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Posted

Best bays and depths to find walleye in Lake Minnetonka and best times to go out? Plan to go out tomorrow.

Posted

I’ve always experienced a pretty narrow bite windows out there - typical of heavily weeded lakes.  2 hours max around first light and last light.  Never did over nights on that lake though.  I’ve also caught walleye in just about every part of the lake with my biggest coming from Stubbs.

 

My best water was more main lake structure on either the upper or lower main lakes; upper probably having the best average.  Spring Park to the Narrows has tons of fishable water.

 

I preferred points that extended beyond the weed line and would drill the whole area out from 10 - 30 fow within 200 feet so I could run a tip up over the weeds and jig the deeper holes until the eyes started moving.  DO THIS WELL BEFORE THE BITE WINDOW.  You could see or catch them deeper and keep moving up the point to the shallower holes as they moved up.  Once they hit the weeds it was usually over and I’d head home since it was also usually a week night I’d go out after work.

 

I suspect this pattern works quite a few places but it played out pretty reliably when I was there.  I have caught walleye in that lake in 4-8 fow also.  Find some scattered boulders on sand or gravel flats for that.

 

Be quiet and keep the lights low.

 

Give us a report back please.

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Posted

You're right. Really great place for fishing.

Posted

As long as we're on the subject, any current info on ice conditions on Carson's Bay?

Posted

A buddy was on Carson's last Sunday. He sent me pics of trucks and wheelhouses. He didn't say how much ice though. Use this info at your own risk.

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Posted

I would not pull a house with a truck on Lake Minnetonka, anywhere.  Just because some other fools did it without checking doesn't mean you should too.

 

Last week the east arm had about 15 trucks out there on less than 10 inches of ice.  Some places only had 5 inches.

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Posted

Just texted my buddy. He said there were 15 inches of ice and about 100 trucks. After the mild week we've had and the melting the past 3 days I would not drive out on the lake with a car/truck.

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Posted (edited)

That’s a lot!

 

@wobert, any report from Wednesday?

Edited by Wanderer
Posted

odd that Minnetonka has more ice than smaller lakes north of it...not saying it doesn't have 15" of ice but that surely surprises me when areas of the state with colder temps have less ice than that.  I would certainly check for myself before I just drove aimlessly onto a lake let alone one around the cities

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Posted

Carson’s is a pretty sheltered area as far as Minnetonka goes.  Always been one of the early ice spots on the lake, especially with the access convenience and shelter from the big winds.  I agree, 15 is surprising but possible.

3CB1842A-2613-441A-B984-9D056CC81B7F.jpeg.4d4d61146e3f8a7b3a36b4b46f39480d.jpeg

 

I talked to a friend from the Cross Lake area today and they’ve been hard pressed to find more than 9.5 on lakes they fish.  We’re running 9.5 - 12 in Central MN and I had up to 14 in Ely on New Year’s Day.

 

Never assume and always check, especially when going away from the crowds.

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Posted
13 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

access convenience

 

I used that access one time in the spring but there's nowhere to park.  There's no lot and the parking on the shoulder of the road requires some kind of designated parking pass.  Needless to say after I launched my boat and realized this, I had to load back up and go to another access.

Posted
1 hour ago, gimruis said:

 

I used that access one time in the spring but there's nowhere to park.  There's no lot and the parking on the shoulder of the road requires some kind of designated parking pass.  Needless to say after I launched my boat and realized this, I had to load back up and go to another access.

Winter access.  I’ve never launched from a south side access.  I always used Wayzata, Spring Park, North Arm or Maxwell Bay when boating.  There were a few winter access spots scattered around but they were never marked.  And who knows, they could’ve been shut down since the last time I was on Minnetonka ice.

 

By the looks of the feedback, I’m either posting too much about this for some people or experiences with the lake have really gone down hill over the years.

 

I’ve sometimes considered going back to the Cities just to fish my old spots out there.  At one time I could’ve drawn a map of the lake from memory.  Of course looking at Navionics I see I was still missing a lot!

Posted
15 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Winter access

OK so where do they park if the ice isn't thick enough to drive on then?

Posted (edited)

What part of the lake do you want to fish?

I grew up within a 1/2 mile of Maxwell Bay. There are a lot of nooks and crannies and old fire roads. I don't know if all are still open in the winter but knowing the part of the lake you want to fish will help find access locations and maybe parking.

Edited by Hookmaster
Posted

That's not the issue.  I'm wondering where people park if they're using the Carson Bay access.

Posted
1 hour ago, gimruis said:

OK so where do they park if the ice isn't thick enough to drive on then?

I don’t know dude and I’m not going to debate it.  I’ve never used it and always came in from the lake side to Carson’s and there were always people there.  
 

