West Metro - Minnetonka, Waconia, Prior Lake Fishing Reports by Great Day on the Water Guide Service

[Troy Smutka]

8/6/15     Caught about fifteen bass all about the same size, and one nice pike on Waconia this morning before the rain moved in. Also had a big muskie on that bit the line and took the bait and caught two ten inch crappies. Caught some fish over the tops of weed covered reefs on spinnerbaits, and others along the deep weed edges of reefs on Rippin' Raps. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

9/2/15      My boat heads down the road with its new owner on Saturday, so finished with open water fishing reports for 2015. Football and hunting will take up my time in the fall. Check the waterfowl hunting reports this fall for our hunting reports, and I will be back on this forum as well as Hutchinson and Mille Lacs with ice fishing reports once the water firms up. Pick up a new boat in the spring and will be back with open water fishing reports then. Good luck this fall, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

12/28/15     Just enough ice to walk on many west metro area lakes. We found five inches on Burandts Lake near Waconia, and four inches in Waconia Bay on the big lake. Caught some pike on tip-ups on Burandts, and jigged up some bluegills and pumpkinseeds on Waconia. Some area lakes still have very thin ice in spots, especially over deep areas, so please use caution. If we don't get too much snow tonight and tomorrow, should thicken up the ice over the next few days. Good luck, be safe, and I will see you out there somewhere. 

[Troy Smutka]

1/16/15     West Metro

     Out on a west metro area lake this morning as the next visit from the polar vortex begins. 10 inches of good ice with not much snow on top, so easy walk out with the Fish Trap. Fish on the flashers all morning, but the bite was slow. Caught about two dozen bluegills in four hours, most of them 7.5 to 8.5 inches. Small VMC Tungsten Tubby jigs tipped with two red Eurolarvae or one wax worm. One pike on a sucker minnow under a tip-up. Gonna stay inside during the brutal cold tomorrow. Should make a lot of ice the next couple days, and hopefully it will warm up a bit then. Good luck, be safe, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

1/30/16     West Metro

     Still about 15 inches of ice on the west metro area lake we fished Saturday. 40 degrees with rain in the afternoon--our odd, up and down weather continues. Fishing a deep hole between a shallower shoreline point and offshore reef. Sunfish and crappies visible on the flasher and camera all day long. Finicky biters most of the day except for a window from 1-3:30 pm when they fed voraciously. Caught several dozen bluegills, most from 7 to 9 inches, and one crappie during daylight. Caught several crappies, also mostly 7 to 9 inches, after dark. Chartreuse and orange Gill Pills tipped with a couple red Eurolarvae were the ticket for the sunfish. Glow white Tungsten Tubbies tipped with a large wax worm was best for the crappies after dark. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

2/15/16     West Metro

     Found 18-19 inches of good ice this past weekend in the west metro. Sunfish and crappie bite was good on Saturday afternoon, after is warmed up a bit, but was slower on Monday. Almost all of the sunfish were 7.5 to 9 inches, and most of the crappies were 8-11 inches. Tungsten Tubbies and Gill Pills with red Eurolarvae or 1" Gulp! Fish Fry were the ticket. Fish roaming a deep hole of 20-23 feet near a shallow reef. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

2/20/16     Out on Prior Lake this morning. Still 19 inches of ice where we were fishing, but the ice around the shoreline is starting to get pretty bad, so we walked out. Fair amount of water and slush on the ice--most wheel houses had been removed. Unfortunately, a lot of garbage (wood blocks, empty propane bottles, beverage cans and bottles, bags of garbage, etc.) left on the ice. We picked up as much as we could carry on the walk back to shore and put it in the garbage cans by the landing. Let's try to clean up after ourselves as the rest of the houses come off over the next week--for the good of the lakes and everyone that uses them. Fished VMC Tungsten Tubbies tipped with waxies and 1" Gulp! Fish Fry over a deep hole near a shallow reef. Fish below us most of the time from 7:00 to noon. Bite was off and on, but fairly consistent. Caught dozens of sunnies and crappies, mostly the size in the photos with only a couple small ones. Good luck, be careful, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

3/28/16     Mississippi River Pool 2

     Caught five eyes from 16-18 inches on Friday, ten from 12-25 inches today. Fish were holding in current breaks at the base of a steep shoreline break. Water temp was 39 Friday, 40 today. 3/8 ounce pink and chartreuse round head jig with a Lindy rattle chamber tipped with a fathead minnow out-fished all other offerings Friday and today. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[popriveter]

Thanks Troy. It is encouraging to see someone catching something. Today was supposed to be my 1st boat day of 2016 and Pool 2 is calling, but all this rain and cold may keep me in.

