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It's our time on 'Tonka!


united jigsticker

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I second CALVINIST, those smaller fish you are catching are perfect for the frying pan. And they taste great out of Tonka!

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  • CALVINIST

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Taste great? If diesel fuel tastes good smile.gif lol. I personally don't care for the walleyes from Tonka. There are better (safer eating) fish in the area. If I wanted to eat anything from that lake I would go for some smaller panfish. Just my opinion. At least your catching them.

Corey Bechtold

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Any of you guys fish horseshoe last night? Fished from 4-9 jig and minnow, couple pike, 1 walleye (about 14 inches) and got broke off a couple times. LAst hour I was fishing horseshoe and there was about 7 boats by there, just wondering if any of them had any luck?

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To be the man you have to beat the man....Wooooooooo

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I tried one fishy spot for walleyes for an hour last night, but no luck there. Then I fished Diamond for about an hour...no luck (one on, but didn't get it in the boat). Then I briefly hit Horsehoe on the way in, but no luck there either. Oh, well, some nights are just like that.

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Calvinist
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Corey, you bring up an interesting point. How much can fish flavor vary from lake to lake? I have to admit that most walleye taste the same to me. Whether from Leech, Mill Lake (Alexandria), Green Lake (Spicer), or Tonka, I think they are all good. Now this probably means that they are all bad and I don't know the difference, but aside from that: How do walleyes from these lakes (and similar ones) compare to the store bought variety (seeing as how I have never purchased for walleye)?

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Too funny schr... Fortunately I don't have to rely on buying fish from the supermarket smile.gif But I have eaten (or tried to eat) Walleye's from Tonka and it's a bad sign when the wife and kids take one bite and say they are full. They definately have their own taste. Mille Lacs has very good tasting Walleyes as do a lot of other lakes. The only fish thet I have found the family will eat from Tonka are smallish Crappies (8-9") or sunfish. One thing I do know is that bleeding out the Wallyes makes them taste a little better. Like I said this is just my opinion. And like my gandpa once said "Opinions are like a-holes, everybody's got one and they all stink but mine." smile.gifsmile.gifsmile.gifsmile.gif

Fish on!

Corey Bechtold

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Something I forgot to mention... all of my fish soak overnight in a milk/saltwater bath. My father taught me this years ago, and I follow his direction religiously. Interestingly, I had started to doubt that this process actually did anything, but maybe there is more to it than I thought! There's never any fishy taste or smell (and trust me, if its fishy, I won't eat it). Does anyone else use any tricks like this?

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I have heard of the salt/milk/water remedy but never used it. A trick my dad uses is Tartar sauce. smile.gifsmile.gif

Back to fishing, I hope to chase some fish on Tonka later this week or next week for sure. Hoping to do some multi-species fishing out there. What are the weeds looking like these days?

Corey Bechotld

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I'll be out there tonight. It should be good with the recent full moon and the changing weather. I'll be on the south side of the lake in a white 16 foot Alumacraft with a 40 horse Mercury. I'll post a report Friday when I get in. Good luck all!

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I was thinking of getting out this weekend, but seeing that a nasty cold front is approaching, tonight bight be good (and post-frontal not-so-goo0) as schro suggests.

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Calvinist
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To answer the earlier question ... I use salt and water, but have never thought of milk.
To tell you the truth, I only use salt and water because that's the way momma did it, and I'm pretty sure that's what her mom did ...

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I have a sure fire solution to avoid the fishy taste - eat hamburger. It always kills me when people say they do not like fish because it tastes fishy. It's pretty simple, if you do not like fish, don't eat it. Another great case for supporting catch and release.

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Did anyone get out last night? I didn't get anything but a single pike. At least I didn't get skunked! Any clues on when turnover will occur in Tonka?

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Calvinist
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I got out last night. Overall I thought it was pretty slow. I managed a 15, 16, and another nice 26 incher over a 2.5 hour period. The spot I have been fishing only seems to get action as the sun goes down. Hopefully as winter approaches the bite will stretch out into the night time hours like it did last year.