Besides a certain spot I know in that bay you now know most of what I know about it. ?

Posted

I haven't fished that bay in years.  The times I did go in there I did pretty well though.  The entire bay is minimum wake so there tends to be less man-made waves than on other portions of the lake.

Posted

During the summer I've seen rigs parked down by the pickle ball courts to the west of the access. I don't think there is a permit required there but not sure. There were spots open right across Mtka. Blvd. from the access when I've seen rigs by the pickle ball courts. Don't know if it's plowed in the winter. In the attached pic it shows this lot as parking for the Deephaven City offices which are in the nearby. See "P" in the lower left of the pic.

Maybe I'll swing by there this weekend and see. I need excuses to exercise the truck.

IMG_9371.jpg

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Posted

You can park along Minnetonka Blvd.  The enforcement is from May1 to October 1. Just watch for the signs. Also the lot by the pickle ball courts is plowed and open.

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Posted
On 1/15/2021 at 6:38 PM, mulefarm said:

The enforcement is from May1 to October 1.

 

OK, so where do you park from May to October?  It basically prohibits anyone without a special pass from launching their boat there.

Posted
4 hours ago, gimruis said:

 

OK, so where do you park from May to October?  It basically prohibits anyone without a special pass from launching their boat there.


Seems intentional, I would say.  They’d probably have too many and maybe too congested there?  Or just more of closed residential perk?

 

Nice to have some discussion on it even though the OP didn’t seem to care after all.

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  • Yayyyy 1
Posted

I believe the city of Deephaven owns the ramp and the parking on the south side of Minnetonka Blvd. Residents have a pass to park there and along blvd between the signs from  May 1 to October 1. The lot by the pickle ball courts and the lot by Deephaven Elementary are open to people without city pass. You don’t need a pass to launch your boat at the landing.

Posted
14 hours ago, mulefarm said:

I believe the city of Deephaven owns the ramp and the parking on the south side of Minnetonka Blvd. Residents have a pass to park there and along blvd between the signs from  May 1 to October 1. The lot by the pickle ball courts and the lot by Deephaven Elementary are open to people without city pass. You don’t need a pass to launch your boat at the landing.

 

Ok so I'm not a Deephaven resident so I can't even get a pass to park there.  In other words, there is no public parking someone with a trailer at that access then.

 

Guess I won't consider that a an option or real public access if there's no parking.

Posted

Here you go @gimruis You can feel like a resident for at least a little while.

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Posted

26 foot and it has 3 fishing holes.   ??

Attached are a couple of pics of the bay where the access is. The larger part of the bay to north has way more houses than this.

IMG_9383.JPG

IMG_9384.JPG

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Posted

Looks like the shanty town that sprung up around my house in central MN.  Just moved it off to a new, less populated spot and now have someone drilling by me.

Posted
On 1/23/2021 at 10:20 AM, Hookmaster said:

The larger part of the bay to north has way more houses than this.

 

 

Any idea what the target fish is?  I know there's a nice weedline along a deep edge in there but I can't imagine that many people chasing pike...

Posted
1 hour ago, gimruis said:

 

Any idea what the target fish is?  I know there's a nice weedline along a deep edge in there but I can't imagine that many people chasing pike...

Hey gimruis I was there Saturday morning (my car is the silver equinox in the pic) and my vex was lit up with gills all morning. I took three decent sized ones from there before heading to Black Lake. Guy next to me left around 10 with his limit if crappies. Another guy pulled a decent (looked like 14-16" bass on his tip up. Black Lake had bigger gills but same thing there-numbers were insane! 

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Posted

Panfish. A lot of sorting on the sunnies. My buddy usually puts up a tip up also and will catch an occasional nort. This one looks like it has some small sunnies in it. 

IMG_9450.JPG

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Posted
3 hours ago, Hookmaster said:

Panfish. A lot of sorting on the sunnies

 

