Minnetonka - What to do now?

[PJ Sparkles]

Thank you trouthunter. Enough said in your post. I hope that BassPirate takes it all this weekend. Maybe then the jealous non-believers will keep their negative comments to themselves. I offered up my report to help people, and obviously they cannot handle it, and they feel the need to make fun of your boat and motor. Apparently I am the only one on this site that cannot affort a 50k boat. I will keep my reports to myself............See you on the water.

[Tonka Boy]

Obviously that is how bad the fishing has been on Tonka. People are looking for any scraps they can find these days. By no means were my posts discrediting PJ (as I said before I'm buying it).

Now when green carp season opens there will be lots of good info. You can hardly go out without catching those pesky things.

[EBass]

To believe or not to believe? Hmm, well I want to see some pics.

[Mr Special]

Ditto here also,

I was actually trying to smooth the edges of this trend with my post. The pink E-Tec thing and my Force motor that the boys joke about, that's all. PJ keep up the good work, save some for the rest of us.

[Trouthunter]

I know that what I said seems kinda harsh, but i notice an increase in the occurence of people calling BS on each other lately. It's one thing to call someone for BS, but it really get's frustrating when it clutters up FM. There are 3 or 4 threads that I look forward to reading, and tonka threads are one of them. Imagine my suprise when I see lots of new posts on tonka, and I find out over 75% of them have nothing to do with tonka, but just people grumbling. This site is way to big and I am way to busy to weed through all this stuff. Kinda makes FM become tedious to people who are looking for info or a quick report. Makes for a frustrating experience. Sometimes it might be better to just not say anything, or start a new post, than muddy up the old one. Sorry for being rude earlier.

BD

[jerkin'm]

Looks to me like everyone was poking fun and doing a little doubting, but not grumbling. Oh, except for you trouthunter. Sorry to take away from your busy day. I think everyone is struggling on Tonka a little so it seems a little fishy is all. Lighten up, it's all in fun.

[schr0563]

Well put trouthunter, but I don't think there is any info to share here other than a tall tale. All we asked for was a depth and time of day....

[Trouthunter]

I think that's my point. 67 posts as of now (68 with mine) and very little info still. I understand this is a community and I am not trying to take away from that, but as harmless as it seems to post and make fun and get some good natured ribbing in, the downside is that it creates a lot of unintended and frustrating clutter.

Take a minute and try doing a search in the search engine for posts with the word minnetonka in in it posted in the last week. Very hard to get anywhere unless you have some time.

As sour as it sounds, just because we have the ability to post and contribute, doesnt mean we should. And I dont mean that as an attack to anyone.

I have a whole group of friends who never check this site out anymore because of the amount of "stuff" that you have to wade through.

BD

[gizmoguy]

Mark Stanley, got news for you. They do make pink shad raps. I picked one up at Gander Mountain in MG. It's some Rapala anniversary color. Pink top white sides. I'm saving it for the tourney sunday.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Trout hunter, I too feel your pain.. This is how I look at it..We have had rain and lots of wind the last 18-25 days.. or something like that. To be really honest with you, fishing has not really been that good anywhere. Tonka included. Yes sure, some have hit a good bag of fish here or there, but its not the norm. I think what you have is a lot of people frustrated, and the way they take it out is to poke fun.

I know I am frustrated with this springs weather. Wait it out. There is a lot of wonderfull information on FM.

[Slyster]

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I think that's my point. 67 posts as of now (68 with mine) and very little info still. I understand this is a community and I am not trying to take away from that, but as harmless as it seems to post and make fun and get some good natured ribbing in, the downside is that it creates a lot of unintended and frustrating clutter.

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Speak for yourself... I love these winding threads.. great entertainment!.. and some interesting content besides. Use the search features to find the golden nuggets.. I've found so much that way.

[buzzsaw]

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I know I am frustrated with this springs weather. Wait it out. There is a lot of wonderful information on FM.

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Trouthunter , I agree with the post Deitz made.... it has been slow and the weather has been a bear! This is a great site with alot of very good guys willing to share their knowledge and experience!

[mahannah]

I was out on Minnetonka last night for a few hours before dark. We were trolling husky jerks hoping to find a few walleyes in the shallows. No walleyes, but the muskies/northerns were certainly hungry. We landed 2 muskies and a northern within an hour. One was 34" the other 40". My wife caught the larger one, great fun.