I'll need to watch the levels.

[Troy Smutka]

popriveter,

     Still time to get down there and get in on it. Slayed them this morning--see below.

4/3/16     Mississippi Pool 2

     Had the morning free to fish today, so headed to Pool 2. Twenty-seven walleyes and one sheephead in four hours. Caught most by the dam, but when the bite slowed and it got crowded there, headed downstream and popped a few more before we had to leave. A few small ones, but most were from 14 to 19 inches. Not milking yet, no females yet, water temp about 43 degrees. 3/8 ounce jig tipped with a fathead was the best bait. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

4/13/16     West Metro

     Water is finally warming on area lakes and the crappies are starting to bite. Found crappies cruising above weeds in 9-11 feet of water Wednesday afternoon. Almost all of them were 8-9 inches with just a couple smaller and one larger. Fish were very aggressive and easy to catch. 2" Berkely Power Bait or Gulp! Minnows on a 1/16 ounce VMC Mooneye Jig suspended five feet under a slip float was the best bait. Caught 60-70 fish in two hours. Larger fish should show up as the water warms a little more, and they all should start moving shallower. The water was 42 degrees on this particular lake. Warmer water--check shallower. Be careful with the harvest and try not to "freezer fill" as the fish are vulnerable right now. Get a kid out if you can for some fun and to ensure the future of our sport. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

5/3/16     Still catching plenty of crappies over shallow to mid-depth weeds. Catching a few on a small jig spinner slow-rolled over the weeds, but the most consistent presentation is still a 1/16 ounce jig tipped with a 2" Gulp! or Power Bait minnow suspended under a slip-float above the weeds. Crappie minnows are catching fish too, but if they will hit soft plastics it keeps your hands out of a minnow bucket and keeps you in the water more triggering fish instead of reeling in and rebaiting. Get a kid out for some fast crappie action on a nice spring day--you'll have as much fun as they will. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

5/7/16     Hit Prior Lake for crappies this morning to hide from the wind that would have been tough, and cold, on Waconia. Found fish in some weeds along the north shore, protected from the wind. Caught 30-40 nine to eleven inch crappies, 15-20 seven to nine inchers, and a dozen big pumpkinseed sunfish. Also caught a few small bass. The female crappies were full of eggs, and the males are starting to go black. Fish were cruising an inside weed edge and using some docks along the way in 4 to 6 feet of water. We were suspending a 1/16 ounce VMC jig tipped with a 2" Gulp! Minnow three feet below a slip bobber. Used the Terrova I-Linked to the Humminbird to "anchor" off the fish and casted to them. Even kept a few for a fresh meal for Mom this afternoon. Happy Mother's Day and a big "Thank you" to all the moms out there. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

5/28/16     Hit the west metro area for bass this morning. Found mostly post-spawn males on the inside weed edges near bedding areas. These areas are full of sunfish, so plenty of food to hold the bass and pike. Mostly buzzed spinnerbaits through the top of cabbage in six to eight feet of water. Cloudy and hazy had the lake quiet without much traffic, and the fish biting. Caught twenty nine largemouth and four pike in about four hours, before the rain moved in. Most of the bass were from 15 to 18 inches, but did catch one 20.5 inch female and a half dozen smaller males. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[beeflover]

whatta nice day you had and I stayed home cause I lost a bearing cap the other day. I shoulda took a picture of the mess of grease I made changing bearings.

looking at some of your previous posts you seem to throw spinnerbaits a lot and it seems to be working for multi-species.  Old school that.

