Lotus lake in chanhasen

[PLfisherman]

Any one fish this lake in the open water season. Thr minnesota sportsman magazine keeps saying it has great walleye fishing and all you do is troll lindy rigs in 16-20 feet of water. I was there three times last year without a single walleye. I have fished the bar and several of the small points without any luck. What is the deal. I have tried every thing and Me and my dad are pretty good anglers, so it is not like I don't know how to fish. any information would be great. I would like to maybee try it for opener.

[jknoll]

I wish I could give you some different info, but all I can do is concur. I fished it a couple times last year and only managed a couple tiny walleys that came right at dusk. I too fished all over... jigs and rigs... and never had much luck. I have read the same articles you spoke of, so I dont know what the deal is.

I did have better luck with the bass there. So if you try it again without luck, switch over to bass to take care of the itch.

[danny berg]

As much as I like the magazine, it basically has the same info on the same lakes year after year, I was looking at some of the mag's from the 80's and the lakes reported had almost the same info as now.
I know a couple of guys that have fished Lotus with little and I mean little or no success.

[pjfweb]

I've found Lotus to be pretty much a bass lake. I've caught some sunnies and perch from time to time... but never a walleye.

... and yes, I've read the same stuff with the same confusion.

[JiggingSpoon]

I can agree with Danny, not to bash the magazine, because it has taught me a lot, but i have too looked at magazines from past years, and for an example if you take a march issue from 2 different years, they sometimes almost have the identical articles in them, with the same lake suggestions, but please nobody take this the wrong way, i like the magazine, \

i too have had no luck fishing lotus, it is a mystery to me with the walleyes, the magazine makes it sound so simple,
JS

[catchin'whopper]

Sounds like a crappy magazine if they are repeating information and glazing over idea of what exactly a "hot walleye bite" is and what isnt. You almost get the idea local businesses hype it up to have people come over. Anyway, i havent read much of this mag, but i doubt i would be subscribing to it based on the little things you guys are already talking about and lack of info it has provided.

I think i prefer the Outdoor News for its more consistent reporting, more up to date reporting (although fishing reports are typically about 2 weeks outdated), and current looks at local lakes rather than historical.

Oh, but Lotus Lake? I havent fished there, sorry.

[Rainman]

The fish ARE IN THERE! I used to fish off of a dock and caught many (nice) walleyes in the shallows just before dark! There are also some very nice pike in the lake as well!

[Doonbuggy]

I think the fishing is tough because the lake is absolutely loaded with perch. The average walleye size in Lotus (19.5" and 3lbs) is very high for a metro lake and the size structure of the northerns is very good as well.

Now take a look at Minnewashta. It has very few perch. It's loaded with pike but the size structure is much smaller because the forage base is much smaller.

DB

[PLfisherman]

thanks to everone. I might give it another shot, but also fish for some bass. I have caught a few nice ones while i was attempting to catch some walters.

[GreyGoose]

I tried Lotus for the first time last summer, I had been fishing Tonka and was pounded off the lake by all the jerk-off's. So I headed to Lotus because th net surveys from the DNR that I had showed it to have a healthy walleye supply, and there size was good. I did manage a few micro-eyes that day, but what got me to go back was the pike fishing. I caught two pike that evening both being 10lbs+ and I lost one more at the boat that might have been in the 15lb. range. I too read that article about a month ago, and it said that the late ice season was the time to get the bigger eyes. So I headed out there on the last day of the open season this year, found a terrific looking spot near the deepest hole on the lake and set-up. I did manage to find the walleye pretty quickly, but I needed a magnifying glass to see most of them. Nothing over 10in. I did keep one too. But don't get bent out of shape because I kept a 10 inch 'eye, I didn't eat it. It was small enough to put in my fish tank at home, so I did. Maybe when he gets bigger I'll release it back and there will be atleast one decent sized fish in there.
Regardless, I keep fishing Lotus on those busy summer weekend, just to stay away from Tonka. Them walleye better start growing, because the pike and bass will make a quick meal out of them little @#!%tards

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God Bless America
Please Practice Catch and Release

[schr0563]

Like rainman said, a few years ago, in the right spot, you could catch walleye after walleye. Nice ones too, 15-16 inchers. Since then I have only seen a few larger fish caught by some of my friends (3-6 lbs). Like some of you mentioned, I think the ample supply of food in the lake has created a situation where the larger fish don't need to eat that colorful jig or spinner rig, they just aren't hungry. A few years ago when the bite was strong, there was probably a shortage of prey for the fish to target, thus making them easy to catch.