Lake Minnewaska Fishing Reports - Ice Conditions

[clayton08]

One from the other day gotta bunch of good pics but these were from the best fish a 27 inch walter that was released....Kid had a blast the smallies were biting decent a lil bit of everything today until I hit one of my waypoints then found the walters. Ended up keeping 3 walleyes about 16 inches.

[goose89]

Nice work! Thanks for photo's, release and example of Selective Harvest. Those two pics blown up are way cooler, IMO, than any mount. wtg!

[clayton08]

No need to keep anything over 22 for me....until its over 31 inches already have 2 that are 29 and 30 let em go let em grow!!!!

[basssmasher*]

I got one 30.5 that I put on the wall as she was bleeding bad that weighed 10lb 5 oz.. 2 yrs later I got a 28 that was an even 11 lbs and i got pics.. wasnt gunna put anymore on the wall anyway ( until I get a 15 in crappie!! )

[clayton08]

I gotta slab mount 18 incher caught out of waska bass fishing about 15 yrs ago Im gonna go ahead and assume that Ill never catch another one that big. My next mount will be a flathead replica

[basssmasher*]

thats a huge crappie! Had a friend that got A 17 IN crappie walleye fishing with 4 inch twister tails.. lol

[esoxrocks01]

I'm going to be fishing at Peter's Sunset Resort at a family reunion. Since we aren't using a boat to fish for walleye, is there any way to catch them from a dock? All I remember is that they are more active at sundown than during the day. If not, I'll see if I can get some awesome bass fishing in!

[LandDr]

Off the dock at Peter's is a great place to try for walleyes. We have a floating rapala at our store that we highly recommend...#11 Floating Rapala Vampire. Best time to fish for walleyes is right before dark thru the entire night. I fished off a dock with my son two nights ago and we got three nice walleyes within an hour of fishing. Also got a nice smally and some large mouth.

Fish On!

[esoxrocks01]

Thanks Landdr! I'll be sure to stop at your store for bait and the aforementioned lure when me and my mom head up through Glenwood. I should be wearing a Frabill hat if you see me. How do you fish a floating Rapala, and what would be the perfect size for walleye?

[goose89]

Thanks Landdr! I'll be sure to stop at your store for bait and the aforementioned lure [#11 Floating Rapala Vampire]

How do you fish a floating Rapala...

Casting from shore, the best thing to have would be a 7' medium light, fast action spinning rod, a spinning reel with a large diameter spool, and most importantly, a gale force wind behind your back. Great trolling, shorter distance casting lure, but not the best shore fishing / casting Rap when you want a long cast.

A 4" Chrome Flat Rap (FLR10CH)is a great casting Rap with a similar color pattern to the aformentioned Vampire. I'm sure Landrr's got them as well. good luck///

[bigbucks]

When is your reunion? That will affect whether you catch them off the dock there. I definitely have caught walleyes, northerns, bass, & sunfish in front of Peters in the past.

[clayton08]

You got a decent chance at peters there are other shore fishing spots on waska that produce occasionally. Just look for people fishing from shore and cast a simple jig and twisty tail. Its alot better in a boat tho but theres fish off shore.

[GoingFishin]

I've had success in the shallows with Rapalas long cast lures. Silver/blue worked well. There are moving weights inside that provide extra distance when casting. It tracks a few feet below the surface and suspends, encouraging strikes. There is also a nice inlet in front of Peters that bring in warmer water. Always fish in front of it. Good luck!

[Greenhornet84]

How did you weather the storm around the lake? Lots of trees down turkey barns down grain bins pushed in and sheds just gone. From Clontarf over to degraff and up through swift falls. . Must have Been 70+ mph winds for a minute or two then I'd say about 50 for another 3-4 min. Most irrigators facing east and west were tipped as well I thought that was crazy not much surface area for the wind to grab.

[fish specialist]

Does anyone have the name of some marinas/boat dealers that rent pontoons? My family and I will be renting a lake house on Minnewaska near Starbuck for a week and we are hoping to rent one for a day. I would prefer to get one from a business in Starbuck, but would consider getting one from a company in Glenwood too. Thanks for any help!