I'll be lookin for ya somewhere

good fishin

 

[Troy Smutka]

6/13/16     Got my kids out on a West Metro lake for a couple hours this morning. Sunfish are on the beds and biting like crazy. A few small bass in the area as well. Get some kids out on your area lake right now to get in on some fast fun fishing any time of the day, the nicer the weather the better. Perfect for kids, and for the kid in all of us that likes watching a bobber go down. All you need is a 1/32 ounce jig in pink or orange tipped with a small 1" Berkley tube or Fish Fry (same colors) suspended under a small slip float balanced with the jig size you are using. Sunnies, and bass, will hammer this--no need for live bait. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

6/17/16     Got two of my kids out fishing on Waconia on Friday. Sunfish are still up on the beds and biting like crazy, so everyone had a blast. A small Power Tube or Gulp! Fish Fry on a 1/32 ounce VMC jig under a slip float was all we needed to catch over a hundred sunfish in a couple hours. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

6/24/16   Still catching bass and sunfish in numbers on west Metro lakes, with a few pike and walleyes mixed in. Sunfish are still shallow--small jig and soft plastic under a slip float. Catching bass mid-depth and deep with multiple presentations including crankbaits, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, topwater prop baits, and swimming soft plastic lizards. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

7/5/16   Fished Minnetonka this morning. Caught several bass and pike slow rolling spinnerbaits over cabbage and grass in six to nine feet of water early. Then switched to deep diving crankbaits along edges of deep weedy points and reefs. Caught about thirty fish altogether, and most were fair to good sized. White Terminator 1/2 ounce tandem was the best spinnerbait, and a shad or bludgill colored Rapala DT 10 and 16 were the best crankbaits for the spots we fished. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

7/5/16   Fished Minnetonka this morning. Caught several bass and pike slow rolling spinnerbaits over cabbage and grass in six to nine feet of water early. Then switched to deep diving crankbaits along edges of deep weedy points and reefs. Caught about thirty fish altogether, and most were fair to good sized. White Terminator 1/2 ounce tandem was the best spinnerbait, and a shad or bludgill colored Rapala DT 10 and 16 were the best crankbaits for the spots we fished. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

 

 

[Troy Smutka]

8/1/16     Got out on Waconia this morning hoping for a bite ahead of the rain and storms coming. Caught eight largemouth from 12 to 16 inches, and had two 19-20 inchers come off jumping by the boat. Caught three pike from 35 to 40 inches, and two muskies that were 43 and 44 inches. Also had a muskie in the low 50's hit right at the boat. Swallowed the bait and a six inch titanium wire leader, bit off the line, splashed me, and swam away. Exciting couple of seconds anyway. Caught all of the fish in four to seven feet of water with some clouds and good wind/waves. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[DrewFlu33]

Great report!  What were you getting the bass on?  

I've only been able to find them deeper lately on drop shots and the like.  Do you think the wind and cloud cover had them up shallower, or that they're starting to move back up for fall? 

[Troy Smutka]

DrewFlu,

     Got the bass on spinnerbaits, jig spinners with 3" grubs, and Rippin' Raps. I think the prefrontal conditions with wind was why there were big fish of multiple species up shallow. We experience that all summer on Waconia--the fish are willing to move up shallow quickly with the right weather conditions.

[Troy Smutka]

8/12/16     Got out on Waconia this morning. Perfect conditions. Cloudy, some wind, drizzle on and off, and storms to the west. Hit top of one weedy reef and inside weed edges on two other spots. Had one 1/2 ounce bass spinnerbait and one 1 ounce small musky spinner bait going through the weed tops and along the edge. Got ten largemouth from 16 to 19 inches, four pike up to 36 inches, and a 46 inch musky. Also had another musky roll on a bait but missed it. Once the wind dropped to nothing and the sun cracked out briefly in the late morning, this shallow water (5 to 9 feet) bite was over. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