Question- Will walleyes associate around waters where their are active northerns/muskies or do they scare off to other waters. If you are fishing and catch a northern, is it smart to fish another area?

Hope the walleye bite picks up soon.

I

[CALVINIST]

There is hope, guys. Only one 22.5 inch walter early this saturday am, but it was enough to raise my dour spirits. First Tonka walleye this year, with more on the way! Chartreuse fireball jig/fathead in 16 FOW.

[huntingislife]

Gave it a try last night from 6-12. Only ended up with 2 northerns. Sure would have been nice to see a walleye. Oh well, soon!!!

[Ice-9]

Actually, I agree with Trouthunter in a way. I want the forum to work and be reliable. I certainly apologize to anybody who thinks my challenge to Mr. Sparkles was out of line, or that the thread is off the topic. Seems to me that if somebody reports wild success with a new and rather unusual bait or technique then it is on topic and valuable to confirm the report. In this case it hasn't so far been possible. He's new, and there are some things about his report that are odd. I'll be the first to apologize if it's real. Sparkles (up until his last post, I guess) was willing to share, but not enough to help me. We were pushing him a bit. Maybe too far. Maybe I'm beyond help.

Anyway, I and my six cold coronas and a big fat skunk drifted around WB last night no hits no runs no errors, and no Sparkle, though I did see a boat that was close in description pass through a couple of times, didn't seem to be fishing, and didn't come around to claim the prize.

I did not throw pink.

ice

[markkstanley]

Pink Raps! The end of the world has come. I am scuttling my boat and taking up needlework. And Buzzsaw I am going to get you for that pink type.

PJ again I want to be clear I was not doubting you or poking fun. If we were fishing out of the same boat and you caught 100 fish to my none by using pink I still would not change to that color.

Now to address the other comments. The easy solution to end all the "doubting" is a little info on time and depth. PJ sounds like he has a pattern going (even though that color eliminates any benefit from it to me) and some other site members would like to try it. If PJ doesn't want to give out that info (and it sounds to me like he has promised not to) then fine. Take him at his word guys.

My last comment is directed in general to all and not at PJ. Photos end all the doubting. Last fall Tonka Boy and I had some success and we posted the pics. Buzzsaw for example posted the photo of his big walleye with the story and caused a lot of envy. No doubting or whining in either case.

And Ice 9, I really tried to get me some walleyes to claim the Coronas. Already knew where I could get a tri-hull and probably could have got Mr Special to loan me the force if we split the prize. Sadly not to be. I am still in a no walleye zone. But I remain proudly pink free!

[CALVINIST]

On the forum anybody can say anything, and certainly misinformation clowns do come and go. Anyone-even if they are honest about their information-who has five posts to his name will not have the credibility as one who has a few hundred and known by other FMers. So is it any wonder that everyone is giving Mr. Sparkles a tough time? Did I mention the Fireball jig I caught the walleye on this morning was chartreuse...NOT pink!

[Ice-9]

I dug out some sluggos from my guiding days and had them on the boat yesterday, but they were bubblegum, NOT pink.

ice

[Ice-9]

Total for me and my regular fishing buddy: two walleyes, one on opening day (lindy/red hook/leech 17FOW, 25") and one Thursday night (lindy/red hook/leech 17 FOW 16"). Last night we had a few tap-and-holds, assorted other maybes, no fo-sho hits and no fish of any description in the boat. I wonder if they are not shallow.

ice

[jerkin'm]

Been out twice, both mid-day jaunts. Monday for an hour, not a bite on any of my favorite early spots. Wednesday, 3 hours, 1 pike, tried jigging outside weedline, shallow cranks, super deep. The best looking schools were in the 30 foot range, hugging bottom. Marked some fish here and there but nothing going on. My timing has been terrible. I do have some pink fireballs, and some pink slugo's. Unused. Saw a LOT of boats hitting the channel areas last night,late.

