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Lake Minnetonka Fishing Reports


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Good to know! I havent ever driven that far down that road but now I think I might have to do that sometime soon.

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when i was down there this week none of the spots were taken. its kind of hard to find but if you just stay to the left and never go right at the Y's in the road you will drive right up to it.

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Found water temps on Tonka yesterday evening to be 47-52 depending on how big/sheltered the area was. Basically ventured from Maxwell to Jennings. Docks are in at Maxwell landing and buoys are in from Maxwell east but not yet to the west. Didn't fish much, was basically putting the boat through its paces. Heading back out today to actually try to catch something.

KT

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I've been in other parts of the lake. At the beginning of the week I was finding 47-49 in the main lake areas on the west-central parts of the lake, and 50-52 in the shallows. I was out on Thursday (after the rain and cooler temps) and it dropped about 2 degrees. Not finding a lot of fish in shallow yet, and most of them have been small.

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Four species in the boat yesterday (Crappie, Perch, Sunfish, LMB), all still swimming. Saw temps from 47 (Crystal Bay) to 55 in a small cove. Didn't find any concentrations of crappies, but did find some concentrations of crappie anglers. ;-)

A beautiful day on the water despite the slowish bite.

KT

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47-52 on Sunday morning.

I netted three bobbers (one a brand new lighted one), two plastic water bottles, and a large styrofoam coffee cup. There is also lots of floating debris such as wood chunks, tennis balls, and even saw a piece of crown trim.

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the other day i found temps anywhere for 49-56. i noticed the farther west on the lake i went the cooler the temps got.

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I have never had time to fish Minnetonka for early crappies. However, the early ice out has brought an opportunity this Saturday. I am not looking for specific locations. Just some general ideas of where to start. Thanks in advance for the help. Have fun and be safe on the water!

Shallow Runner

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Hit some of the smaller, shallower bays such as Jennings, North Arm and Stubbs if you can get back there. North part of the bay and I don't believe they will be too shallow yet, I would try a little deeper till the water warms. Obviously look for the warmest water, even a few degrees makes a difference. I'm not sure but isn't the crappie tournament there in a couple weeks?

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Tanager Lake is a good place. It's relatively shallow and there are plenty of crappies in there this time of year.

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waterbound--

can you still park over by tanager and walk to the tracks?

i used to go back there and had some great times. been awhile..a guy told me you cant park on the road anymore. so how do you get back there?

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As far as I know you can still park just off to the side of the road and walk over there. I drove by there tonight and there were quite a few cars there and I fished the bay right near the parking area earlier this week and there weren't any problems. Maybe something changed that I don't know about, but it should be fine.

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Fished Tanger yesterday with no luck. Moved onto a few other close bays and did better. If you can keep the bass off you can sort through a few good eaters. The largest was 13 and the rest 10 to 12. Main lake temp is 48 and the bays were 55+.

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Out again today. One crappie over 12" rest of limit 8-10.

Med sized sunnies in darker water.

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are the crappies grouped up at all on tonka. I was on a few lakes up in the st cloud area this weekend and we could only mark very scattered fish and all sorts of depths. never saw one good grouping of fish....

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Just wanted to let anybody who might want to know that the dam at Gray's Bay is open now. It has been for a little while now, but it looks like the current is starting to bring some fish in and the water clarity has improved. The flow is about medium but I did see a small pike below the dam today and some fair sized carp swimming around above it. No luck catching panfish, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some down there soon.

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best news I have heard in a while on here! see you down there tonight after work! sigh now I got to make it through the day.....

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best news I have heard in a while on here! see you down there tonight after work! sigh now I got to make it through the day.....

I know how you feel!

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i just started fishing spring crappies this year and have strated to fish tonka regularly and was wondering how long i can exspect the crappie bite while they are still shallow and fairly easy to find. Also how is the bite on cloudy or rainy days? thanks

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fished the dam for a few hours last night with some carp bait i picked up at the g store. no carp to speak of there were a few that seemd like they had gotten stuck in the dam on the way down but might have been already dead.

this piece of water is about 200 times more active with bait fish and small sunnies then it was when i checked it out about 3 weeks ago. I hope they keep the water running this will be a awesome fishing hole!

did see a few nice size smallies in the rocks also.

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i just started fishing spring crappies this year and have strated to fish tonka regularly and was wondering how long i can exspect the crappie bite while they are still shallow and fairly easy to find. Also how is the bite on cloudy or rainy days? thanks

We were out there yesterday and finding water temps of 63 - 67 degrees. Those are spawning temps, and we caught males with really dark (ie. spawning) colors. I don't think they'll they'll be shallow for too much longer ......

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  • 3 weeks later...

going to be hitting tonka or waconia on opener....my question is do i go out friday night so i can get on the lake or try to get on in the early morning....bet the crowd will be crazy?

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went out on tonka last year for opener at 5 am out of grays bay. Not crowded at all at that point.

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There will be plenty of boats launching early Saturday at Grays but with it being all fisherman and three lanes, it will move right along. Midnight might not be a bad idea though simply because the walleyes on Tonka are primarily a night bite.

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I was out on tonka one year for opener and it wasn't crowded at all. Like Ktroller said there is a big difference between a long launch line of hardcore fisherman vs pleasure boaters.

I'd take 20 6AM fishing boats over 5 10AM pleasure boats.

Acutally that gives me an idea for a whole new thread.....

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
      Nice fish. I moved to the Sartell area last summer and just thought it was windy like this everyday up here? 🤭
    • Rick G
      Crazy windy again today.... This is has been the norm this spring. Between the wind and the cold fronts, fishing has been more challenging for me than most years.  Panfish have been moving in and out of the shallows quite a bit. One day they are up in the slop, the next they are out relating to cabbage or the newly sprouting lilly pads.  Today eye guy and I found them in 4-5 ft of water, hanging close to any tree branches that happened to be laying in the water.  Bigger fish were liking a 1/32 head and a Bobby Garland baby shad.   Highlight of the day way this healthy 15incher
    • monstermoose78
    • monstermoose78
      As I typed that here came a hen.  IMG_7032.mov   IMG_7032.mov
    • monstermoose78
      So far this morning nothing but non turkeys. 
    • monstermoose78
      Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!!
    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
    • monstermoose78
      How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
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