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Opener Results


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How did everyone do on the first day of the 2004 fishing season? Three of us caught several walleyes just after midnight out on Tonka. Most of the action came during a short time span when the wind was blowing. Also ended up doing battle with a muskie. Unfortunately we had to leave by 4:30 because some of us had to catch a plane, but the day seemed to be shaping up too be a pretty good opener. Let's hear some more reports...

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I was out on White Bear for opener. Caught a couple Walley, one really nice one weighing a little over 4 lbs. Lost a couple more due to not have a steel leader on, but the leaders tend to take away from the agility of my bait.

[This message has been edited by webangler (edited 05-16-2004).]

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I got a 6 lbs. 5 oz. baby girl home on the opener and she is a keeper. No fish but I considered stopping at Lake Jane to catch a fish on my way to the hospital to pick up the wife and baby. I would not have told the wife I fished on the way to pick the two of them up.

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Well I thought today would be a good time for my first post. I went out on Sat. evening with poor results. One 3lb. hammerhead with four lost. Went back out this morning and did much beter. Four more hammerheads (largest being 4.7lb) and two lost, not to mention the first one of the day cost me my pliers thanks to his thrashing. Thanks to Joe Harty for all his help. Hope to read more results.

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Anytime, Anywhere !!

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My group caught 9 2-3 pound northern, 1 muskie, and 4 bass while trolling. Everything released right away.

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Congratulations on your fine catch mpester!!

Should add her to the bragging photos! wink.gif

<MattsGal><<

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mpester, that's the best catch out of everybody! Congrats are definitely due!

Hope to see you post a pic of her with life jacket on and fishing pole in hand some time this summer.

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For us, a few hours of fishing each day. Plenty of northern, one crazed crappie, one perch no bigger than the minnow it hit, one bass, & one snail. Plenty of short-striking northern. Nary a walleye in sight.

Congrats mpester! My aim is to turn at least one of my two little girls into a fisher-person so she can join daddy on the water.

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Couldn't find a walleye on MTKA this weekend but the crappies are still going strong. Kept the kids busy for a few hours and made for a pretty good dinner.

Anybody have any suggestions where a guy could find a walleye on that particular piece of water? I can catch them on Independence and Eagle but Minnetonka has me baffled.

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Kab,

We got 4 eyes on Tonka Sat. morning. We never caught more than one in each spot we tried. All 4 came from the 16-17 ft range. two were 13 and two were 15 inches. We were on fairly flat areas that slowly sloped away from shore and near the weedline. We used jigs and minnows. Going to give in another try on Thursday.

Any body else have any luck on Tonka??

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Kab, are you talking about the Eagle lake in or by Maple Grove? That is the lake that has me stumped. I would be greatful for any tips you have on that lake.
[email protected]

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Two days at home and I am sooo tired. Ran to Target for a few baby and Mom things. Stopped at Lake Demotreville and got two quick bluegills today - don't tell Mom.

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Well the two superfishes (my brother and myself) were out on tonka opening morning. Managed one crappie and one walleye. The the walleye was about 18" or so.

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Had a pretty good opener

4 Largemouth bass released while fishing panfish largest just under 5 pounds

several Northerns largest 9 pounds

1 Walleye 2 pounds (dinner)

FnF

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Congrats on the little one. I believe that being born on opening day is an excellent omen.

Kab, e-mail me and I'll give you some mtka tips. I had good success in four hours or so, with six eyes, two keeps, as well as numerous northerns and bass.

Ice
[email protected]

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Son and I hit Big Marine about 7 AM, worked the west and south ends first, nothing at all. Most others on the lake having the same luck. About 11:30, started up the north and west sides, landed 2 Largemouth, both released. Everyone else on the lake was having the same luck. Thinking of hitting the Phalen Hole this weekend with my grandson, his first outing, he is 4.

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Hey Anchor Man,

Opener on Tonka was good we boated alot of Pike but the larger ones bit us off due to runing lindy rigs along the 16-17ft weed edges for eyes. Picked up one nice 24" Eye for the day at 8:30am on Sat in 15ft off a weed edge near a inside turn off of a rocky point.

Early AM watched a guy boat a couple small eyes off some rocks jigging with a minnow, but there were too many boats in that spot to try & join him in the jigging presentation.

Great to hear others are getting eyes out there.

Later
Chris

------------------
"I fish there for I am!"

