Minnetonka Eyes

[18 inch Crappie]

Was out last night (sunday) from 4 till 8pm on Tonka fishing the weed edges in 18 feet of water that droped into 34 ft. The weeds seem to come out to about 18 feet then die down, and still very green. With a water temp of 65. I hooked into a couple pike and at about 1 hour before sundown for about 45 min it was as many walleye as I could get. Fast as I could with a minnow on a jig. Keept 4 for dinner tonight.

[jwmiller33]

i think the water temps are still a touch too high for the good fall walleye bite to start.. ive been out on tonka quite a few times lately as one of my really good friends just got a boat house out there and we have spent our time doing a lot of muskie and bass fishing to pass the time until the walleye bite really heats up. it shouldnt be too long before we find ourselves in prime walleye and muskie temps on tonka and i will definitely be hitting that up as much as possible

[tonkapat]

Sounds like the main lake mini eyes to me. Get any over 17".

[18 inch Crappie]

Sounds like the main lake mini eyes to me. Get any over 17".

You are a good call, Nothing wrong with a 15" waleye for the frying pan. I did through back a few small ones. Where are the bigger eyes hiding?

[email protected]

[chris63]

secrets!

[ndfisherman]

Any suggestions of what bay I could fish in with a float tube and catch a walleye or two for supper? I have lived in the TC for 8 years and have never had a chance to fish lake Minnetonka. I would really like to try it this fall. Some lure suggestions would also be useful. Thanks for any advice.

[tonkapat]

nd no float tube needed. Plenty of eyes to be caught right from shore. Most all of the chanels(bridges) will have fish under them right now. Sunrise sunset being the best. Jig minnow or jig twister tail should do it.

[boilerup]

Is there a reason why the eyes are in these channels? I dont know jack about walleye fishing so I though I would ask.

[scott b]

Current attracts forage in fall. Cooler temps allow minnows and shiners to return to the shallows. Walleyes follow. So do bass, muskies, crappies, and most other fish species. Channels funnel migration routes from shallow to deep also. Night time is the best time to fish channels. Lots of people troll shallow big cranks early, but by November I slow down to chubs on a light jig maybe even a bobber. If the wind is blowing plan on fish taking advantage of the current.

[boilerup]

Cool thanks for the info! I am hoping to get some time and try and learn a thing or two about walleye this year. So far in the 18 months I have lived in the cities I have caught one walleye unintentionally (5# er though) and 0 intentionally. Not a great track record but I intend on changing that!

[jwmiller33]

anybody been catchin walleyes on tonka the past week or two? i have heard some positive reports about lindy rigging with a shiner. ive never caught a walleye on minnetonka before and i would like to change that... anybody have any pointers on depths or certain presentations to try to help a guy out? any help would be much appreciated

[Kodiak]

i dont think it is quite on yet out there. me and a buddy went out 4 times last week and i have been fishing the heck out of tonka all year and it has been the slowest it has been in a long time for the eyes.. you can find the darn bass anywhere in that lake, deep/shallow/weeds/rocks. cant keep them off. i am sure when the temps go down to 55 or so the fishing will pick up, but i hope we still have some public launch docks in by then cause halsteds was already out on sat!!

[Shortdude]

Hit tonka saturday with the wife and son.We managed to put 8 eyes in the box.The Bite was strong from 6:15pm until 7:30pm.We found them in 16 1/2' to 18' of water.Lindy's and rainbows were the ticket.

[Kodiak]

i heard they were shutting off right before dark.

saturday out there was a ZOO

[Fly2day]

Can anyone tell me where the sunrise/sunset bridge is located I cannot seem to locate any info on it...Thanks

[Acemac]

Can anyone tell me where the sunrise/sunset bridge is located I cannot seem to locate any info on it...Thanks

here is one poular spot.

Narrows Chanel

[Shortdude]

Kodiak,

That was not the case for us saturday eve.Call me lucky or we just happen to be in the right spot.Heard rumors of the bite turning back on again after 10pm.I have noticed the morning bite has been slow for me.When cleaning the fish from saturday night,i found their bellies to be completely empty,thus the reason they were so aggressive.I'm gonna hit tonka again friday night.Good luck to all.

[Kodiak]

let us know!

[boilerup]

Any specific structure to be looking for in this 16-18 feet of water? ie. weedlines, bottom type, rocks?

[Kodiak]

i think the weeds need to die off an the lake needs to turn over before you can get to any shallow rocks.

[Shortdude]

Ok, i could not wait until friday night,so back on the water i went.Fished from 5 to 9:30pm.Would have stayed later but left my jacket in the truck,what a dumb as$.I was set up in 17' to 19'just of the weed line.Did not connect with my first fish until 7:45.It was not Mr.Marble eye,but Mr.crappie.I never knew those crappies really enjoyed rainbows.Ended up putting 8 nice craps in the box.At 8:45 i put my first willy in the box.Nothing big (14')but will taste yummy.Last willy bit at 8:55,another 14 incher.They were all caught on rainbows under a float.

See ya on the water!!

[markkstanley]

Any specific structure to be looking for in this 16-18 feet of water? ie. weedlines, bottom type, rocks?

Steep break and hard bottom weed edges do better. Inside edges on sand can also kick out eyes but you need to be very quiet.

[boilerup]

Thanks for the input. Maybe I'll get to hit it up this weekend! Unless the wife has other plans...

[chrismackmn]

any hints on baits that are working better then others? From the looks of it lindy rigs and deep divers are not the lure. Should I try jigs with leeches, rainbows, redtails, worms or twister tails? How about colors?

thanks guys.

[Baitchaser]

We tried lindys and jigs and first three fish came on the jig so we both switched to them. Pink was the hot color but we caught fish on firetiger and orange jigs as well. All fish went back but we had a mixed bag. The crappie are just nailing the jigs. only caught two eyes, one was 13"and the other was 15". towards the end I was getting sick of getting bit off by pike(they love the shiners...) fished from 530 to 7 using mainly rainbow chubs in 15-17fow off heavy weedline. I hope to get out there this weekend and try to improve on the size of the eyes.

Any one having luck trolling for eyes? I was thinking about breaking out the leadcore. thought? good luck to everyone.

[KTroller]

Tried tonight rigging with rainbows. 14 - 24 feet. No takers between 6:30- 8:30. Had a nice 10.5" Crappie (a whitey) and a fat almost 16" smallie that mangled an 0/4 hook. Nice night out there with a light breeze.

KT

[scott b]

Sunday, all I caught was a 2lb smallie. What a difference two days makes. 4 eyes one pushing 23" right after dark. Fished from 7-10:30pm. Also lost a fish that had to be 5-8lbs. I was not ready for (Walleye). Time to spool up the eight lb. for the jigs. Here we go. Good luck to all.