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MInnetonka walleye bite is on...


markkstanley

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holy friggin wind today! I don't think I will be able to get out now tues nite either and we are headed to Iowa City this weekend to watch the gophs beat the hawks.

I may try to get out there wed/thur depending on wind and everything.

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Went out for a couple hours last night between 11pm and 1am, and I got one fat Tonka piggie @ 26.5". They weren't concentrated on the spot, but my guess it will only get better as the water temps drop, a strong NW wind really get's 'em going smile.gif

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I posted yesterday. Just wondering if anyone is looking for any company in the upcoming weeks out on Tonka. Fished it a couple of time with limited success. Just had our third baby and winterized the boat this weekend. I would love to go out with someone that has some experience on this lake. I would obviously pay for gas/bait. Please email me at [email protected] if your willing to let me tag along. I have more than enough equipment.

Thanks

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Just looking at a Tonka map now.

If a guy was going out trolling Friday night and launching from greys bay access....Just out of curiosity what bays would be a good place to start for some walleye trolling?

Browns bay? Laffeyette bay? Tonka Bay? trying to narrow it down a little. These are a few that i see some structure that might be favorable.

any "hints" or "your getting warmer" would be appreciated grin.gif

Thanks.

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right out of Grey's bay. either weedline has produced walleyes for me. Big point in Wayzata Bay is good too. After that Diamond and Horseshoe reefs are worth a shot.

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Mark,

If you are trolling, what depth and speed do you favor this time of year? Do you favor jig and minnows to trolling? This is 2 months later than I have ever fished soft water. It sounds like they troll shallow at ML, but you have been talking about deeper fish, is this unique to Minnetonka?

Thanks for sharing your expertise!!! It's fun to read your reports.

Jay

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It sounds like they troll shallow at ML, but you have been talking about deeper fish, is this unique to Minnetonka?


The big difference is Minnetonka has Eurasion Water Milfoil in it. We found the outside weedline to grow down about 18' on Tonka, at least on the eastern side of the lake. Last time we were out trolling, it was nearly impossible to troll anywhere on top of it unless you pulled floating baits, but hit that 18' depth mark and it was clean to the bottom.

I might make it out there this weekend to try night trolling again, just not sure exactly what the plan for the weekend is yet.

A buddy of mine took me out on another metro lake that has a similar type Milfoil weedline. We caught all of our eyes between 18-22' on the bottom, right at the edge of the weedline. These eyes were concentrating on a little flat with sharp breaks to 30+' of water on the deeper side. The eyes were really relating to this little milfoil point on this flat. We caught them jigging fatheads while working this little flat.

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Jig and minnow is the way to go if you are looking for numbers. I trophy hunt and that means I troll cranks (although jigging with 8" sucker is also effective for the big ones). I get right on the weed edge in my trolling passes which right now is 12 to 15ft deep. Best bait in past years has been HJ 12 and 14 back 135 feet and with water temps in low 40s speed should be no faster than 1.2mph. This fall I have been experimenting more and have found minnow raps to be very effective back about 100 to 110ft. I mark a lot of fish holding at the bottom of breaks in 20 to 30ft of water but in my experience these fish are better targeted with a jig and minnow. I do catch one now again if I troll deep diving Taildancers or Husky jerks.

My fish of late have been coming off midlake structure like humps or tips of points that extend a long way out into the main lake basin.

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Mark and Hanson,

Thanks for the great info. Now I just need you to catch them for me grin.gif. I will be out of Grays Sunday afternoon. I have a black Alumacraft with a white Johnson, stop by and say hi if you see me. I will report back.

Thanks again,

fwt

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Got out for a couple hours this morning before dawn (man was it chilly!) Caught 4 walleyes on the jig/minnow combo off the deep weed edge, 2 about 12", one 15", and one 16.5", all released. They weren't a chompin' like they were last saturday evening. I'll have to get out again tonight and get some more....wife is after me for walleye dinner again!

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It sounds like you target fish pre-dawn and sunset. Is there a walleye bite through-out the day this time of year on 'tonka? Or do you just concentrate on the low light times?

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I catch the bulk of mine pre-dawn, post sunset, but this time of year you can get 'em all day, you just have to go deeper, up to 35+ FOW, jigging and trolling mid-lake humps, rock piles, etc. Caught a few more last night. For night fishing I would concentrate on finding structure with weeds that break into deeper water. A nice walleye chop helps. Locate the fish on the breaks in 15-19 FOW and jig with a glow fireball jig and a fathead. If you don't catch any fish, keep moving...there is a ton of structure on Tonka. A ReelBottom map will help you find suitable structure. If you want bigger fish, go with a bigger profile jig. My fav. is the older, skirted glow lipstick jig by Northland tackle. You won't catch as many, but they will be bigger. I have found that the fish are not inhaling the jig right now, but chewing on the minnow, so you have to count to three before setting the hook...but that could change. Hope this helps, good luck. smile.gif

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Made it out last night. Got a couple on jigs and a couple on cranks. Biggest was 19 inches. The fish we caught were really smacking the baits, we just couldn't locate a concentration of fish - it was just one here and one there. Unfortunately we left the lake right as the wind was picking up, around 8 pm. I hope to get out again later this week.

