It's our time on 'Tonka!

[paperlipz]

Thanks Tonka Boy. Hopefully the weather will hold long enough to get another one tomorrow.

[CALVINIST]

Tonka Boy, congratulations on your catch last night; it was one of the biggest bluegills I ever saw ! I can't wait till the clutch in my truck is fixed this weekend so I can get my boat back on the water.

[Tonka Boy]

Quote:

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it was one of the biggest bluegills I ever saw

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Could you imagine a 29" bluegill? LOL

[Pete Riola]

Calvanist- You can put in on Grays. There are lots of walleyes in Wayzata Bay. Fish a jig and minnow on the humps. Bouys mark a few areas so they are easy to find fish just off the weedline in 18-25 feet. There are a bunch of humps towards Big Island too they hold fish as well.

[CALVINIST]

Pete,

Thanks for the tip.

Tonka Boy,

I'm sure if there is a 29" bluegill, it'll end up in your boat!

[Shorelunch]

My neighbor and I went out Sunday from 3:30 til 6:30pm. We found walleyes anywhere from 18' to 24', with the biggest, a 26" in 18'. We fished tight to weedlines and humps in Wayzata Bay, north of Big Island and around Diamond Reef. The 26" was caught on a crankbait while the rest were caught on jig/minnow and bottombouncer/spinner. When they hit, they hit hard. We had a lot of misses with the 'eyes biting off the minnows just below the head. Also caught some bonus bass and crappies, with a nice slab hitting a spinner.

[Giant_Jackpot]

Have they removed the buoys yet?

[CALVINIST]

JJ,

How was your time up on Rainy?

[markkstanley]

Buoys are gone.

[Kab Dreamin]

We were out on Tonka last night. Cold, windy and miserable. Tried for some crappies right at dusk by the Grays Bay channel with no success. Also trolled the shoreline along 101 with shad raps and blanked. Anybody do any good last night?

[Ice-9]

Hit some fish, including one quality fish, yesterday morning; couple dinks this morning, nada tonight. This was slip bobberin' and jig chuckin'.

ice

[CALVINIST]

Went out last night and caught a 25.5" walleye...Tonka Boy, it was right where you caught your 29" bluegill . Same presentation too. Besides that, I didn't catch anything else. And except for two boats, the lake was totally empty...good night to be out there.

[markkstanley]

Hey Calvinist - another approach for that spot is to jig fatheads slowly along the bottom. Switch between them and cranks to see which bait they want. The big girls will hit cranks but you can pickup some nice eyes with the jig. Worked last Sunday. My Monday night trip to Mille Lacs was a blast - kinda makes it hard to go back to scratching out a few fish on Tonka but I am hoping to get out this weekend.

[CALVINIST]

Mark,

I wanted to pick up some minnows and try that very approach for some eater-sized eyes , but the bait shop was closed when I got there. I hope to get out on saturday day and eve. during the nasty weather and try for skis and wallys...maybe I'll catch you out there? On Mille Lacs, did you catch any of size, or numbers?

[Tonka Boy]

Nice fish Cal! Mark is right. Use jigs and live bait in that spot and you can often scratch out a limit. It all depends on the day. If you want the big dogs, you need to stick with cranks.

I'm limited on time this weekend, but I may be out Sunday afternoon??

[markkstanley]

Try Cabin Fever for bait in Victoria on Hwy 5. We caught over 30 eyes. Big fish was 29.5" (not mine wonder if Tonka Boy snuck in the boat!) Most of the fish were in the 22 to 26" range. Trolling Husky Jerks mostly. Seemed we got a fish every pass. Going to have to do that trip again next fall.

[united jigsticker]

Mark,

Those are some darn nice Walleyes!

It's good to hear the excellent reports coming from Tonka. Just wish I could find the time...

[Corey Bechtold]

UJ, Mark's report was from his trip to Mille Lacs.

[united jigsticker]

Oh well.

Guess thats what I get for not reading all the posts.

