metro area Metro Area Minnesota Fishing Reports & Ice Conditions

[CrappieKilla]

Are you sure those fish weren't suspended? I catch crappies in 45-50 fow, but they are suspended in about 20-30 fow.

[fishuhalik]

boilerup, that'll get 'em back in the hole, but I hear most of the time they come back up, whether it's 5 minutes or a couple of hours later. Same with crappies, when you bring 'em up too fast you can close their mouth and send 'em on their way, but they usually end up dying later anyways. I read in a post in the Rainy Lake section that at a popular mid-winter crappie spot, you can fly a plane over the ice during late ice and see the thousands of crappies that are stuck to the bottom of the ice.

[Feathers Rainin]

Anyone have an update of driving conditions on Lower Prior? Last weekend there was 2 inhes of standing water and I'm wondering how well it froze up. Is there an access that is more friendly for walking out than the north one?

Thanks

[Acemac]

bet its going to be like glass better get a pair of cleats!

[boilerup]

Has anyone been out around Carson Bay on Tonka lately? Its the only area i am familiar with out there. I have some friends I am taking out and they want to go after some sunnies and crappies. Any decent crappie spots near there?

[waterbound]

Carson's Bay is an excellent spot for crappies. Straight out of the landing in the 30' hole is a good start, otherwise you could just try near one of the big towns on the ice, they're there for a reason. The other night I was out I had the bottom 6 feet of the water column all lit up with fish but nothing wanted to eat. Hope you have better luck if you give it a try. Almost forgot to mention, some of the roads were rutted up and the bottom of my car was scraping the ice once in a while.

[boilerup]

Waterbound thanks for the tip! We hit it up today and hit some nice sunnies. Didn't go after any crappies due to the good gill action! thanks again!

[waterbound]

No problem, Carson's is kind of a community spot that doesn't get talked about too much. Glad to hear you had some luck.

[nickjcc22]

Im heading to Prior for the first time today, anyone have any tips for just heading out? I dont need your honey holes but just some general ideas to get me started..

[country]

what are u going fishing 4

[nickjcc22]

Well I was hoping to get into some panfish/perch this afternoon, and then get set up for a walleye bite if possible around sunset.

[Acemac]

spent about 5 hours on the rock pile in Robinson bay today could not find any fish except the small perch.

where are the eyes of this lake hiding?

[boilerup]

Anyone ever caught any wallys on Medicine lake in Plymouth? Never hear much about it but people say they are out there. Just wondering.

[choppermn27]

spent about 5 hours on the rock pile in Robinson bay today could not find any fish except the small perch.

where are the eyes of this lake hiding?

Very good question, I've not had any luck but was told they are holding deep.

I've noticed a lot less houses on the main lake this year, and that may be in indicater of less fish.

Also I've tried all year to find them and have had no luck. I'm switching to look for crappies and looking for other lakes at this point as i'm fed up with not catching any fish.

[Supercrew]

(sorry double post)

[Supercrew]

I spent a couple of hours on a WEST Metro lake this morning, I drilled my two holes setup everything, lit up the Vex dropped my new home made panfish lure in and wham.... the Vex was lit the entire time I was out. 25FOW, suspended from 15'to 20' I was the second to use the access, first on my spot. They bit so light the springs had a hard time picking up the bite, the the pea size bobber and tear drop did the job. Can't catch em at home.....

[Acemac]

crappies or...?

[me_fathead]

Did some lake bouncing on Sunday. I ended up on Minnetonka in a spot I'd never fished. Most of my 'Tonka time has been spent in the western bays, but since I now live east of the lake, the east end is a whole lot closer.

Fished a weed pocket in about 18' and picked up a few small sunnies and 8" crappies. Hmmph. Not too impressive. The weird part about the crappies is that they were all 8-8 1/2". In my experience there's almost always a mix of sizes on 'Tonka -- representatives of many year classes. Granted I didn't move around and had very little time, but this is a first for me.

[Average Outdoors]

I have meen on Medicine all year and have oonly caught 8 Walleyes (12-16 inches in size). That's about 1 walleye every 3-4 trips. I have tried every depth and every lure and can't seem to find the "schools" I will say that I have caught most of them on smaller shiners though. I heard they were having better luck in 25 ft of water on the breaks to the deep water. I tried it 1 day and caught 3 snakes, but no eyes. If things change, I will let ya know. -Average Outdoorsman

[boilerup]

Average- Sounds like it's pretty tough out there. My walleye experience is little to none so maybe I will have to stick to crappies for now! thanks for the info though!

