Lake Minnetonka Fishing Reports

[MidCoast]

I am going to fish Gray's Bay. Keep the updates coming.

[Irish]

I am going to stay far away from Tonka on opener. With the mix of fisherman and pleasure boaters out on Memorial Day weekend it will likely be a zoo out there.

[PerchJerker]

I have never fished Minnetonka eyes before, just in general is it a crankbait lake this time of year or more in fall? Or would my best bet be with live bait? I would be greatly generous if someone could spare me a mistake of possibly spending money on the wrong bait. Thanks!

I WAY prefer to fish cranks over livebait ...... but Tonka is generally full of floating chunks of weeds and it can be dang near impossible at times to pull cranks with all the floating junk your hooks will pick up. Plus depending on where you're fishing on the lake you'll have shallower or deeper weedlines, meaning you'll need an assortment of cranks to cover all the depths. So ...... I think you might be better off starting with live bait, a jig and minnow on the weedlines will catch everything that swims in that lake. And pulling a GULP! crawler or something similar is a good technique too, and the panfish won't drive you (as) nuts. Hope this helps and good luck.

[MrCrappie]

I think it'll be my best chance of landing a 5 pounder within 30 minutes of the cities so if that happens, it'll be worth it.

[MrCrappie]

No big bass for me...largest was 17". I did manage to catch a 26" spotted musky while pulling a mepps spinner over weeds.

[RandyFish]

Hi All,

I am bringing a friend out on Tonka this coming weekend.

Need suggestion on bass...I normally like to fish shallows: inside weed edges, topwater, docks.

But that route has been quiet...post spawn I assume.

For those who have been...is everyuthing deeper, on weed edges...or buired among the emerging milfoil.

Any suggestion on the Largemouth bite on the Eastern side of Minnetonka (everything east of Big Island, basically) would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Randy

[PerchJerker]

I haven't fished the east side this year, but for the middle and west side it has been a shallow bite --- inside weedlines for sure.

[jvm1]

Anybody been out there lately?

Going to give it a shot with my friend after work tomorrow rain or shine. Been on dry land too long.

I've had terrible experiences on this lake, can't ever catch anything but small panfish, but I'm not giving up!

I usually put in in Gray's bay and fish the main lake, maybe i should try the west side.

[coombia21]

Was out yesterday and didn't catch a fish. I am just hoping that it was the weather that moved in the night before and my luck will change.

[Dkoy]

I was out Tuesdays post the rain and did well on bass. Started targeting skies but miss the front end so switched up to do some bassin. Pads are putting out fish on frogs, fished channels and breaks with a few nice fish to show. Nice to not have any boat traffic. Northerns were actively taking swim jigs. Targeted 0-10ft, west end.

[KMB]

Any advice for Tonka walleye right now???

[hart0670]

Nothing on walleyes from me, but I did fish Stubbs and Maxwell for bass tonight from 4:30 - 7:30 with decent success. Fished the whole time with a topwater frog, caught 6 bass, mostly around 16 inches, and a 24" northern. Also fished off the dock for a bit with gulp plastics for sunnies, which were non-stop but not much size. I actually only missed one bass on the frog, which is a record for me as I usually can't set those hooks worth a darn . It was helpful though that the fish seemed to be just inhaling the frog. One other thing worth noting was that I only got one strike (the one I missed) out in actual lily pads, all the fish I caught were right up against cat tails.

I also saw 5 deer (4 doe and a fawn) and a fox in the yard that I think is Kevin Garnett's - right along the channel bewteen Maxwell and Stubbs.

[logroy]

Was out with my 2 boys on Tuesday night on Halstads bay.We kept 45 sunnies all between 7 to 7 1/2" threw about 50 females back that were 8 inches plus.

We also caught 15 crappies biggest was 10 inches most of them were 9 inches.

We were fishing on a private dock in 6ft of water using green glow jigs tipped with pink gulp waxies. Fished 2 1/2 hrs between 6:00-8:30pm bigger ones started biting at about 7:30.

Fun night out!

[jvm1]

We went around big Isalnd there all the way to echo bay and had very little succes, landed a few crappies but no eyes. Bit windy last night...Fun times anyways, always good to be out there

[EBass]

Quote:

threw about 50 females back that were 8 inches plus.

Thank you for letting the bigger ones go.

[speedbump]

I was out on the west side of Tonka today from about 0930 to 1230. It sure was a great day to be on the lake even though the fish didn't cooperate. I only managed a handful of bass with the biggest being 18". I could not get anything to bite on faster moving baits like spinnerbaits or crank baits. All fish were caught by fishing SLOW. Water temps were about 68 degrees when I got on the water and 70 when I left. I would have stayed out longer but it seemed like a very large number of pleasure boaters decided to take off of work early.

[Castaway1]

I would like to fish on lake Minetonka and thinking of going out of Maxwell Bay. Any Ideas on where to go for big Largemouth and Northerns?

[jwmiller33]

Work the docks and adjacent weedlines on whatever bay you are going to be in and you will find bass and pike. Tonka is a big lake with lots of fish in every bay. Some bays more than others...

[Castaway1]

Thanks Jake,

What would you recommend for luers?

[eelpout50]

Throw some yellow/green (1/4 - 1/2 oz)single blade spinnerbaits at the docks and weed lines, won't be able to keep the northerns off them. Use the cheap ones they will get chewed up quick

[hart0670]

I've done well fishing largemouths in the eastern part of Maxwell, it's kind of a finger that extends off the main bay and is all no wake, along the southern shoreline of that finger is all cattails and lily pads and pitching plastics or fishing top water frogs works well

[anchor man]

Heading out early AM tomorrow for some eyes on Wayzata/Browns bay. I haven't fished open water out there in years. Has anyone been having..or hearing of any being caught out there?

Thanks

[CatholicConis]

I don't fish for walleye (yet), but I see guys out there all the time in Wayzata Bay. They usually set up on the deep water side of the hazard bouys, or around the humps in the big water.

[muskiemanAD]

Fish some rather deep water in my opinion (30+) and you should at least mark some fish, getting them to eat, thats a different story!

[jigginjim]

You can also try at the weed edges, minnows work best, as the panfish will drive you nuts of you use crawlers or leechs.

[anchor man]

I went out in the morning and again in the evening. Ended up with a 14 and 12" eye, several pike, and a couple bass. I was trolling mostly the weedlines is 18-20ft. Bottom bouncers and spinner with a crawler or leech.

[Jarrid Houston]

Any bigger eyes come out of Tonka? Never fished it, but pertaining ot the size of lake, I would think there are some bigger fish in there! Probably does not help that most people probably keep the fish they catch as well, draining the lake of good population of eater fish....

[schr0563]

Some years seem better than others. There is definitely a potential to catch big fish out there. You probably have a better chance at catching a 25 incher than a nice 18" eater. We get a few up to 29" every year fishing in October and November. The 30" mark seems tough to break...

[muskiemanAD]

In the spring and fall is when people seem to get the big walleye. Like the previous poster said, at times it easier to catch a pig vs a eater. Best bet troll raps for them...

[MedicineMan]

I was out yesterday fishing for smallies and came across a school of decent sized walleyes on one spot. I recorded a quick vid on my aqua-vu from the spot.