Still, nice Walleyes all the same!

[Ice-9]

This morning the lake was very stained around the edges...made me wonder if that was rainstorm related or turnover related. So make it official: TOnka has turned over, has it not?

I'll be fishin' in the morning, unless it's too blowy for the little tin boat. As for closed baitshop, it it's WB you're talking about they complained bitterly last time I was in there that the fishermen weren't tough any more but still promised to remain open until their annual hunting vacation 11-5 through 12, if I remember rightly. HOpe they're open in the morning. It takes two or three scoops of fats to make up one respectable bunch of big ones.

By the way, I've never trolled the cranks much...are they deep divers what? I've got good spots on Tonka but just for lindys and jigging and ice. What depth profiles do you look for? Is it over the down weeds or on the edges as usual?

ice

[CALVINIST]

Going out tonight on the west end after dark, red Lowe, 35 horse Johnson...

[Ice-9]

How'd you do, Cal? I think I saw you. I've hit consistent action two mornings in a row, both with a very brief window of hot bite then little else. No big fish lately though one lost one this afternoon was a horse. Also saw a 8-9 pound walleye come in.

ICe

[markkstanley]

Cal, was that you I almost ran into last night in Seton channel?? My son was blocking my vision by standing up and I never even saw the oncoming boat. Got a little too crowded so I left. UJ, just make you fell better about Tonka I got a 29.5" and two 18" eyes and missed two other massive hits last night trolling a glass perch husky jerk at 2.2 mph. Shallow water and no Cal it wasn't in the "usual" spot and Tonka Boy was nowhere to be seen either. Finally someone else had to be netman. I tried to troll slower and used fire tiger jerks and raps but got no action. Neither Seton or Halsted's channel put out any fish for me. Look for inside edges with sand/rock and about 6 to 7ft depth and at least 25 yards between the weed edge and shore. With the docks out we have a lot more freedom to troll shallow. I was running lures about 100ft back for jerks and banging the bottom occasionally with the Raps. Did the deep edge work for anyone??

[CALVINIST]

Congratulations on the nice fish mark! I was on Seton's last night about 9:30-11:30 last night, and tried a couple other spots as well. I didn't see anyone comin' at me; I only saw one other guy in that channel last night. I didn't get any fish last night either, just something that blew up on my shad rap as I was taking it out of the water...are walleyes known to do this? Other than that, I just got a 23.5" saturday night on jig/minnow, and those whom I talked to last night said they were getting some nice fish.

[CALVINIST]

Ice,

Glad to hear you are picking up some fish . I have been fishing the west end of late; where did you think you saw me?

[markkstanley]

Wallies don't usually blow up on lures boatside. Thinking that was a musky or a northern. I know there is a pretty good sized musky that patrols Seton channel.FYI I have never had any luck in Seton much past 8pm. Right after sundown when the overhead lights start throwing a bridge shadow on the water and then about an hour after that is prime time. If they are there which is another issue.

[Kab Dreamin]

The boat goes in storage on Wednesday. Has anybody heard if anyone is catching anything from shore? I was thinking that the Narrows should be a decent spot around dark. Any other suggestions for us addicts who can't get out on the water anymore this season?

[CALVINIST]

I didn't think it was a walleye, but you never know. The guy I talked to last night in the channel said he caught a 45" muskie fishing shad-raps for walleyes, and he also caught a walleye in Seton's when I was in there. Also, I brought my ultralight gear last night and tried the lighted area by Seton's bridges for some crappies, but nada. Have you ever had any luck by the Black lake bridge and channel? I fished it over last night but no luck.

[Tonka Boy]

I knew I should have grabbed the boat! I took some casts from shore. I had what looked to be a 32" or so in, but lost her as I was trying to dig my flashlight out. Also saw a couple other guys catch 5 between 15 and 29". HJ's worked for me...they were jigging with red tails. Nice night though.

[CALVINIST]

Certainly you will not sleep well for a couple nights...