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SCHRO,

This is a tough time of year...The dusk bite is good, but it's hard for me to get out early enough with work and family. Seems my only option is to get out well after dark, or get up extra early. Worse, I still have muskie fever, so the prime-time dusk that I should have been fishing for eyes last night was spent hurling the big stuff.

SCHRO, From watching your various posts over time, you seem to have good luck in the wee-wee early hours of the morning...Does this happen in late fall/post-turnover as well?

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Calvinist
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I'm going to hit it if it isn't too nasty windy. The little tin boat aint very dry. Still trying to break the slump. We took one walleye the other night but we had to pry it out of the jaws of a 44" muskie.

ice

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CALVINIST - I only fish early when I am forced to. I would much rather be on the water as the sun goes down. I have several reasons for this, the temperature is usually warmer in the evening than in the morning, in the fall the bite tends to last well after dark, and I don't get so tired out from lack of sleep. The other variable here is avoiding crowds. In the summer you need to get out early to avoid other boats, but in the fall this is never a problem.

To answer your question, I imagine that any low light period, be it dawn or dusk, will create a better bite than mid-day. I have found this to be true because I only fish shallow, 14-18 fow. Personally, you can't beat an October night where you get a soft warm southernly breeze blowing under a full moon. Catching a 25"+ walleye on a night like this is only icing on the cake.

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At this time of the year at night do you guys ever catch them inside the weed line (8-15 feet)and whats a good way to fish it. I've caught walleyes shallow before but only early season before its too weedy. But I tried to come in shallower on tuesday but Tonka might be a little to weedy to fish in there so I just stayed on the weed line
thanks

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To be the man you have to beat the man....Wooooooooo

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Do guys troll minnetonka at night in the fall with any success? Seems to me that tonka would be nearly impossible to troll with cranks with all the milfoil. I would think you'd want to troll in 6-14 ft of water based on my experience at other lakes in the fall.

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To answer both of the questions proposed above, yes I think both are possible. The only time I have caught walleyes inside the weed edge on Tonka is from shore (like directly under the docks at Carsons Bay or St. Louis Bay). I also spend a good amount of time inside the weeds fishing for muskies and I imagine that walleyes would feed heavily in that area in the fall. This method, along with trolling cranks, depends largely on weed growth. Right now there is still a defined weed edge, but give the lake about two weeks and we should start to see that edge break down. Then trolling should become an option, along with casting inside the weedlines.

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Went out on Tonka with Lots of Luck on Sat AM. Concentrating on Wayzata and Gray's, we managed one smalle eye. We concentrated deeper areas as the sun came up, but according to some of the other posts, it appears that the inside weedline may be the areas to try. Has anyone had any luck with cranks at night? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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Has anyone been out. Any reports? I haven't been out since last report, however I plan to be out this weekend.

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Oh man, here we go...

The FishinLogician and myself will be hitting the water sometime around dusk this evening. Other than this thread(thankyou very much everyone), we have no idea where we are going, or what we are doing, but we have the gear, we have the desire, and gosh darnit, it's Friday night. We will try valiently, and we will post any results accordingly. The main target will be walleyes(got a huge walleye craving going on). I will be doing a bit of research to see where the boat landings are, but if anyone is up early and wants to share their favorites, please let me know.

Will anyone else be out tonight?

Oh yeah...Win Twins!

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SERIOUSLY! It was THIS big!

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It's been over a week since I last was out on the water...boy, do I need to get fishin' frown.gif! At least I have monday off and I can fish the whole day grin.gif. Hoping for some good action...gonna pound Tonka pretty good for some ski's.

A couple of goals to achieve...

1. A two fish day.

2. A 45+" fish. (personal best is a 43" this year)

Heck, maybe I'll even get that 50" I have been dreaming about shocked.gif.

I'll also wet a line for some walters.

Sucks being here at work.

But I am close to Thorne Bros. $$

Anyway, I am ready to go!


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Calvinist
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I'm heading out tomorrow am out of Gray's. We'll see what happens. Good luck to everyone else.

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I'm going to drop in at Grays bay at 7:00... tan and black crestliner sportfish... stop and say hi if any of you are in the vacinity.

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