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It's our time on 'Tonka!


united jigsticker

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Walleye GFA, That is a good thread on lake turn over, very informative, I know I am dense, but how does lake turnover affect fall walleye fishing? The Calvinist

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 10-06-2003).]

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 10-06-2003).]

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It seems most fishermen are focusing on the big fish species, but what happened to the Crappies? I fished them on Sunday before turning my attention to eyes, but they all ran small. The biggest one out of about 30 fish was 10 inches.

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Was out all day yesterday and it sucked (although the weather was very nice). We quit at around 5pm--appearently we should have given it two more hrs.

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Went out again tonight and it was pretty slow. Only caught one small walleye and lost a couple of nicer ones. Had a few crappies too, it seems like we always get a handful of them when we jig for walleyes. We could probably do pretty well if we fished for them.

Calvinist - You had a question about depth in the fall. You see, in the summer, when there is a thermocline, the fish are limited to how deep they can go because of a lack of oxygen. Once a lake turns over, the oxygen gets mixed to all depths, and thus allows fish to move deeper. This is why it is not uncommon for fish to inhabit and be caught from REALLY deep water. They can be in 50 feet or more. An important thing to remember though, is that these same fish that live out deep will also move into the shallows to feed. This often takes place at night, explaining why people target fish, especially walleyes, after dark.

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Walleye_GFA - We got the walleyes at 15 feet, literally right on the edge of the weeds. They didn't move in there until the sun started to set though. Had we fished deeper, we may have gotten some earlier. Fatheads and jigs were excellent, and we lost a big one on a sucker.
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Hey Guys haven't posted in awhile due to no fishing of late, but thought I would share a report on Tonka since I've been watching this thread.

I was out on the West end of Tonka last night from 3:30-7:30 and caught roughly 25 walldawgs with the majority of them being in the 12-13" range with 3 notables @ 18+".

Presentation was Green 1/4 oz Fireball Jig & Fathead jigging the bottom off of steep breaks from the weed edge down to 25' near Rocks. Most fish were near the 15' depth right on the breaks.Bigger ones came a little deeper.

All in all it was a great night to be out. And as the Subject says "It's our time on Tonka!" so get out there & fish this full moon it's going to be some great fall fishing.

Later,
Chris

------------------
"Fishing is an addiction, Anybody got some more?"

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Slower than I thought on the east side yesterday. Fished the reefs and windy shores, hoping the fish would stack up for a little late afternoon feeding binge, but no dice.

Two 3lb northerns boated and a lazy follow by a 10 lb pike were it.

Spoke with a muskie fisherman: six hours and saw just one fish.

DB

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Hit the lake last night for about 5 hours. Started out chasing muskie, had a nice fish follow/hit on my fourth cast. Not sure exactly how big, but I'm guessing around 40. Attempted to troll the channels, but we were shutout. The lake is very different with all the extra traffic. Had a run-in with one of the big boys out there, can't wait for the cooler temps again.

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Tonka reminds me of Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack. I personally would like to thank all the Ocean going vessels for making it such a great fishery. If they weren't out there causing havoc there would be a heck of a lot less fish. Where else can you find 50 inch muskies, 6 lb bass, lots of northerns, crappies, sunnies, and walleyes.

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Sportfishin, Your post is certainly encouraging for a guy who has been struggling to pull in some walldawgs out of Tonka. Any of you boys gonna fish the full moon? I plan to. Calvinist

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Was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on structure and presentation for fall full moon walleye and muskie. Has anyone had sucess in the past on the Tonka in fall on a full moon? Thanks, CALVINIST

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 10-09-2003).]

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Oops, mistake, Calvinist

[This message has been edited by CALVINIST (edited 10-09-2003).]

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Was out last night around the Wayzata bay/Grays bay channel. Worked the outer deep weed edge with small jig and grub, med and deep diving cranks, slow rolled spinner baits, jig and ring worm.

Only got two small pike and a pocket bass. Nice night though, but where are the bass at? Anyone?

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Calvanist,

Yeah its been tough for me also to figure out Tonka, but after 17 yrs of fishing the lake I have finally figured out the go to locations for the targeted species I'm after. This is large body of water, so give it some time take notes on presentaion,location,season,weather cond., & ect. that work & apply them when you get the chance to get out. Also this Site is the greatest source of info possible."Thanks Rick!"

But as for the Wallies this is the first year that I have strictly dedicated myself to just targeting them and only them because I never really have been much of a Walleye fishermen. What I have found is that they have gone back to relating to some of thier spring time locations & patterns so far this fall and this has worked for me. When you get out there Fri. one thing to note & from my observation on Tues. eve. was that when the Moon came over the East Horizon they really put on their feed bags.