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Mtka was Ok to a w buddies & I on Sat AM, 4 keeper walleyes and one monstrous 22" bass on a 1/4 oz blue glow jig (Phelps, of course..). I measured it and released it, the chart says 6.5lbs, but that thing was very fat, I'm guessing it was pushing 7 lbs. We had our best luck in the 12.5 foot range on blue and red glow jigs, believe it or not. Minnows outfished leaches. 2 off of rocky areas with sandy bottom bays that had light weeds, not milfoil like infestation, just scattered. The other two off of mid lake weed humps, which is where the big bass was. The Chartreuse and other color jigs did not produce anything but pike.

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TMan,

When you fish jig/minnow combinations, how big of a jig do you use, what type of minnows and where do you hook them?

I'd like to find a good all purpose jig/minnow combo that will catch bass, northerns and walleye.

Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

A buddy of mine fished Minnetonka on Sat. and caught a 6.5 pound LM and a 10 pound northern, both on big sucker minnows.

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Hey Tonka Boy,

What types of patterns would you clasify as June patterns for eyes out on Tonka? I'm heading out Thursday and wasn't sure if I should start to find some offshore structure or not yet.

Thanks

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tonka boy

tell me that was a really good day for bass and pike... or ive been missing something

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At the risk of having this taken the wrong way, you guys are telling me that the three of you caught not one, not two, but three six to seven pound bass on Saturday?

And a 14 and 18 pound northern?

For perspective, approximately eight six pound fish were weighed in during tournaments the whole last year on Minnetonka, four of those happening during the Wednesday nighters including a 6-15 monster.

Can I see a picture, please?

I know it’s been beaten to death on the site, but how can you catch 28 bass when you aren’t targeting them?

For information sake, the concentrations of walleyes in the lake are nowhere near locations where you can catch such numbers of bass any time of the year.

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i kinda agree considering thats 2 near trophy fish in one day

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Minnetonka was the place to be for opener. At least that is where 1 million other boats were (can you say high gas prices?).

Most of the people I talked with had at least a couple of walleyes to show for. The biggest burden was all the bass showing up in the walleye haunts. I got 28 (bass)myself that went between 3.5 and 6#...and that was common. I didn't target northerns either, but managed a 36 and 40" on HJ's. Good action to keep busy even though I wasn't targeting either.

Once I adapted, I found the walleyes to be holding in their June patterns already. The water temps are a little warmer than usual for this time of year, so I can see why. Snap jigging w/minnows in the basins has really taken some numbers. Keep it simple, find the BIG schools of fish, and you'll most likely be rewarded.

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Tonka Boy

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JG,
I was not specifically targeting bass, but I will tell you we caught quite a few on just a jig and minnow. We manufacture product so that is the brand I use. Since we were fishing in anywhere from 6-18 feet, I used two different weights of jigs, 1/8th Oz for the shallows and 1/4 Oz for the 10 + depths. I was jigging fairly aggressively (Not snapping as the "Griz" made famous, just popping), as the previous poster mentioned, therefore I preferred the heavier jig in that situation.

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Typically this time of year I catch the bulk of my eyes in 2-8' of water. I like to pitch jigs and work them back slowly. Many times (including opener) this will take place in the channels. On opener, I found small schools of walleyes (groups of 3-4) swimming along the edges of the channels. They were outnumbered by bass 10-1, but still present. I fished this spot for about 1.5 hours and caught 20 or so bass and 2 walleyes. Had I not caught a walleye, or saw them, I wouldn't have stayed. The other 8 were caught on deep humps while trolling lindy rigs or while crappie fishing.

Honestly, I'm not even a bass guy. I still catch at least 10/year over 6# on Tonka. Some years more. All are caught while fishing for other species.

As far as June patterns for walleyes, I'm talking deeper water. I'm finding active fish on the deep side of the breaks. Not on the edge, but off roaming the basins. 21-26' has been consistant, but last night I was finding them as deep as 46'. Most of these spots are adjacent to shallow reefs as they move shallow in the low light periods. But surprisingly, the best bite has been during the dead of day. As they move up, they become more spooky.

Good Luck all!

------------------
Tonka Boy

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I have personally met Tonka Boy, and he is a very honest person. He also knows a great deal about fishing Tonka and from talking to him in the past, fishes it on a weekly basis. So take some of his fishing info and run with it. He has a binder with several detailed maps, and knows just about every angle in fishing this lake. Congrats on the excellent weekend you had Tonka Boy, wish I would have done that well.
Chow for now,
GF

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
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    • CigarGuy
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