Whaletail Lake Fishing Reports

[Dylan33]

Mike- after I am done decimating whaletail, i'm going to come out and do the same to your spot on tonka!

[Fever]

I agree with the fact that this site is fun, informational, and benificial to most that spend the time to read it. If I could give advice though; posting info on lakes that are small 800 or less acres in the metro area is not a good idea at all. Posting places or spots on larger lakes is not near the same thing. I personally know of a few smaller lakes in the west metro that have been through Crazy cycles within the past 4-6 years because in part they were mentioned on this site. They too were mentioned in the outdoor news and local bait shop owners also were handing out the info clearly to benefit buisness (understandable), but none the less the web site is accessable to any and everyone, therefore if it is a smaller lake I'd suggest staying a bit vauge. If that bothers people too bad... stay on Tonka then. At the current time my permanent is on a lake that is a bit less than 125 acres. Happens to be the same lake that I caught a 16.5 crappie last winter and my biggest this winter is just shy of 14. No way in heck I'd ever mention that lake's name on this site. You couldn't pay me. So Mike and others.... I hope you understand this angle as I do understand yours. There are alot more vultures out there than you'd care to know. Fact is, some lakes can handle pressure and some simply cant. Simple lake population science and ecology. Good luck all. Be safe n stay warm.

[Dylan33]

Hey Fever- PM me the name of the lake, exactly where you were, and what you were using to catch those big crappies...I promise I won't say anything!

[herefish101]

This is better than daytime t.v., it's like a bunch of old bitties on here argueing a point that can't be agreed on and never will be agreed apon. So with that said, lets all head out to the whaletail and fish it out.....lol......Just kidding.....

[Dylan33]

agreed- very entertaining.

[Fever]

Ok Dylan, I fibbed. My lucky spot is actually on Tonka, right by Goose Island on the South side but in 17 feet of water. Gotta use Waxies though. Nothing else seems to work in that spot. Sorry I gotta go. Taken half day off (personal day) I'm heading to Whale tail. I just may move my perm there today.

[Dylan33]

Ok fever- i'll see you out there!

[Feathers Rainin]

So has the S side of Goose island filled up yet?? I heard another report on that spot. This could be a good test if this thread and the walleye thread are true on people flooding to spots reported.

I'm going fishing out to pigs eye lake. They are absolutely hammering em out there in the the deep hole. 12+ crappies and 25+ eyes. Gotta love those river fish. See you out there!

[Love2Cabin]

Well now you guys have done it. The word is out for sure. Boyscout troop 209 is having it's 31st annual fishing contest on Whaletail this Saturday.

[fishersofmen]

Leave it to the boyscouts to destroy another lake.

[Fever]

Slightly off topic but, Ya know what... that picture of the crappie by the boot from earlier I beleive is a Hybrid White / Black. Seriously. You can see the vertical bars that are noticable only on whites and even though its tough to tell the difference between a hybrid and a white. I'm bettin hybrid due to the darker dorsal area and percentage of fish with darker speckles. Had this convo with a friend last night about lakes with white crappie populations; thats why I took another look. Whites have 6 spines on dorsal fine while hybrids and blacks have 7. There is also a slight difference in shape of mouth, head, and eye placement. Color is something that you shouldn't depend on near as much because it is affected by water clarity, quality, depth, stress, and mood of fish. I do have a bit of a background in ichtheology and teach Highschool Bio. Nice Hybrid! Good luck Boyscouts!

[mainbutter]

There's some pond called "Cabelas" FULL with the biggest crappies I've EVER seen!!

Oops, I guess I let the secret out.

[Fever]

MainButter. You usually have luck there? I find it usually a little crowded for my taste. Too crowded to even get a line in the water for that matter.

[Fever]

It would be a good story though if a little boyscout kid pulls up a nice slab. That is if that boyscout fishing thing comment was true. I really don't know first hand. If it is true, and they are out there today, At least they got some milder temps. I'm on kid detail at home today. 3 of em at home 6, 7, and 8... ugh.