Good luck out there.

Chris

------------------
"Fishing is an addiction, Anybody got some more?"

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Dagnabbit, I'm gonna catch some walleyes if it kills me! (of course the manner of death will most likely be spousal "you're going out again? I don't think so..") Tonight is the night of the full moon. Gonna try Tonka, maybe tomorrow night as well. Any of you FM'ers gonna be out? I'd like to meet ya. Launching from Gray's.

Gonna bring Tom Petty's "full moon fever" album and sing to the fish, maybe that will help...

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Was out on Wayzata Bay last night around sunset. Workin' the mid-lake reefs with a Jig and a minnow. There were a few bites, had a nice one on in 30+ ft. of water. Got her half way half way up and she got off. I think I need sharper hooks. Last year I fished Tonka a around the same time and we were catching walleyes in 42 ft of water. For some reason the fish feel bigger at that depth.

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I thought the waldos were supposed to eat with the full moon. I was out from 6 to 11 tonight and had a lot of bites, but no fish. Jigging in 12 to 18 feet with shiners and they would just suck on it. Set the hook and no fish, no shiner. Anyone else have any luck tonight?

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Went out from 10:30AM to 9:00PM. I caught 2 small bass and 1 dogfish. All on suckers. Fished 5ft to 35ft. When I was landing my boat the safety latch on the winch broke, depositing the boat on the ramp. No real damage done except to my ego and self esteem. I think I'll start drinking again. Tonkabach, where did you find the shiners?

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Wayzata Bait & Tackle, Tim or Bob, half mile west off I-494 on Hwy 12 (952-473-2227)

They have a walleye mix of shiners, rainbows and fatheads for $5.00 and I got about 4 dozen out of it.

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Yeah, I went out on the full moon. went about 10 pm and stuck with it until about 4:30 am. Nothing but 2 rockies and a bigmouth. Had a few bites, but whether they were walters or not, couldn't tell ya. Just started fishing Tonka this summer, but all in all, I am pretty disguisted with my luck so far confused.gif. I have been launching out of Gray's, but this weekend I think I will launch elsewhere and explore other regions of the lake. Wife thinks i'm crazy, I think she,s right. Calvinist.

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Went to Tonka on Sunday afternoon till dusk. I caught 4 bass. 17", 16" and two smaller ones. Bill-E-Bazz caught a 17" and a smaller one. Tonka Boy hooked us up on the spot and that was the ONLY spot that we had any fish. But we did fish all over.

Good luck to all.

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The bass sure are holding tight to structure. If and when you find them you don't need to move too far.

The full moon walleye bite didn't take off quite as well as I hoped. We did boat some 21-23" eyes, and saw some other decent fish caught by others Friday night. They seemed to be light-lipped.

TB

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Was out on Tonka again yesterday evening. Picked up a couple 15 inch walleyes as the sun was setting. When the wind picked up again around 7:45 ish the fish moved back in and we had consistent action. Unfortunately, I had to leave by 8:30, right when they seemed to be biting the best. Had 5 keepers, the biggest was 20 inches, and lost quite a few that felt bigger... which always seems to be the case.
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Sounds like you had a good night! It should only get better in the next couple of weeks. Keep 'em coming!

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At this time of year, and given favorable weather conditions, does it matter much whether you fish a.m. or p.m. for walleye on Tonka? Calvinist

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Was out last night chasing the wallys in Wayzata Bay. They showed up on que at about 6:30, unfortunately we had to leave at 7. Boated a couple 14 and an 18incher and a couple of pike. What a beautiful night on the water!

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Tonkabach. I went to Wayzata bait and got the walleye mix you mentioned. Got agood tip on fishing nightcrawlers there that I used with the rainbows. When the walleyes swipped the minnows from the jig I switched over to a lindy rig on the UL pole. Went down to a 1 ft snell and fed them a lot of line. Din't lose many after that. fNow to find the big honkers. And I don't mean them d#%^ geese.

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Heard some big eyes were being caught from shore. I would say where, but the people that are catching em' wouldn't like that very much. All I'll say is that they are well known spots, which see a regular crowd, and the fish being caught are generally too large to keep.

Gotta keep those trophies around for others to catch!

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I think I'll be out on Tonka again on Sunday, but for bass. I see that everyone if fishing for eye. Any new/current reports on bass or anyone catch them by mistake?

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Bass will be in shallow cover. Easy to find 'em....I have been finding them close to shore, weed-breaks(edges) in 4-8 feet as well. They are feeding aggressively and spinnerbaits have been my ticket! White spinnerbaits have produced for me.

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