Ya there's no shortage of dinky sunfish in that lake

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Wanderer
      Nope!  But it’s more funner!
    • smurfy
      I don't need no livescope to catch fish....🤔🤪  It's all in how ya wiggle the worm!😜 Just sayin  🤣
    • Kettle
      Obviously this is more of a hot topic due to forward facing sonar. With that being said, I know people who have pulled crappies out of basins 40+ deep since the fl-8 and zercom flashers came out. That's over 30 years ago. I do think there's a push to ban these in MN and I could see them doing it here. They'll have to pay my livescope from my cold dead hands 😆 on days I can't catch a walleye jigging or rigging it's nice to turn it on and throw corks at individual fish
    • Kettle
      It wasn't just you, I was fishing west of you about an hour on Monday. Fished 8am-4pm, no fish, two keeper walleye and one small one from 4pm-630pm. Marked a lot of fish, they would come up to a jig and swim away. They were skittish to the dead stick too
    • leech~~
      I wonder like divers, if we let them decompress every 10' for 1/2hr. If that would help?  🤔  It would slow the bite down a bit!  🤭
    • carlsonmn
      That was a better study compared to last winter when they setup the vertical tube nets and tried to release exhausted fish from being studied and expected them to be able to swim straight down a 3' hoop net.     That lake's crappie population from this latest video was pretty deep at 40-50', and no doubt from those depths that is barotrauma for most.  That is deeper than most crappie holes but certainly how some are. However from helping give fish a good release from the 35' and less range and tracking them with live sonar most of them swim at a shallow angle back to the depths and I watch them rejoin the school and be active.  Uncut Angling's video helped counter some of the initial narrow findings.  
    • SkunkedAgain
      If you fished with me more often, you'd never have to make this statement...   38" of ice - love it. I'm really going to have to dig around for my auger extension. I don't think that I've needed it in over a decade.   Too bad nobody has a locomotive chugging across the ice to do some logging, like the good old days.
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  Ice fishing remains strong across the south shore of Lake of the Woods out on Big Traverse Bay.  Resorts and outfitters on some parts of the lake have ice roads extending over 16 miles staying on nice schools of walleyes and saugers.  Many fish houses are over deep mud.  Some are on structure.  It is always fishing of course, but overall, February has been very productive for most anglers.   Extensions are being used on ice augers as the ice continues to thicken.  The thick ice this year will be good for the extended ice fishing season Lake of the Woods enjoys with fish houses out through March 31st, walleyes and saugers open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes. Most fishing activity is taking place in 26-32 feet of water.  Anglers are finding a healthy mix of walleyes and saugers, with a good number of jumbo perch in the mix this year.  Some big eelpout are also showing up.  Anglers are reporting plenty of fish for fresh fish frys and usually extra fish to bring home.   The one-two punch of a jigging line and deadstick is the way to go.  On the jigging line, jigging spoons with rattles tipped with a minnow head have been consistent.  Lipless crankbaits and jigging rap style lures also doing well.     Lures with a light have been working well in the stained water.  Please remember, in MN, lures with a light or water activated light can be used as long as the battery is mercury free and the hook is attached directly to the lure and not as a dropper line.     On the deadstick, a plain hook or a small jig with a live minnow 6 inches to a foot off of the bottom.    Some days, mornings are better, other days, it's the afternoons.  There is no distinct pattern, they could come through at any time. On the Rainy River...  The start of the day and end of the day have been best for those targeting walleyes on the river. A jig and minnow or a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head is also producing some fish. Some big sturgeon being iced by ice anglers targeting them.  It is a catch-and-release sturgeon season currently.   Although ice conditions on the river are good, they can vary significantly due to the current, so anglers should always consult local resorts or outfitters for the most up-to-date safety information and fishing advice. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing has been strong in the islands area of Lake of the Woods. Resorts continue to move their fish houses around, staying on the best schools of walleyes.     Anglers are catching a nice mix of walleyes, saugers, and jumbo perch with an occasional pike or tullibee as well.     Big crappies are still being caught just over the border.  Fish houses are available, check with a NW Angle resort for info on crappie fishing.   Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended ice fishing season with fish houses on the ice through March 31st and walleye and sauger seasons open through April 14th. Perch, crappie, and pike seasons remain open year-round.    
    • leech~~
      Maybe you should put rattle wheels down, if your going to sleep for 6hrs! 🤭 😆
    • JerkinLips
      Monday was my worst day of winter fishing on Vermilion in the last 4 years.  Caught only one 14" walleye in nearly 8 hours of fishing.  Missed two other bites and was marking very few fish.  Maybe the fish were taking Monday off after a big weekend.   No more water came up on the ice under my house.  Think it was because I haven't banked snow around it for a couple of weeks so the bare ice around the house is getting very thick.  I measured 38" of ice under my house and the Ion barely made it through even with the extension installed.  Needless to say I banked around the house this time.  Another lesson I learned today is don't drill holes if ice is frozen on your blades.  I did that on one hole and it didn't center properly and drilled at an angle on the edge of the opening.  Hope I can correct the location and angle on my next trip up.   Not much change in the surface lake surface conditions.  The drifts may be a little higher and are definitely harder.  There are still a few bare ice spots on the lake.  Very little activity on the lake today.  There are about 3 dozen houses from McKinley Park out to Birch Island.  Another person pulled there house off today, and I am sure many more will pull theirs off this coming weekend.  Only 13 days left of walleye season.    
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