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Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I could not gain any success with it. We fished from noon till 6pm and were skunked. We fished west of Grays, Browns, diamond reef, and around Spirit Island. Water temp was around 47. We fished jig and minnows from 13 fow to 24 fow. Only marked a few scattered fish. Hope you guys had better luck. At least it was a beautiful day!!!

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Quote:

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I could not gain any success with it. We fished from noon till 6pm and were skunked. We fished west of Grays, Browns, diamond reef, and around Spirit Island. Water temp was around 47. We fished jig and minnows from 13 fow to 24 fow. Only marked a few scattered fish. Hope you guys had better luck. At least it was a beautiful day!!!


Tonka can be a tough nut to crack, so you have to keep moving and trying different things until you find fish. Better luck next time. eh?

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Quote:

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I could not gain any success with it. We fished from noon till 6pm and were skunked. We fished west of Grays, Browns, diamond reef, and around Spirit Island. Water temp was around 47. We fished jig and minnows from 13 fow to 24 fow. Only marked a few scattered fish. Hope you guys had better luck. At least it was a beautiful day!!!


Tonka can be a tough nut to crack, but keep trying because your diligence will eventually pay off. You have to keep moving and trying different things until you find something that works.

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Was out tonight and I decided to try some of my river tircks like a hair jig/ringworm combo instead of trolling. Missed the only two hits I had. Marked fish in 30ft depths nothing shallower. Made a couple of trolling passes and caught a 40" musky on a minnow rap. Wasn't even an inch of the lure showing when I landed the musky. Good thing I always have my musky tools on board just for these unexpected situations. Very thick and healthy fish and it swam away not too much worse for wear.

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Quote:

Was out tonight and I decided to try some of my river tircks like a hair jig/ringworm combo instead of trolling. Missed the only two hits I had. Marked fish in 30ft depths nothing shallower. Made a couple of trolling passes and caught a 40" musky on a minnow rap. Wasn't even an inch of the lure showing when I landed the musky. Good thing I always have my musky tools on board just for these unexpected situations. Very thick and healthy fish and it swam away not too much worse for wear.


I was out as well Mark. about 6-9.

Temps from 43-45 out from grays. I couldn't find a fish anywhere but saw a few in deeper water that wouldn't bite.

Checked many spots but the same thing everywhere.

A bit cold but a very nice night for Nov. 12th.

Nice Musky!!

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Went out on Friday and picked up an 18" eye just at dusk and another fish before that, but that one got off 1/2 way to the boat.

....later that evening Goggleeye picked up this nice Musky. Didn't measure it, but it was certainly some excitement for the evening.

Goggleski.jpg

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Muleshack, nice bonus muskie! Did you get it trolling cranks?

Myself, I'm not done with Tonka yet. There's still fish to be had!!!

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I believe he got that one on a perch color shad rap.

I got my fish on purple minnow rap.

Hopefully either get out to tonka on Saturday or brave it and head up to mille lacs.

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I got out for a couple hours last night in a secluded spot hoping to catch some of the Tonka big girls but they didn't come out to play. Only a 18 incher caught on a firecracker ringworm. Boy was it windy!!! Hoping to get out saturday afternoon, trolling and jigging. Who knows, maybe I'll connect with one of those muskies.

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Calvin, the muskie was caught on a #9 shad rap in the traditional shad color (greyish-blue on top and white on sides and bottom). That bait has been a great one for me on clear lakes. If I could only fish with one lure the rest of my life, it would be that one! Good luck.

GoggleEye

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Man u look cold holding that musky! You think that fish would have warmed you up! smile.gif

I'm planning on hitting her up tomorrow(well actually today). Hopefully mid-day, something will be moving. Sounds like deep may be the way to go.

Good luck to anybody that heads out.

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Went out for a few hours saturday evening with a buddy. Pretty slow, we only caught four, east winds a factor, I think. Here's one Jim caught on a sucker minnow and jig. There was a little blood, but wasn't gill or gut hooked (so Jim says) and was released...

jimswalleye.jpg

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Ya, it was cold that night. The ski warmed me up for a whole 5 minutes, then it was all cold again for the rest of the night!! grin.gif

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Did a mid-night excursion on Tonka last night and hit GOLD! Caught these two 27" fish within about 10 minutes of each other on a white suspending shad rap.

Walleye #1

Tonkawalleyes002.jpg

And walleye #2

Tonkawalleyes003.jpg

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WOW Calvinist!!

Those are some RUGBY BALLS!!

Talk about fat, how deep were they? Any hints on what type of structure they were relating to? Inside weeds? Sand? Rocks, etc?

I wish I was fishing the same areas as you this year =).

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Can't give out too many details, but let me just say they were on shallow, wind blown structure. Gotta love those Tonka piggies!

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First post for me. I'm heading out tomorrow... thanksgiving. I'm not much of a crank bait troller... am I missing the "boat". This late in the season, I was considering verticle jigging with some ice gear or slow lindy riggin with fats or suckers. The wind should be down so my small craft should get me out to my spots. Any advice?

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