[schr0563]

Report for Saturday morning. We caught 4 fish, a 20", two 22", and a 26.5". We also had a few northerns and bass. We fished a spot that has always produced. Spring, summer, winter, fall, we always catch fish there. And again, the edge of the weeds around 15-17 feet of water. No special presentation, just a 1/4 oz fuzz-e-grub with a leech or fathead. Color didn't matter. When the fish moved in we got the four and lost two others. After 45 minutes they were gone. They started around 5:15 am, when the wind picked up slightly. When the wind died an hour later there was nothing. Unfortunately, we had to leave when the wind really started blowing around 8:00. Several boats pulled up to fish in our general area, but by then the bite had already subsided. Another thing noted is that when we filleted the smaller fish it was full of sunfish, just like we typically find on this spot.

Now, last weekend I had to be up in Alexandria for the opener, so I wasn't in town. But my dad hit Tonka and produced 4 nice fish. So for 2 trips out there this year we have 8 nice walleyes to show for it. Some people seem to think the bite is slow. But I am finding that the fish are being very consistent with how they have behaved the last several years. I realize some guys fish 4-5 nights a week, and they would have a better understanding of the fish activity. Maybe I have just been lucky hitting the spots at the right time.

My advice, stick to what you know works. The fish will be there sooner or later.

[fishlakeman]

Went out to Tonka on Saturday morning and managed a big goose egg. I had no problem finding the fish- was marking huge schools of fish and of those schools, 2 of the schools were walleyes by proof of the aqua view. They were suspended about 3-5 feet off the bottom suprisingly and didn't want anything to do with a leech, fathead, shiner, plastics, etc. I fished wayzata and browns bay's- 17-30 feet of water. Hope this helps you guys, let me know if ya are able to coax them into biting.

[buzzsaw]

Fishlakeman, I was in Wayzata and Browns bay all morning and the wind was an absolute pain in the arse! I will say that I spent less time fishing because of the wind factor and more time marking waypoints and checking out new area's. I'll say that in the end I came up with two snake Northerns and a smaller Bass... ugghhhh

[CALVINIST]

I was going to head up to the St Louis river today, but my brother advised me not to do so. Apparently this kind of post frontal situation with winds out of the north really shuts things down up there. Instead, I fished the graveyard shift on Tonka last night. Except for a 28.5" walleye , things were quiet. Cuaght it on a blue/glow lipstick jig tipped with a fattie. Tonight I am off to a Camebridge area lake for some shore fishing. You never know, I just might beat last night's fish .

[SportFishin']

Hey PJ,

Would like to extend an apology if I offended you in any way. Was just trying to poke a little fun in the post, because for most of us it has been tough out there this year with all the cool weather. But hey if you would just throw us a bone on depth,time of day? I'm willing to try any color once.

Thanks & See ya on the Water!

Chris

[wmn luv me walleye fearme]

I took my step dad out fishing on friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (not exactly prime time) Caught nothing until we switched to trolling cranks the last hour and at least got a couple decent pike. The Walleye tournament that was out there on sunday out of 75 teams only 25 weighed in fish.

So if your out there catching some I'd say your doing pretty good

[SteveWilson]

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Pink Raps! The end of the world has come. I am scuttling my boat and taking up needlework.

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Pink rules !!!! If you have a 6 year old Barbie fan in the house then Pink rules. So far, my best luck fishing this year has been on Hay Creek using ........ A PINK SQUIRLE. I also made a nice rod for my daughter (5’ light, fast action, with a slightly longer handle) with guess what for wrap color?? Hot Pink and rainbow guides, and the line? 6lb, pink Maxxum. I’m finishing up a couple of Muskie rod’s and one has metallic fuchsia and gold wraps on gold guides (actually looks very cool) and the other has metallic blue and copper wraps (a 7 year old boy in the house). And now for the ultimate……… Barbie muskie baits ! My wife and daughter picked up some Barbie’s at a garage sale last week that aren’t in the best of shape. I’ve worked some stiff wire through them and am working on attaching some treble hooks and deertail. I think a little rainbow or pink flashabo should give Barbie a nice lateral line. Pink rules

[markkstanley]

Way too funny! Is the barbie a topwater or a deep diver??

[SteveWilson]

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Way too funny! Is the barbie a topwater or a deep diver??

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I think they're top water right now. I'm planing on casting them from shore to see what they want to do. I might try and mount a plexiglass lip to the face of one of the Barbie's to get it to dive, the other I might finish normally or I might put a #9 colorado blade ahead of the head. I might stick a slip sinker on some wire that runs through Barbie's butt. It's sort of a work in progress.