[Acemac]

looking for walleyes on tonka is turning out to be a labor of love...

[Supercrew]

Sunnies, we had a few crappies last friday, same place.....only a little later in the day.

[archeral566]

out on Minnetonka the other night and got my limit of crappies. All came from 22fow of water and fish would show up around 16 feet. threw thse smaller ones back and kept my limit of fish which were all between 9- 11.5 inches. jigging fast with waxies produced the bigger fish.

[boilerup]

What time of day or night were you out? Sound like some nice ones. Were they really slender or pretty fat? Some I had caught early were skinny fish.

[Sonicrunch]

out on Minnetonka the other night and got my limit of crappies. All came from 22fow of water and fish would show up around 16 feet. threw thse smaller ones back and kept my limit of fish which were all between 9- 11.5 inches. jigging fast with waxies produced the bigger fish.

nice. good to hear.

[Shaktom]

Quiet night on Prior for me. Crappies showed up around 6:30, I nabbed two quick 10"ers then had to leave. I hate responsibility!

[me_fathead]

Reading this thread and having fished the lakes around the Twin Cities for 30 years or so all I have to say is:

How do we get decent panfishing back? The numbers are there without question, but the size is shameful.

Is it pressure? Is it pressure on predators?

When I was in my 20's it wasn't a big deal to catch really nice panfish in lots of Metro lakes, (including a number of lakes that many of us wouldn't even consider trying for panfish now) but the trend that started even then was toward small.

What I've witnessed in many lakes is massive numbers of sunnies and crappies under 6-7". When I say massive numbers I mean you can go anywhere in the lake in virtually any season at any depth and catch them and they're all potato chips. What this means to me is that they're grossly overpopulated. How can this be? With the pressure on these lakes one would think that the trend would be toward fewer fish regardless of size. I'm baffled and really tired of catching sunfish and crappies that are too small to clean.

[masoct3]

Me_Fathead-

I noticed you are from SLP; so am I. I usually fish Minnetonka. I tried Medicine earlier in the season but nothing but baby perch. Maybe we could meet sometime for a day of fishing. This is my first year of ice fishing and I have caught crappies, sunnies, perch, and my first northern today in Grays bay. I would be grateful going out one time with someone who has so many years under there belt, maybe even a few lessons to share? I am 31 and am unemployed, so my days are free. I have been fishing a lot to keep my mind clear from my dad passing in December of Leukemia. I have a portable however I have a manual auger and no electronics...

Let me know!

Thanks,

Mike

[email protected]

Reading this thread and having fished the lakes around the Twin Cities for 30 years or so all I have to say is:

How do we get decent panfishing back? The numbers are there without question, but the size is shameful.

Is it pressure? Is it pressure on predators?

When I was in my 20's it wasn't a big deal to catch really nice panfish in lots of Metro lakes, (including a number of lakes that many of us wouldn't even consider trying for panfish now) but the trend that started even then was toward small.

What I've witnessed in many lakes is massive numbers of sunnies and crappies under 6-7". When I say massive numbers I mean you can go anywhere in the lake in virtually any season at any depth and catch them and they're all potato chips. What this means to me is that they're grossly overpopulated. How can this be? With the pressure on these lakes one would think that the trend would be toward fewer fish regardless of size. I'm baffled and really tired of catching sunfish and crappies that are too small to clean.

[Supercrew]

You and I have probably shared a couple of the same holes over the years, only at different times....

You have just posted the #1 question of all time, and will get answers now... I have worked hard at times and done well, just weed thru them short ones and enjoy the time. I don't have an answer for you, but you are right, when my Dad got me interested in ice fishing he took me to Linstrom lake with a friend of his(I was 17) we sat next to the truck on buckets with jiggle sticks, nothing fancy like we have today, and caught some of the nicest crappies I had ever seen.... I have been hooked ever since.

P.S.

Hey maybe take the youngster from SLP and give a couple of lessons?

[Acemac]

1. Limits on metro lakes need to de changed.

2. there needs to be a slot on all fish on all these metro lakes.

3. people need to stop keeping small year class fish

I don't think the pan fish will ever grow in the metro until people stop taking limits of anything they catch. Just because you can clean it does not mean its worth keeping.