12/24/16     West Metro

     Got out on a couple west metro area lakes Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning. Caught some crappies and nice bluegills Friday evening in 20 feet of water. Saturday morning caught some nice sunfish in shallower water, with two-foot high weeds. Both days the sunnies wanted small gill pills tipped with a waxie or a couple red Eurolarvae. The crappies hit this offering some, but really liked a small crappie minnow under a slip float. Found 5 to 8 inches of ice everywhere we looked. Not much snow left. Will get out next week to see what all the rain does to the ice. Headed to Mille Lacs in the middle of the week for walleyes and perch--check out the Mille Lacs forums for a report later in the week. Good luck, be safe on the ice, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Bogie04]

Any ice reports coming in from Waconia? I haven't hit the ice yet this season. Might venture out towards Waconia tomorrow. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[Troy Smutka]

Haven't been on Waconia yet. In Towne Marina keeps pretty good tabs on ice conditions--give em a call. Last report I heard was six inches in Waconia Bay but that is about ten days old.

[Troy Smutka]

1/1/17     Happy New Year everyone Got out on Prior this morning. Still about 8-9 inches of ice--no snow at all. Good sunfish bite with a couple crappies mixed in. Fish coming up out of the weeds all morning, with peak bites from 8:30 to 9:30 and 10:30 to 11:00. Fast action with lots of doubles during those peak times, but still seeing and catching a fish here and there the rest of the time. Almost all the sunfish were over seven inches, caught sunnies up to 9.5 inches. Just two crappies, one 7" and one 9 inches. Caught probably sixty sunfish, kept two meals--one tomorrow and one in the freezer. Small VMC Tugnsten Tubby in orange, chartreuse, and white tipped with two red Eurolarvae was our best offering, but Gill Pills and waxies caught fish as well. Fishing over two to three foot high weeds in mid-depth water not far from a deep hole. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

1/16/17     Got out on a west Metro area lake this weekend. Sunfish bite was a little slow, but had a couple of good spurts of activity, and the fish were mostly big ones. Panfish have move out over the deep basin area. Seventeen inches of ice where we were and snow is not a problem. We caught sunnies (and one bass and one crappie) on small VMC Tungsten Tubbies in white and orange/chartreuse/white tipped with two red Eurolarvae. An underwater camera was helpful as the fish were a bit finicky and often grabbed the end of the Eurolarvae and just held on for a couple seconds before finishing inhaling the bait enough for a hook set. Probably would have missed more fish fishing by feel than by sight. Panfish should be over these deep basin areas feeding on larvae coming out of the soft bottom for the nest six weeks to two months depending on the timing of the arrival of spring weather. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

1/23/17    Night crappie bite is on. Hit Waconia Saturday evening. Got a good sunfish bite half hour before sunset until dark. Crappies bit well from six to eight pm. Larger Tungsten Tubby in glow tipped with a wax worm and a small VMC spoon in glow pink fire UV tipped with a waxie were the best baits. Sunfish were near the bottom over a deep basin area adjacent to a shallower weedy area, and crappies moved through spread out over the bottom eight feet or so of the water column. Sunfish still biting during the day on Prior, but they are moving around a lot so you need to hole hop for a consistent bite. Numbers and size. Tiny Tungsten Tubby or Gill Pill with one or two red Eurolarvae were working well. An inline reel is a big help as it reduces line twist and keeps you jig from spinning and spooking finicky sunfish. Still sixteen to eighteen inches of ice on Waconia, and fifteen to sixteen on Prior. Water and slush on top, but more seasonal temps this week should firm things up. Good luck, be safe, and I will see you out there somewhere.

[Troy Smutka]

3/28/17     Fishing for spring river run walleyes on the Mississippi in St. Paul the past two days. No big females yet, but lots of 12 to 18 inch males for myself and clients. 3/8 ounce  to 1/2 ounce chartreuse/pink or white jigs with a rattle chamber tipped with a fathead minnow were the ticket. Kept the jig slightly off the bottom, and slowed the boats drift with the MinnKota so the jig was drifting faster than the boat and was down stream of the boat at about a 45 degree angle. Just slightly lifted and dropped the jig to create a subtle swimming motion. Hungry male walleyes were slamming it. Heading up to the Rainy for a few days--will report on that when back. Good luck, and I will see you out there somewhere.