Minnetonka walleye.....

[CALVINIST]

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!

[SWMuskeye]

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....

[vikingmeatwad]

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.

[CALVINIST]

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.

[vikingmeatwad]

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?

[schr0563]

The deep weedline is always a great place to start, say 15-18 feet.

[CALVINIST]

Quote:

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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?

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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.

[markkstanley]

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.

[Apex]

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....

[Carp-fisher]

You chasing 'eyes this weekend Casey?

[CALVINIST]

Ben, I'll give you a call...

[CALVINIST]

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 . 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. Now why would a big fish like that be interested in a 3" plastic minnow imitator? 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 .

[markkstanley]

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

[SFBOY]

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.

[CALVINIST]

Any word on Tonka's temp?

[jerkin'm]

Main lake surface temp was 65 yesterday midday...

[vikingmeatwad]

It twas 65 a week ago yesterday as well :-)

dang warm weather

[schr0563]

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.