Tonka Eyes

[KTroller]

I've fished Minnetonka for a lot of years and have had good success with everything except pike & walleyes. I'm taking my boys out for the opener and would like to be able to get them into either some nice eater eyes or some decent northerns. I've heard that the walleye on Tonka behave alot like bass because they are stocked and often relate to weeds, is that true? We're prepped to be out early on the opener. Is the walleye bite there truly a dawn/dusk thing or can we find them during the day? Where are the pike this time of year? Eyes? I don't need spots, I pretty much know the spots where they "should" be and also what parts of the lake contain those conditions but depths, techniques, presentations, colors would be great. Don't get me wrong a spot would be cool but I aim to keep moving. Pre-fishing for crappies has not yet netted me a stray walleye so I'm still fishing a little blind - any insights would be helpful as last year I only managed one cigar walleye - my first ever on Tonka.

Thanks!

KT

[SWMuskeye]

KTroller-

If I were you, I'd take the boys on some passes through channels with lindys and shadraps around lowlight periods.

Grays bay bridge and the narrows are worth a look.

Also, try looking for slowly tapering rock from shore, and cast up shallow and let the baits work deeper as they get closer to your boat.

During the day, focus on the areas where the slow tapering rocks transition to sand. Good luck, I hope you find them.

As far as the fish acting like bass, I think to some degree that can be true. But actually, there are a lot of good classic structures on Tonka that hold fish like more classic walleye lakes. Plenty of humps, saddles, rocks, ledges, points, etc. to choose from.

I like fishing traditional structures this time of year, and move to "weedier" areas later in the year.

[KTroller]

Thanks, for the ideas. Boat and gear are all ready, hopefully we'll have some luck!

[KTroller]

Still haven't solved the Tonka walleye riddle, but did manage some pike, bass, crappie and 3 sunnies trolling shad raps - unbelievable! Those buggers hammered them at 1.8MPH - that was a new one.