Crystal Lake

I would like to start chasing fish on Crystal Lake in Burnsville this weekend if I don’t go to Mille Lacs. It’s quite a drive for me just to check the ice. Does anyone know the conditions there or if there is any action? Thanks

Sorry Putz, I don’t know anyone down that way to ask. Does the lake usually put out some pretty good fishing?

Hey Mike

Crystal can be a decent crapie and sunfish lake, and with enough hammerhandle pike to keep the tip ups flying! I havent fished it a caouple of years so, as for current ice, I am not much help! You as a bass dude would have alot of fun on this lake in the summer! There are some hogs in there!

Cory Frantzick
http://www.AtHomeOnTheLake.com

I had some fun on Crystal last year with crappies biting in the afternoon which is good when taking grandkids along. I went to White Bear Lake today instead but got shut out. The guys around me were saying how they had their limits of 3/4 pounders for the last 3 nights, but not tonight. Go figure.

I go fishing at Crystal almost every day in the summer. I’ve caught some big bass and a muskie. Do you have a contour(depth) map of the lake?e-mail me at [email protected]

A buddy and I fished crystal last night. We ended up catching 35 crappies with 12 “keepers”. This lake has some fantastic wintertime crappie fishing! The size is there if you can find em. I fish it a couple times every winter because when I did creel surveys there during the winter of 98 the crappie fishing was fantastic, with the average crappie around 10 inches…..few up to 12 inches….and the biggest I got was 14 inches. There seems to be quite a few smaller ones right now, but i’m not giving up. I did see some dandys mixed in with the small ones on my aqua vu last night, so they are there! I agree with the comments about bass in the summertime! Great largemouth population and good size. Tiger muskies have done well also after being stocked numerous years. I pulled a 46 incher out a few years back on 4lb test through the ice!! What a blast. I did see a 49 1/2 incher caught off the public fishing pier in summer of 98 as well.

Steve,

What are the best times and depths to get into those crappies.

Thanks for the update. May have to get out there again.

Mike, we were in 25 foot of water and they bit in spurts from just before dark till 9:00pm. Majority of the fish were 5-6 feet off the bottom. Picked a few up at 10 feet off bottom. Some were even 15 feet off bottom…only 10 feet down. We also caught them on the bottom. Basically, if you saw a fish on your vexilar anywhere in the water column, it’s worth trying! Jigging spoons with minnow heads and small jigs with waxies worked best. The live minnow below the bobber just didn’t produce the numbers, although, the largest 3 fish came from the bobber rod. Spring bobbers were a major plus as well. Definitely not biting aggressive. Let us know how you do if ya make it out. Thanks.

I had the chance to make it out to Crystal again last Thursday. A buddy and myself caught about 25 crappies again, but only had 8 keepers. We did get one pig and a few others that were nice. The largest went 13 1/8 inches. We were in 25 feet of water and the majority of the “biters” were off the bottom from 5-15 feet. Light biters again….you really had to pay attention to your vexilar and watch the spring bobber. Here are some pics….

one more..

Just love to see big crappies….did they bite on waxies or minnows?

Mainly jigging spoon with the minnow head. My buddy tried waxies on a tiny jig…but only got a few small ones on that. We did get a few on the bobber with a live minnow as well.

Hey those are some nice fish! I have fished ot there for years and have always had the best luck in the depth you are fishing but off that point with the new big mansion on it. Have you found that you have to be near structure for those crappies to be there?

I have not noticed that structure matters much. Just find the deepest water you can and go from there. Stay away from the crowds as some of these better fish are not that far below the ice and will spook easily with a crowd on top of them. You don’t need to set up in the big bunch of houses to find fish. Good luck and let us know how you do if you go out.

I used to fish this lake 15 years ago for bass. That was in my “early” days where I had no boat… and the bay on the east side was rather under-developed at the time. I caught some darn nice bass outta there! Never tried ice-fishing it. Kind of a shame, as it’s just a few miles from where I live. Looks like it might be worth a shot!

I fished Crystal several times about 4-5 years ago through the ice. We caught tons of small crappie and sunnies. Also the occasional 4lb+ slimer on a tip up. Decent action but never the size of crappies that Steve is pulling out.