Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

It's our time on 'Tonka!


united jigsticker

Recommended Posts

I made it out to "Tonka" Sunday from 12:00 to 8:00PM cold & no "eyes". Just 2 northerns (1 small & 1 decent). Marking fish on the electronics at 20 to 25 fow just off the steep breaks. Could it be, has the phenominal shallow bite ended, have they gone to there winter holes now?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 409
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • CALVINIST

    70

  • Tonka Boy

    49

  • schr0563

    47

  • markkstanley

    31

Badluck,

It has been my experience, when the northerns start showing, the walleyes are moving out. Not to say you don't have a shot at an eye still, but the numbers aren't there any more. Time to look to the wintering holes indeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm going out tonight...late again. It'll be interesting to see if this one spot will kick out a fish or two...I'm confident it will. I was marking fish in this area in the deep holes at the end of the break.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Calvinist,

Don't be afraid to go really deep. Sharpest breaks into the deepest part of the lake, there are many where you are fishing. 55'-60' (but the more typical depth would be 35'-45') would not be out of the question. When you find them this time of the year you will be on them until ice-up. I'll be back on the lake Wednesday.

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finally got a few walleye on cranks last night, trolling the weeds. 23, 21, & 20

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Despite heavy pressure from the wife (who thinks I am crazy) I'm not putting away the boat yet! Maybe I can eek out another walleye or two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My girlfiend thinks I'm crazy for fishing in this cold weather to. If she think this is crazy I wonder what she's going to say when the high for the day is 0. D'oh! We need to start an excuse to go fishing thread!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my excuse...I told my wife I have to go at least one more time in order to run the fuel out of the motor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was curious myself, but regardless, I'll be going out tonight (breaking through if I have to) to "run the gas out of the motor" and wet my line one last time before I put the boat away to bed for the winter frown.gif. Maybe those sucker minnows I have will catch me a trophy. Any reports on ice conditions at Gray's would be appreciated. Anyone else planning on heading out tonight? I'll be in the red 16' Lowe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Calvanist, I have to admit, your probably a bit more of a die hard than myself! I was out from shore early Thurs morning, couldn't keep my line from freezing up in the tip of my pole were the ice would form. After a while of that, I dumped my minnows out on the shore, and told myself that's enough for this season. Did you ever make it out Fri? what's the report??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's my excuse: "Sweetie, soon the lake will freeze." If that doesn't work, try this one: "If I go north I can get some juicy early ice conditions!"

ice

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made it out for a couple hours, but nada. Boat is put away, and now I have to figure out what I am going to do for the next four months, seeing I am not outfitted for ice-fishing (yet) I'll probably get out on the ice at least a few times though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cal, I'll be headed down to Pool 4 on and off all winter. My boat is in the garage and ready to go. Tonka Boy usually comes along. Better than ice fishing, you can use your open water stuff but it is a tad bit colder - no ice house means no heater. Any Sat when temps are above mid 20s and wind is mild I usually plan on going to Red Wing. Just drop me an e-mail. I may be headed there this Sat in fact. I'll make the call Thursday or Friday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the offer Mark; I'll definitely take you up on that, however I won't be able to make it this saturday. When you go, what time do you normally leave and get back?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Usually leave about 6am and head back anywhere from 2pm to 5pm depending on the bite - both fish and frost.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Markkstanley, if you have any room and Cal can not make it, I love to fish the river. Because my boat is stored out side this year I put it away today in the backyard. [email protected]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still debating about this weekend. I'll let you know and I'll zip you an e-mail about future dates. I might opt to hit muskies on Tonka one more time this Sat. 38" is simply not acceptable as the biggest musky for the year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.



  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.