You normally see aerators in lakes <20 feet deep and this lake is like 55. Its not like it even has a lot of shallow water it drops off really fast. Anybody know why this lake is different?

[ABreuer]

heck ya ill be down there for sure. its gonna be a hoot. imagine all the vexilar interference.

[HossFisher]

There will probably be harmful radiation from all the sonar waves bouncing around in such a small area.

[ABreuer]

ya i wouldnt doubt it. send me an e-mail some time if you want to fish bassboy [email protected]

[HossFisher]

Sounds good, im in Chaska where you at?

[ABreuer]

Im from chaska too but originally shakopee. e-mail me today im gonna hit the river for walleyes [email protected]

[HossFisher]

Sorry just got your message now. I saw in the outdoor news it said to hit the sand bars and points in the carver area for walleyes. I thought that was interesting i couldn't tell if they meant open water or hard water. If you have a report and dont wanna post it on here you can email me at sriesgraf@yahoo dot com

[son_of_fishlein]

In regards to the earlier postings, I know several people that work at the courthouse that weren't even aware of an oxygen problem in the lake. Nonetheless, I am having them look into it. As for the stocking of the lake, the DNR posts that information in the fishery offices area. Here are the West Metro area stocking reports, pretty much standard for these 3 lakes.

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

[Quetico]

Man I was out there last year the morning after opener. It was a complete zoo and we got there within 30 minutes of legal fishing. There must have been 40-50 portables on the tiny lake. Holes everywhere. Someone told us the morning before the lake had at least 100 portables. That pure and simply insanity.

Thats the only time I will ever go near Courthouse Zoo. The fishing can't be worth dealing with the masses.

[jigginjim]

I wonder how people use aqua-vu's for fishing?

[tweedlap]

The oxygen is very low. Two weeks ago it was down to 4pp/million.

tweed

[_point_5]

I was going to go to Courthouse Lake for the annual opener ritual. I turns out that I actually work on Thursdays. I guess I didn't catch that the DNR changed the Winter Trout season in 2009. Instead of opener being on a Saturday, it is Thursday January 15th this year for all lakes. Oh well, I may go out a day or two after, >>>.5

From the DNR HSOforum:

----------------------------------------------------------------

The 2009 winter season for lake and stream trout in all Minnesota lakes will open Jan. 15, and close March 31, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

In past years, winter trout season dates were different for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) lakes, trout lakes outside the BWCAW and those on the Canadian border. Legislation enacted after the 2008 Fishing Regulations booklet was printed changed the winter trout season dates for all lakes, making the information printed on pages 14, 15 and 45 incorrect.

[HossFisher]

Anybody going down there tomorrow? I'll be down there braving the cold. Hopefully the combination of cold temps and thrusday opener will keep the crowds away.

[gundy89]

Bassboy, good luck to you. I was excited to get down there on a Thursday opener, but I'm not braving this weather!!! I'll be there saturday with the crowds and maybe tomorrow, we'll see. Post a report. I'm curious on the crowd and fish situation.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Dido, on the report

[Carp-fisher]

I went out there this morning from about 9-11. I'd say there were about 30-40 houses out there; way more than I thought there would be. The ice was only about 7-9" thick which is surprising. The bite was OK; caught a few but didn't fill out my limit & lost 4 at the hole which is extremely frustrating. They were biting short for me. Had to come home to do my honey dos.

I drilled 3 holes right off the bat and then my auger wouldn't start. I saw a hand auger laying beside a house and I walked over and nicely asked the occupant if I could drill a few holes with his auger. The dude wouldn't even dignify my request with a response. So either he was deaf or a jerk I don't know. I did get interviewed by a fellow from the Chaska newspaper; he took some pictures and video clips. So maybe I'm famous now. It was really cold out there.

[tj417]

Carp - That was my auger (by a little black portable right?) I was at work!! I left my portable out there all afternoon!! Sorry for the confusion -

Anyway, I got one nice fat 13" in the morning & one nice fat 13" in the afternoon & 4 others that were skinny 9 inchers. Ate the 13s for dinner, released the 9's. The nice ones had 6-8 mud minnows & a few bugs in their guts each. Caught by aggressively jigging a small jigging spoon & spikes 3 to 5 feet down in 10 FOW. Scary to see all of the pumpkinseed sunfish that are in there now - I'll bet I caught 25 and they were all sizes - A lot were 3" but I also got 4 that were sows 8-9 inchers.

[fishuhalik]

You accually caught a pumpkin in that lake over 3"? I've never seen one over 5"!!

[Carp-fisher]

Carp - That was my auger (by a little black portable right?) I was at work!! I left my portable out there all afternoon!! Sorry for the confusion -

Anyway, I got one nice fat 13" in the morning & one nice fat 13" in the afternoon & 4 others that were skinny 9 inchers. Ate the 13s for dinner, released the 9's. The nice ones had 6-8 mud minnows & a few bugs in their guts each. Caught by aggressively jigging a small jigging spoon & spikes 3 to 5 feet down in 10 FOW. Scary to see all of the pumpkinseed sunfish that are in there now - I'll bet I caught 25 and they were all sizes - A lot were 3" but I also got 4 that were sows 8-9 inchers.

Wow no worries. I didn't think anyone would leave their auger on the ice unattended. But for each his own. Yeah I hear you on the sunnies. 8 to 9 inchers are pretty nice though.