Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Minnetonka walleye.....


Recommended Posts

It's that time of year that the walleye bite should start picking up on Tonka. Any eyes to report? Where can I find them-what depth-right now? I'm thinking deep weed edge or rocks. I will fish primarily low light periods, but mostly between sunset and sunrise. Want to really focus on catching some of those Tonka lunkers this year all the way into november!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mr. Stanley usually gives up some pretty good starting points around this time of year.

I am still working on getting it down, but his ideas have helped narrow the gap....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm with ya calvinist. I am going to try and get out tonite and much more in the next 3 months.

I have no idea where to start but I will try anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know it's a tad warm this week,but give it a couple weeks and things should start poppin'. I fished for a couple hours sat. morning before sunrise, experimenting with a drop-shot rig. Got a couple of rockies and that was about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Calvin, I tried mon morning 6-10am and tried many different places. picked up 4 bass but that's about it. Do all bait shops run out of leeches this time of year?

I think worms/fatheads should be best in about 3 weeks when the water temp comes down in the 60's?

What depths would be ideal?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Thanks Calvin, I tried mon morning 6-10am and tried many different places. picked up 4 bass but that's about it. Do all bait shops run out of leeches this time of year?

I think worms/fatheads should be best in about 3 weeks when the water temp comes down in the 60's?

What depths would be ideal?


Minnetonka is best for walleyes @ night and low light periods, and I fish mainly the east end. For the time being I am going to focus on the reefs that hold rock and fish the 14-18 foot range where there are a mixture of sparse weeds and rock. Key is to cover lots of water until I find the walleyes concentrated on a specific location. For presentation I am going to use a jig/plastic combo or drop shot rig rigged with plastic. During the day I would focus on deeper water around the reefs.

As far as leeches are concerned, I talked to Tim at Wayzata bait, and he said to give those 3" Gulp leeches a try, all the way up to ice they catch fish. I have never thought of trying these but now I want to. Good luck and report back any any results and I'll do the same. If you ever want to get out with me let me know and we'll arrange something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not quite time yet. Water temps need to be in the 50s for the really good bite. However, trolling the deep weed breaks will get you a few. I target 20 to 25ft right now in lowlight periods. After sunset you can move right up to the weeds. I just got back in town and will be fishing almost every night. Hopefully I will have something good to report.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lets see what we have here......well as far as a good walleye bite goes, nothing in my books on tonka this year. Alot of people are doing O.K. in deeper areas of the lake around smaller bays at this time of year. the fish are starting to think about going on the move. A good thing to look for as far as timing goes, is once those bait shops start getting in shiners, that usually means the walleye bites getting going(atleasst on TONKA). Once this time comes I won't even go out on the boat.....?.?.? as like I said before...at this time the walleyes are on the move, and what is a great place to pinpoint these travling fish?? thats what you need to figure out....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tried a couple spots last night and early this morning. Didn't catch walleyes, but when I put my drop-shot rig in the water last night on the 17' weededge it got slammed by a HUGE muskie! One of the biggest I had seen on Tonka shocked.gif. Unfortunately I had only 8 Lb mono and #2 hook. I fought it for about 5 minutes before it got into the weeds and she broke off. mad.gif Now why would a big fish like that be interested in a 3" plastic minnow imitator? confused.gif Water temps still in the 60's in Wayzata bay. May have to chase muskies tomorrow morning as I am pumped after seeing that huge beastly fish smile.gif.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

68 degree water temps on the west end. Marking fish in 25ft along the steep breaks but nothing exciting to report. The pike and green carp are still active if you get on the weed edge. Thinking of taking a break and hunting muskies for a few days. Sure is nice to have the lake back from the power cruisers smile.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i dont get it either. i fished the musky tournament a few years ago on WBL and had two follows all day. with an hour left in the tournament, the Mullet Brothers in a crappy bayliner came trolling by us and put one in the boat with a 3" johnson silver minnow. i just started laughing. the trick is to not try and catch them with light gear and that is when it will happen. confused.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I just reviewed my notes from last year. It looks like it wasn't until the last week of October that I started consistently puting double digit numbers of fish in the boat each time I went out. Until then it was hit or miss. Unfortunately I didn't note the water temps at the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.