metro area Metro Area Minnesota Fishing Reports & Ice Conditions

[Moose-Hunter]

Well the detour took me to hwy 212 then i was just lost. I'll have to look into it.

No worries now. Hwy. 5, through Victoria, is open again. Just watch your speed. You have been warned.

[Slabasaurus]

Saturday Morning I stopped at the Peltier/George Watch parking lot to fix my Kayak straps before heading up north....

there were an awful lot of emergency response vehicles, some with trailers that had launched boats... wondering if anyone knows what was up?

The parking lot was full of trucks and trailers, so it was a pretty busy morning even for that area.

[plotzy]

Tonka yesterday in the rain. Hunted mostly muskie. Had one nice follow on a topwater and landed a VERY hungry bass. My buddy caught a bunch of northern on an oversized spinner. Chatted with a few other boats that were out there. Didn't hear of anyone actually catching a good ski, but a bunch of follows.

[Riverratpete]

Fished far northern metro lake yesterday,week before the panfish were hot, yesterday they were there but major lock jaw. Two things going on, 1st possibility, really big cold front. 2nd possibility, coldest water temp found was 59.8, warmest 61.4..can you say "The Big Stir" turnover is occuring?. Another thing that has me thinking its more of a turnover thing are the green, dark brown weeds that we snagged. Hopefully with the weather stabilizing things should improve by this weekend.

[plotzy]

Hit Tonka yesterday evening for 2 hours hunting the elusive muskie. Water was nice, but the muskie stayed hidden. I caught a nice bass off a bucktail, and another bass hit my topwater that was as long as the bass! My buddy had a couple of northern on oversized spinners.

[plotzy]

Minnetonka was a ZOO this weekend. Yesterday, at one point there were 25 trucks lined up at Gray's bay launch. Then a sailboat almost collided with my Skeeter in Wayzata bay. Mind you, I was fishing the rocky point and was stationary. My fishing buddy and I ended up waving our arms and screaming at the boat to turn, which he did after we finally caught his attention just seconds before he rammed us. Then... some giant sea plane did a touch-and-go landing on the water in the main lake.... I could have swore it was going to hit the trees on take-off, and still not sure how it missed them.

Oh, and the surface weeds were a pain, and the fishing sucked yesterday. Haven't seen a muskie in a few weeks. Northern and Bass are still in the shallows. If i was a fish i would have been hidden in the deepest hole on the lake yesterday to avoid the idiots.

Although Gray's Bay launch was exciting as I saw two people drag there boat up with the skeg fin digging into the concrete on the ramp.

[plotzy]

I just got back from a few weeks of travel for work... Trying to decide if i should tuck the boat away for the winter or try to get out again.

Any thoughts?

If so, any thoughts on areas you have fished? (not specifics mind you, aren't looking to poach your honeyholes, more general like shallows, points, channels)

In the past I've gone out with live bait and a quickstrike rig with bobber and sat in the channels, but I don't like the potential damage that can do to the fish, so I've shy'd away from that.

Just curious if I missed the season.

[Dylan33]

What is the old saying? Keep casting until your lure bounces on the ice? something like that.

[plotzy]

I approve ^^^^ that message

[CatholicConis]

I'm not much of a muskie fisherman, but I've had a follow almost every time out during the last few weeks, including yesterday. They are still active.

[th64]

I towed my boat to a small metro lake, and it was frozen! (few years back) the guy I was with was mad at me! I thought you had this lake 'dialed in' he said.

[DaveZman14q]

Fish for follows during the day, fish for fish at night...

[scott b]

Not a muskie fisherman but I DO know.......At night in the channels (just outside) this time of year. Early morning with suckers also. Get them things away from my walleyes PLEASE!

In fact.. Every good walleye spot has Loons and Muskies destroying it. Have fun. Great time of year to be out.

[WallEYES]

Was out last night for a few hours with the kid....we used sucker rigs wih a 3/4-1 oz. weight and a big bobber and trolled the deep weedlines in 15-18 feet of water. The suckers we were using were 11-13 inches in length. Lost a giant around Bohns point in crystal bay....the big girl jumped completely out of the water and spit the rig....had another one on an hour later...just tugged at the bait and made a small run and droped it....Nice to get out.

[Dylan33]

Get them things away from my walleyes PLEASE!

In fact.. Every good walleye spot has Loons and Muskies destroying it. Have fun. Great time of year to be out.

I really hope you are joking. Loons and muskies are why walleye numbers are down? Come on!

[aanderud]

In fact.. Every good walleye spot has Loons and Muskies destroying it.

Good stuff. I wonder if it's because loons and muskies like to eat the same type of food that walleyes eat. LOL.

That reminds me. Every shooting attack in recent memory has been committed by people wearing shirts and shoes. We should BAN shirts and shoes, as they're DESTROYING this nation.

[mrklean]

Alright everyone the forecast is starting to look good for ice lets post here on area ice conditions

[wayzata]

Medicine has a nice skim over it.

[scott b]

twin lakes on Hwy 100 had a skim with lots of open.

[jerkin'm]

small channels, and edges frozen on tonka...boats bashing through it today though...

[MrSchrute]

Checked a couple small lakes in south metro that were skimmed over with some open spots yet. Need to get some fishable ice so i can try out the new shack.

[RawHog]

Owasso has got a full thin sheet over it.

[Tom7227]

North end of BE and parts of the south are skimmed over. A bit of White Bear on the south side is also skimmed from what I could see from the road.

[deadeye]

Been a minute since I have been on here but I had to chime in here as I was by a lot of places today. Some of the places aren't really metro area but close.

The pools on Sunrise river were locked up. The river itself is starting to freeze too.

Chisago had ice starting on it.

Green had the same.

Sugar lake was starting around the shores.

Limestone was pretty much locked up

Medicine was starting to freeze up, will check ice in the bay later in the week.

Moore lake was locked up. Will check ice this week here too. Don't really fish this one but it is 2 blocks from home so I will stop and chop a hole.

Hopefully it stays cold for a few days.

[Andrew Erickson]

hyland and normandale were about 95% locked up, Bush still had a lot of open water

[KMR85]

Rice Lake in Maple Grove had skim ice over a good portion of the lake. I figured it would be locked up due to it being so shallow, but the wind hasn't completely subsided the last few nights.

[blackdog1101]

For western Minnetonka, I drove past Seton, Cooks, and Halstead bays today, and can see Jennings bay from my house. All of them still have plenty of open water, but have skim ice around the edges in some places.

[JackPineGuy]

ill be on spring on saterday/ usually im out there by now. Is it december yet?

[Andrew Erickson]

looks like we still have some fairly warm weather coming with some rain so that'll melt what we have for ice.

[EBass]

I work by Lake Smetana (more like a pond) in EP and it's 95% frozen over. I stopped at the boat ramp and shuffled on the lake a foot or so. It started to crack. .5" thick from the looks of the crack.