metro area Metro Area Minnesota Fishing Reports & Ice Conditions

[Joe]

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[ate1cropy]

I have fished prior 7 or 8 times in the last week and a half. Fishings been hit or miss like always. Mounds of perch in under 10 feet and crappies all over at all depths. One night fish are there the next not so much. I got my limit in under half hour a week ago. I stayed fishing for another 2 hours just catch and release. Not the biggest fish in the pond but nice 10 inchers some bigger some smaller

[cgenz03]

Lake Waconia-Last week was pretty good for us. Monday night we had 21 crappies between 9-13" that we kept between 2 houses and 4 guys...caught a bunch more but they were less than 9". Tuesday wasn't as good...we (my wife and I) ended up with 10 between 9-12" but it took from 5pm til midnight (we stayed overnight but nothing past 112am). Again, had a bunch but a lot of small ones as well. Didn't fish Wednesday or Thursday. Friday wasn't good. Only kept 3 between 10-12" and didn't have many more. Corked lines with lighter colors seemed to work the best for me...finess, finess, finess. Not fun fishing like that but if you want to put some in the pan, you'll have to. Found them from 6" off bottom to 6' off bottom in 12-17 FOW. Also, try different hooks and sizes of minnows...try different ways to hook the minnow too.

Then I moved off of Pilsbury to try to find some eyes for the overnight bite with the moon being a day away from full...I just ventured out with my H2O and found a spot that I thougt I could catch some. Drilled some holes, found an edge, and started fishing. Had a 15" and a 18.75" eye...plus i broke a line on something that felt nice for the 10 seconds I had it on.

Hope this helps some people that want to get their kids out to catch some fish...also, if you want a faster paced sunfish bite, find a weed line in 8-10 FOW and start fishing. The kids love catching those sunnies...Some are even worth the pan!

Going to the Alex area this weekend...I hope people have some success on the pond!

Chad

[EBass]

Tonka has been slow for me this year with only a couple small walleye showing and of course pike.

Pike have been caught on the weedline or up in the weeds 16-18 feet.

Walleyes well the smaller eyes are just off the weedline 18-20. But we did have some flags trip in deeper water like 22-24. I think they are deeper and will be trying that theory this weekend.

[chuckwagon]

Same here tonka has been slow for me on the EYES and PIKE? Fish the weed line in echo bay in 18 feet of water.

[ROOOOSTERFISH]

Fished Waconia twice for eyes in the last two weeks. Nothing to report but a lot of dead shiners and minnows. Had some takers but was unable to hook them. Will try again, patience , patience, and more patience.

Good Luck Fishing!

[KOTTKE]

Dito for me on Waconia, this weather need to level out, these cold snaps make for very tough fishing. Very slow a few crappies but small and very light bits. Hopefully next week will bring some better temps and stable weather to get these fish moving.

[acman2u]

I got several 10" crappie, 1 12" and 1 13 1/2" crappie last night and several 10" crappie and several large panfish the night before. All on waconia, 4pm til sundown. The bite is very light, you really need a vex or vu to entice the bite and the chase. Minnows did no good, I was fishing the smallest glo jig tipped with waxie, 14 fow. Not fast and furious but they are there if you put in the effort. The cold didnt seem to show a difference for me.

[BassMan25]

I got several 10" crappie, 1 12" and 1 13 1/2" crappie last night and several 10" crappie and several large panfish the night before. All on waconia, 4pm til sundown. The bite is very light, you really need a vex or vu to entice the bite and the chase. Minnows did no good, I was fishing the smallest glo jig tipped with waxie, 14 fow. Not fast and furious but they are there if you put in the effort. The cold didnt seem to show a difference for me.

That's a great day of fishing for crappies during any time of the year. 13.5" is a really nice crappie.

[Thunder]

I was on a small west metro lake Friday night and didn't manage much. Marked a number of fish, but only managed 6 crappies between 2 guys. We couldn't find the right combination to trigger many bites.

[carverfshrmn]

Was on Waconia yesterday, got my limit of nice 6-7 oz Sunnies,

Went back today go some more and ome close to 8 oz, Were slow today, hope in th am is better

[Muskie maniac]

carverfshrmn:

we were on waconia today as well and only managed a small perch. we were fishing a hump on the northwest end of the lake. were you near the crowds? if you are willing to share shoot me an email to: grant.domke at utoronto dot ca

[honda4life]

MINNETONKA...... if you hear anyone say they are catching walleyes on this lake KIDNAP THEM and TORTURE them till they take you to the spot!! I am CERTAIN there is not a single walleye left in that lake. tried all the spots people have told me even GPS coords, weedlines, ridges, humps, water from 17 feet to 35 and I CANT EVEN MARK A FISH or get a bite. Neither can MNfishtrapper. we QUIT that lake. I dub it the DEAD SEA part 2! behind millacs lol

[Loos15]

It was a nice day for sunnies yesterday on Tonka. Got into a lot of nice 7 inchers and a few pushing the 9 range. Heard a few guys that was fishing tip ups yelling, walleye! walleye! Seemed like the tip-up guys had some good action too.

