metro area Metro Area Minnesota Fishing Reports & Ice Conditions

[waterbound]

On the other hand, I bet that eye is gonna taste pretty good if it gets fried up!

[Tanker]

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

Great post i second this. Ive done well getting good size sunfish but as for walleyes no way.... Had a 40+ northern lurking around our rattle wheel as we were looking down the holes in the ice castle.... i thought for sure we were going to land him until he sniffed the shiner and left...boy was i sad.

[fishuhalik]

That's why I don't fish it at all for walleyes. Unless you have the time to learn a lake with 14million miles of shoreline, it's tough to say the least. I know some guys do real well out there and every year there's some monsters caught, but I don't wanna go out and hope I catch a fish every 5th time out.

[Lindyrig81]

Man... It's a shame a fish like that had to die. Personally, that beaut should be enjoying the rest of it's retirement right about now. Usually, a replica is there so the fish can be observed and released. That fish is probably 20 years old.

Don't mean to harp on your parade, it is a nice fish! Just saying.... I know they are hard to say good bye too

A 28" Walleye should be about 10 yrs old~ taken from walleye facts.com

I think a 20yr old 'eye would be a new record.

And the way she swallowed/inhaled that circle hook, she was bleeding like a stuck pig..

I find more big fish floating dead on tonka(muskies mostly) and bass,northerns too. With hardware either in their mouth or throat.. Wouldnt of made too much sense to shove her down the hole

[Chris55386]

That is very true about people releasing fatally injured fish, I saw two massive Muskies floating dead on Minnetonka this summer. I think sometimes people hope that they may come back alive.

That is one dandy eye you have there, I would be proud to have it also.

[Snag]

I caught three tonight. If they were laid down end to end they wouldn't make 27 inches. Nice fish lindyrig.

[The_King48]

Carl J. How is fishing on Lower Prior to the North?? I never have fished Prior and I am looking for a few tips...

[crappieguy]

Anyone know if the sportsmans access on Prior can be used by a two wheel drive vehical? I know it can get very icy at times

[Carl J.]

lower prior is a good spot to fish try the sportsman access anywere from 15 to 20+ fow water blue gills light jigging on orange and white glow jig crappies same jig but just let em soak as far as the sportsman access i was able to get my wifes eclispe on and off

[Carl J.]

heading out to prior tonight fishing in candy cove will report later

[The_King48]

Prior Lower....... Fished off Shady Beach?? Fishing was slow.. marked a few but couldn't get them to bite... Gonna move the house tomorrow... If anybody has any ideas let me know.. There is always a cold one in the schack!!!!!!!!!!!

[CrappieKilla]

Fished the point straight across from the boat launch/beach on Lower Prior this evening in about 23-fow ... wasn't worth the time. Caught two ten inch crappies and a couple of nice sunnies, that was it.

[Carl J.]

fished lower prior last night was only out for a couple of hours in candy cove caught two nice crappies graphed a few but slow maybe it will pick up this weekend will be out all day sat in the cove stop on bye have a beer mine is the cream colored shack that says crappie hunter on the side

[fishin4fun85]

i caught 2 keeper eyes off tonka this year....only been out there about half a dozen times....I think people get so mad they aren't getting anything off that lake because most people who are catchin em out there are doing it later at night....from what I hear talking to people they don't turn on til close to midnight....kinda sux for me cuz I usually dont have that kind of time to go out and just wait for em....it can pay off though....buddy of mine and his crew have pulled in two this year over the 8 lb. mark....I'm jealous .....i go out there cuz i just like to catch fish....and I dont care who you are but if you don't enjoy catching so many sunnies you don't even have time to fish two lines theres something wrong with you....take a trip out there and try to find a good sunny bite...if you find it...you will not be disappointed

[fishin4fun85]

never heard of green lake...still kinda new to the whole minnetonka area....wheres it at? thanks for the help!

[The_King48]

Carl J. what kind of jigs do you use?? I am new to crappie fishing. Maybe we could meet up this weekend and have a barley pop.

