Hutch Area Fishing Reports by Great Day on the Water Guide Service

[Troy Smutka]

5/20/15     Guide trip in the area this weekend netted walleyes, pike, smallmouth, and a ton of largemouth. Some nice sized fish in addition to numbers. Trolling crankbaits, casting jerkbaits, jigs, and jig-spinners, as well as slip-bobbering leeches all caught fish in four to eight feet of water. My clients were camera shy, so no pics for now. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[IceHawk]

Keep the reports comeing smuts!

[Troy Smutka]

5/25/15     Fished Lake Washington Saturday evening and Sunday morning in intermittent rain showers. Caught walleyes and smallmouth trolling minnow baits on a shallow, sandy, gravelly flat. Also caught largemouth, smallmouth, and pike casting spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and jig-spinners with Powerbait around hard bottom to weed transitions. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

 

[Avid Angler]

Nice work Troy!

So many people I know have given up on Washington because of the milfoil. How bad is it out there? Fishing has to be decent.

I have had some luck around the area jigging and spinner rigs for walleyes. It has been a good spring for me so far.

 

Avid

[Troy Smutka]

Avid,

     The milfoil isn't bad yet. Even on Waconia, it hasn't filled in too much yet--water temps in the 60's is not that warm for this time of year. Even when the foil does come in, Washington is a dynamite lake. You have to fish the weed edges. My favorite tactics for eyes on the weeds are a jig and soft plastic grub or minnow, a crankbait, or the jig/soft plastic grub or minnow with a jig spinner attached. For bass, any soft plastic offering as well as crankbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, or topwater will do the trick. Good luck.

[Troy Smutka]

6/7/15     Guiding in the area this morning. A little slow due to the rising barometer and a little windy, but managed some fish. Seven year old fishing with his Dad and Grandpa got his biggest walleye, a 24 incher. Casting and trolling crankbaits along the outside weed edges in nine to twelve feet were the best tactics, and we tried a lot of things. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

9/2/15      My boat heads down the road with its new owner on Saturday, so finished with open water fishing reports for 2015. Football and hunting will take up my time in the fall. Check the waterfowl hunting reports this fall for our hunting reports, and I will be back on this forum as well as Mille Lacs and the Metro with ice fishing reports once the water firms up. Pick up a new boat in the spring and will be back with open water fishing reports then. Good luck this fall, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Avid Angler]

Nice reports Smuts!!.

[clKiekhafer]

Thanks for your reports!!

[Troy Smutka]

Still no ice, or not enough ice, to be ice fishing much in the Hutch area. Too warm for late goose hunting--the geese aren't leaving town much to feed. So, my Dad and I headed to the Crow River in town for some shore fishing. Fished several different spots--fishing was not hot but was O.K. and it was a nice day to be out. Caught some pike, a couple eyes, and snagged a couple bullheads. Jointed Floating Minnows, Ultra-light Minnows, and 1/8 ounce jigs with three inch grubs all caught fish. Still waiting for ice, will be back with reports once we can get out and drill. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

Just an FYI. The annual R&R Marine (Shakopee) Open House will be on Saturday, February 27th. A question and answer session about Lowrance electronics and fishing in general with Lowrance Pro Staff will be at 9 am. A Q&A about Humminbird electronics and fishing in general with myself and other Humminbird Pro Staff will be at 10:30 am. Lunch provided after the seminars, with Vikings defensive end Brian Robison. Great deals on boats all weekend. Free parking, no admission. Stop in and say hi.

[Troy Smutka]

5/15/16     Decided to forego the cold and big waves on the SE corner of Mille Lacs this weekend, so headed out to Hutch for the opener instead. Only caught a couple eater walleyes, but caught lots of big bass while fishing for eyes. Post-spawn male walleyes, mixed with pre-spawn female smallmouth and largemouth. Cold and windy, but still fun. Caught fish on leeches under slip-bobbers, casting jerkbaits (X-Raps), pitching jigs tipped with 3" Gulp! Minnows and Grubs, and long-line trolling minnow baits like Flat Raps and Scatter Rap Minnows. Caught fish on several techniques in several places, mostly in four to seven feet of water. Had a couple walleyes come unbuttoned on the minnow baits. Warmed up Saturday at Landy's Lodge with the best burgers and apps in town. Up to Mille Lacs for the MTT Walleye Tournament next weekend, but will be back out in Hutch Memorial Weekend. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

5/29/16     Fished Washington for bass between and around showers and storms on Sunday and Monday (fished Waconia on Saturday). Caught nine smallies and six largemouth as well as two pike. Also had six smallies come unbuttoned while jumping! Caught fish in three to seven feet of water on jerkbaits and spinnerbaits. Up to Mille Lacs for another tournament next weekend. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

6/17/16     Guiding on a Hutchinson area lake. Clients caught the "grand slam" for the Hutch area--walleyes, largemouth, smallmouth, and pike. Caught fish on leeches under a slip bobber, a jig-spinner, and a Rippin' Rap. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/6/16     Hit Stella this morning. Casting spinnerbaits over the shallow weeds early, then casting crankbaits along the deep weed edges after that. Caught largemouth, pike, walleyes, and a smallie. Most were really nice sized fish. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/30/16     Fished the Hutch area this morning. Plan was to start shallow in the weeds and along the inside edge with spinnerbaits and jig spinners, then move to the outside edge deeper with crankbaits as the morning wore on. Even with high skies and not much wind, never had to move deep--caught fish in the weeds in five to seven feet all morning. Huge schools of minnows in these areas, and bass, pike, and crappies were on the feed and could be seen coming up on the minnows (and our spinnerbaits and jig spinners). Caught five big smallies, one nice pike, a few crappies, and fifteen largemouth. The smallies were all 17 to 19.5 inches, and the largemouth were all 14 to 20 inches. Good luck and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