[Mlaker3]

Is that Sunday league that was out there this past Sunday evening going to be on Waska every Sunday or do they rotate around? And if so for how long? When there is a league at an access I wish they would post their hours so we knew how to work around them.

[EyeChsr]

different lake every week. what do you mean by working around them. on the lake or at the landing ? not in the league but know guys that are.

[Mlaker3]

I don't mind the league, good for them. It would just be nice to know when their hours are when there are 20 trailers at the ramp so I knew when they were coming off so I didn't interfere. Are they coming off at 8 or 9, if there is some other league on a weekend when are they coming off? Courtesy to the public when we put in.

[wetaline1]

Don't go fishing on Sundays.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Pretty quiet thread...with all the boats stacked up in 2 spots you'd think something must be going...until you watch the boats and see all they get is bass. Go walleye fishing...catch bass. Go bass fishing on the other hand, you might be surprised at the walleye bite.

[clayton08]

You never know what your going to catch on waska thats the fun part I guess. But if you target certain species you can and will do better the best walleye bite right now for me has been 14-18 ft find a lil structure and drift or troll it. Bass are everywere on waska the pike are all over also sunnie bite is good with some nice ones being caught thats my report good luck everyone.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

I was pretty surprised, I fished 9 days in a row, spending 4-6 hours on the water every day, and never once boated a pike.

[GoingFishin]

I agree fishing is pretty steady just outside the weeds. Had been using spinners with leeches and when I switched to crawlers, action noticeably improved. Lake temp now 77-78 and probably going higher with this heat.

[LandDr]

Very good weekend on the lake...finally some time on the water. Got into some nice walleyes, a few pike, bass and sunnies as well. Walleyes were in shallow as well as 10-12. Fished pretty much from Starbuck to Glenwood end and seemed to be similar.

Gills can be found off the dock and out to 16+. Most are fishing in that 7 to 12 ft range along weed lines and beds.

Fish On!

[harvey lee]

Fished Reno, Minnewaska and Andrew the last few days.

Andrew-Fished water from 15-18fow and did very well on the eyes. last few years the size was really lacking and this year, the size got 3-4 inches better but fewer fish it seems. All eyes came on either a gold crawler harness or slow death rig with crawlers. I was suprised at the number of gills I also boated but they have a ways to go size wise. Water temps were approx 77.5 degrees.

Reno-fished for eyes and did ok and the average size was better than Andrew going approx 18.5 inches. Fish were caught from 9-14fow on the same baits as above. Water temp was 77 degrees.

All 3 of the lakes were very good with water clarity. Didn't really notice much for the green slime either that I am use to at home this rtime of year.

MinneWaska- fished same baits again and did very well on the nicer gills from 10-14fow. Eyes were in the same deoth range but I only boated a few in the 4 hours I fished it but thew nice gills made up for the lack of eyes. The gills were so nice, I stayed in one location to boat more of them and did not really search for more eyes. Also boated a few smaller pike and a few LM. Water temps again in that 77-78 degree range.

I used up 8 boxes of crawlers for Tues aft and most of the day Wed so that should say how well the bite was.

Overall, a pretty good bite on all 3 lakes I hit. Weather was as good as it could be.

I hit this area and lakes once maybe a season and once again, a very good few days. maybe I need to make this run a few more times a season. Lot's of lakes in the area and so many to choose from.

[Scott M]

Great reports. Going to give it a run next week.

[Borch]

Sounds like a freat trip again HL. There are some nice gills in Waska for sure.

[bassNspear]

ill be up thursday to sunday, chasing smallies. hope to find some

[Borch]

Hit Waska this afternoon and got into some very nice bluegills a couple walleyes, pike and bass as well as one crappie. If you got into the right pod of sunfish they were all nice with no sorting required. We found that pulling a spinner with a chunk of crawler to be the best appoach to put quality sunfish in the boat. Best sunfish action for us was out in 17-19 fow. Walleyes were found on the inside weededge.

Good Luck!

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Anybody still selling leaches? Area shops were pretty picked over last weekend; lady at one place said she didn't think they would be getting any more in.