[Carl J.]

i have been using orange and white demon jigs on the smaller size and just anything orange and white and not to big but i will be out on prior all day sat i got my perm in candy cove you will have to stop out and have a drink and i can give you a few tips just look for the cream colored shack that says crappie hunter on the side will have my teal green chev out there if you want shoot me a email and i will give you my number if you wana give me a call [email protected]

[Supercrew]

Can I get to the north side of the island from the east side public access? Two wheel drive Ranger and a big kid to push if I get stuck....On Waconia, sorry I need to be more specific...

[SuddenlySummer]

It's pretty beat down so no problems.

[Sonicrunch]

Can I get to the north side of the island from the east side public access? Two wheel drive Ranger and a big kid to push if I get stuck....On Waconia, sorry I need to be more specific...

I think you can, there are some beat down paths. Grab some tire chains and you will go far.

[hookie]

Are you thinking of North Reef or Kegs? If so you may want to try coming in over by Center reef as I think there is a trail leading that way. I was out last weekend over there and it was pretty tuff with my blazer in 4X4. I would keep your cell phone handy incase you need a tow.

[blackdog1101]

The panfish bite on 'Tonka yesterday was fantastic. The rain was a nuisance, but the fishing was great. Once it gets cold again the lakes are going to be super slick. Time to get out the ice cleats. I was fishing in 12 FOW and had fish half way up the Marcum. Caught 4 fish to get one keeper, but it was a lot of fun.

[Breu18061]

Just got of tonka after being out there all weekend. It was a slop-fest but had pretty decent fishing ended up with around 12 walleyes and 3 pike.the walleyes were ranging from 12 to 16 inches and bit late at night. all fish except pike were let go,I ecided to try a pickling recipe.

[scott b]

Tonka last night produced only one 7" walleye for me. This was out of a spot that a month ago produced 5 17-19" walleyes. I was on the weed edge. Did they move out deeper? anyone having luck on rocks/sand

[Thunder]

Was out on Waconia early Sunday morning (got to the lake around 4:30am). Quantity of fish was pretty low, but the quality was better than I typically experience, with a couple crappies a bit over 11" and one gill that was just over 9". Got back home around 10:30am and had fresh fish for lunch. Great start to the day. Too bad the Vikes had to ruin it!

Sure was sloppy out there. Main road from In-towne was flooded with water. Sort of creepy driving out with the water and black looking ice. Still plenty of ice out there though. Should freeze up nice this week.

[Acemac]

just read an article about the fish that were in the top couple of spots in the brainerd fishing tourney. all the fish were caught in like 50-60 ft of water and were really good sized. any one think that is a good strategy this time of year to go diving for them? just curious as i really never would have thought being in 50 ft of water would be worth a darn.

If so there are some great holes on tonka that might be worth trying. but wow 50 ft seems like a awful long way especially if your not going to keep the fish.

[waterbound]

If you are going to catch fish out of deep water (sometimes 30 feet is deep enough) plan on keeping them, unless you take it very slow in bringing them up. Most fish (I think salmon are an exception to this) will die if brought up from deep water and released because their air bladders expand or something like that. Just something to keep in mind.

[eyelife_MN]

Agreed.... I often wait until prime time as they move into more reasonable depths. Like you said you can often find nice fish down there (touney winners). More often then not you could find yourself in a pickle (slot fish). Knowing you have to let it go and it will die.

Same as late summer into fall they can be found deep under the ice. You can find your way into catching then over that deep of water, but suspended. Search for the bait fish balled up in 35 to 15ft of water in that 40-80ft hole. Win win right. Tonka is no different. Your on to something though by that question

[Swimbait2009]

I believe lake trout have the same relief system in their gills as salmon do.

[boilerup]

My buddies dad used to fish deep for wallys and said bring them up slow and if you are putting them back you can give them a squeeze to deflate the air bladder. He claimed it works but I would hate to take the chance and kill a good fish.