[McGurk]

...I'm on kid detail at home today. 3 of em at home 6, 7, and 8... ugh.

Sounds to me like 6 more lines in the water to catch 4 limits of those fabled 18" Whaletail Crappies!

[JimmyJames]

It would be a good story though if a little boyscout kid pulls up a nice slab. That is if that boyscout fishing thing comment was true. I really don't know first hand. If it is true, and they are out there today, At least they got some milder temps. I'm on kid detail at home today. 3 of em at home 6, 7, and 8... ugh.

:)This post makes me chuckle a bit, there was a fishing contest (fundraiser for the boyscouts), on whaletail today, not a bunch of boyscouts fishing. I was out for it , zero fish caught.

[Matt S.]

I was just reading on the DNR site that whaletail had a winterkill last year.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheries/westmetro/index.html

[Fever]

Jim;

I said the boyschout fishing thing... who's to say a boyscout couldn't fish in a boyscout fishing fundraiser? I was just saying it'd be cool if a kid caught a nice fish. I am kinda glad you were able to get a little chuckle though. Too bad no fish were caught as I think boy scouts is a worth while institution. In reference to the most recent response, I too heard something about a partial winter kill that occured last year. Obviously it wasn't a complete wipe out as some fish have been getting caught. Personally, I've been basically skunked the last two times out in my perm on lake x. I'm thinkin of moving it over to Whaletail.

[fishersofmen]

Fever can I get a set of keys......

P.S I lived in Lester for a while, went to school there for a year too.

[SalmonSlayer]

Just thought I'd share what happened to me tonight. I was out on Whaletail. We were first out on the ice today, made tracks to the back bay. Drilled a bunch of holes, then the auger ran out of gas. Fiance was good enough to meet me at the landing with more. In the mean time a full size Chevy had come out after us and followed our tracks. So I'm following those tracks back to the landing, and it got a little hairy, some dark spots with water seeping up, as I'm realizing it's a bad place to be, the back left drops in, I gun it and make it out, then decide to put as much distance between me and those tracks as possible. Was a scary ride back out to the house and even worse getting off the ice in the dark. I stopped by the spot on the way back and it was a 3' x 5' hole. I write this because I was ignoring the posts about scary ice, thinking it had all refroze and was good, since there is over 22 inches of ice out there, but I can tell you I'm done driving for this year. Not gonna lie, tightest pucker of my life. Be safe out there.

[Love2Cabin]

Wow thanks for the update. I was out there a month ago and thought the trip back to the bay was bad enough then. The whole driving thing is really scary now that you can't even see the ice anymore.

[Matt S.]

Yeah, I'm guessing it was in the channel between the 2 parts of the lake?

[SalmonSlayer]

Nope, the channel was ok. It was near shore about 200 yards short of the channel. If you're familiar with the lake, it's basically the truck road EVERYONE has been using to get into the back bay. I'm going to call the DNR this morning so they can hopefully mark it off. There were still 4 or 5 perms back there that are going to need to get pulled. Scary stuff.

[SalmonSlayer]

By DNR I of course meant County Sheriff Water Patrol.

[Sonicrunch]

LOL at all you 'tards. Why you guys even bother with that worthless lake is beyond me.

So somebody caught a huge crappie there 8 years ago. Big deal. All you goofs are still chasing after your white dragon.

[Matt S.]

<-- Last year.

[Matt S.]

Nope, the channel was ok. It was near shore about 200 yards short of the channel. If you're familiar with the lake, it's basically the truck road EVERYONE has been using to get into the back bay. I'm going to call the DNR this morning so they can hopefully mark it off. There were still 4 or 5 perms back there that are going to need to get pulled. Scary stuff.

Was it maybe just a refrozen pocket you hit?

[SalmonSlayer]

LOL at all you 'tards. Why you guys even bother with that worthless lake is beyond me.

[cherokee]

Anyone know if whaletail had a winter kill this year? I heard part of it died with some fish floating this spring.

[trappingaddiction]

I also read/heard that it was a partial winterkill. This is the second winter in a row for partial winterkill on Whaletail.