[sergv]

Was on tonka sat night & sunday morning - Cooks bay in about 27-28 inches. Got a 13 inch walleye and had at least 2-3 more bites. Otherwise I saw at lest 10 show up on the Vexilar, but they were not biting...

[AllDayFisherMan]

Shoot man, maybe try some deeper water. Was there anything in 27-28 inches of water?

[honda4life]

hehe i was thinkin the same thing

[sergv]

Heh...meant to say feet...

[MNfishtrapper]

7 inch sunfish are slamminn on phelps bay in 15FOW. Nothing huge but big enough to keep you n' the kids entertained all day long! They're biting about as fast as you can drop your bait down. I dont think I had one less than about 6 inches and the biggest was about 7 1/2 inches. So, at least no dinks. The local reports mention that they're getting crappies in phelps bay in 16FOW. I caught 1 keeper crappie but had to leave at 4pm. Perhaps if I stayed a little later the crappies would turn on. I know they were down there.

[pikeguy2003]

Thanks for the update on Phelps. Used to fish that spot a lot when my grandfather was still alive. I cannot tell you how many times we got out there right away in the morning and would sit there to dark trying to catch a limit of 60 sunnies for a big family fish fry. Maybe now that the kids are getting bigger I should take them there to catch sunnies. Sounds like the quality of the sunfish is a little better there, than what the family and friends are experiencing over on black lake?

[MNfishtrapper]

Yeah! I'd say take em'! I know the youngsters would have a blast with it! For those who are looking for the perfect opportunity to introduce young ones to ice fishing this is it. It's close to home, the access is close and the panfish action was great! And heck, if they quit bitting there, the lake is so huge they're probably bitting somewhere else. Sometimes we forget it's not just about fishing for bragging rights, but simply having a good ol' time catching a mess of spunky panfish out in the outdoors with friends and family! After all, thats the kind of fishing we all grew up with as kids and it's nice to get back out there and remember how much fun it really is. Not to mention it's nice to see a great population of healthy, non-wormy fish in a local lake that gets fished very hard all year long. In my opinion there really shouldn't be any secrets when Minnetonka is concerned. That lake is so huge and the possibilities are nearly limitless. Glad to help and have fun out there!

[pikeguy2003]

I agree, when it comes to sunfish on Tonka there really shouldn't be any secrets. From what the DNR biologists are claiming in Lake Finder about the stunting that is occurring, the best thing we can do is keep a bunch, and have some big family fish frys. When I was a kid my grandfather would have all his kids and grandchildren over 2-3 times a week. There was about 16 of us at the time. I thought for sure he was going to fish out Halstead's Bay on Lake Minnetonka, but it never happened. My other grandfather lived on King's Point and he kept track, and there were three summers in a row our family caught, kept, and cleaned over 5000 sunfish all caught right off the dock, and they never hit the freezer. They got eaten as fast as they were caught. My grandfather died about 9 years ago, and a couple years after that my other grandfather retired and moved to Texas. I wish he would have not sold. For most of my life, I never understood why people bought fishing boats? Now, we ocassionally take the boat and go anchor by that dock, and catch a limit for old times sake, but that spot probably doesn't get fished more than a few times a summer now. Thanks again, Pikeguy.

[MNfishtrapper]

Sounds good. Shoot me an email at MNfishtrapper@yahoo. we should meet up on the lake sometime. I spend a fair amount of time out on tonka.

[Norsky]

Crappies and sunnies were biting pretty well out on Sarah today. Caught about 30-40, none over 9 inches though. Beautiful day. Just nice to be out there.

[pikeguy2003]

Next time we are going out on Tonka I will let you know. I will also send you an email on your yahoo account. Be talking to you soon. Pikeguy

[KMR85]

Last night was another tough bite. Only managed two crappies a 7" and a 14.5" slabbo. North metro lake fishing in 18' on the edge of a slope. Both fish were suspended. I know I'm close, just gotta keep moving and find the numbers.

[AllDayFisherMan]

KMR85 where you fishing? You mind sharing the lake name? s d r h a w k @ y a h o o . c o m

[Moose-Hunter]

MINNETONKA...... if you hear anyone say they are catching walleyes on this lake KIDNAP THEM and TORTURE them till they take you to the spot!! I am CERTAIN there is not a single walleye left in that lake. tried all the spots people have told me even GPS coords, weedlines, ridges, humps, water from 17 feet to 35 and I CANT EVEN MARK A FISH or get a bite. Neither can MNfishtrapper. we QUIT that lake. I dub it the DEAD SEA part 2! behind millacs lol

Oh Honda... Ye of little faith... I've been hitting eyes quite regular with "run a gun" tactics... I'm moving the perm over to Wacky tomorrow to sit a spell where I had my best luck... Can't think "conventional" on Waconia... Oh wait... It's there already!!

[pikeguy2003]

Hey Fishtrapper. Sent you an email on your yahoo account. Haven't heard from you? Wondering if you got it? Pikeguy

[carverfshrmn]

We are still gettin some nice sunnies, 8-9 fow, down in the weeds! Seen some very nice Crappies too!