8/13/16     Got out on Stella this morning. Caught eleven largemouth from 16 to 19 inches, and two pike 26 and 30 inches. Caught some of the fish on inside weed edges on spinnerbaits early, then got the rest on the deep weed edges on crankbaits. Had three bass come unbuttoned also. A white Terminator 1/2 ounce was the best spinnerbait, Berkley Flicker Shads in silver/minnow and sunset gold were the crankbaits that produced. Good luck and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

2/20/17     With ice conditions rapidly deteriorating from April in February, we shore fished from the Crow River in several spots this weekend. Caught several walleyes in the teens, pike up to about nine pounds, and even had some carp up to twelve pounds bite. 1/8 ounce VMC Mooneye jigs (flat sides) tipped with 3" grubs with a slow, steady retrieve worked best. Chartreuse and orange were the best colors. Rivers are the ticket now. Gonna get the boat on the Mississippi next. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

2/26/17   With ice conditions deteriorating, we hit the Crow River for the second weekend in a row. Casting 1/8 ounce VMC Mooneye Jigs tipped with 3" Berkley Power Grubs in orange and chartreuse combinations, we caught walleyes up to 18" and pike up to 31" as well as a couple carp. Remember, pike and walleyes, as well as bass, are closed in MN now except on most navigable rivers. Also, your fishing license expires tomorrow. I will be giving a seminar at the Home and Sport Show at the McLeod County Fairgrounds on Saturday, 3/4 at 11 am. Will be presenting about walleye fishing on area lakes, but happy to answer questions and talk about anything fishing. Stop in and say hi. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[mascad]

Thanks for the reports!  Aren't all rivers, other than border rivers,  closed to walleye and pike now? 

[mrpike1973]

Troy,

Really enjoyed your seminar today learned a lot. Can't wait to get on the water. Again thanks for information you have taught all of us. 

Brent

[Troy Smutka]

Memorial Weekend,

     Out on Washington Saturday afternoon and evening after hitting Waconia for bass Saturday morning. Caught largemouth, smallmouth, and pike. Added footage of a couple smallies to the largemouth and pike footage from Waconia for a bass segment of Fishing and Hunting the North Country on You Tube. Caught the bass and pike on Washington in four to seven feet of water, out from bedding areas, on spinnerbaits, Rippin' Raps, and Shadow Raps. Up on Mille Lacs this coming weekend for a walleye tournament, then will be back out in the Hutch area the next weekend guiding. We were targeting bass this weekend, but got a tip that walleyes are biting on a couple Hutch area lakes on live bait. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

6/10/17     Guided on Washington Friday morning, then fished Friday afternoon on Washington again with my Dad. In the morning, we were after walleyes. Caught three eyes, one pike, five largemouth, and a dozen smallmouth. Walleyes came on leeches under slip bobbers, pike hit a Rippin' Rap. Bass came on leeches under slip bobbers, Rippin' Raps, and firetiger swimbaits. Caught largemouth and smallmouth plus a pike in the afternoon. Same baits as above, plus spinnerbaits. Most of the fish were caught in five to eight feet of water, relating to weeds, especially cabbage. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

6/24/17     Got out on Washington this morning to target walleyes. Cold and windy! Busy today--a bass tournament going on. We fished several spots with leeches under a slip float for eyes. Only caught one small one, and missed a couple bites that might have been walleyes. Did catch several medium to large smallies and one largemouth. Got off the lake about 10:00 as we saw the first wave of rain approaching. Not interested in fishing cold, wind-driven rain. Guess mother nature doesn't always look at the calendar, which said summer started this week. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/12/17     Fished the Hutch area this morning. Recorded an episode of Fishing and Hunting the North Country for my You Tube Channel about fishing deep weedlines with crankbaits in the summer. Caught a bunch of walleyes and largemouth and one pike. Jointed #7 Shad Raps and #7 Flicker Shads were the best baits. Silver and gold were the best colors. Caught most of the fish in nine to eleven feet of water right along the bottom edge of a couple of different weedlines. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/16/17     Fished an area lake this morning. High skies, light wind, and some recreational traffic added up to an early morning bite, but we did well for a while. In about three hours we caught ten largemouth, one smallmouth, one pike, and six walleyes casting crankbaits along the deep weed edges of a couple of areas. The #7 Flicker Shad in Orange Shad color was the walleye slayer, bass and pike really liked the #7 JSR in Sliver Shad. Bass up to 18.5 inches, and walleyes up to 18 inches. Beautiful morning. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/31/17     Three generation fishing today in the Hutch area. Guide trip in the area tomorrow. My father, son, and I caught largemouth, pike, crappies, and sunfish today casting crankbaits along the outside weed edges. #7 Jointed Shad Raps and #7 Flicker Shads were the baits--color didn't seem to matter much this morning. Caught fish in 8 to 11 feet of water close to the weed edges. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.