What's Working Now...

[lakepepinboy]

Thanks so much Pat! Driving on the ice doesn't bother me - I grew up on the Mississippi and we used to drive across Lake Pepin all the time when we went skiing in Frontenac or at Welch Village. Doing so used to get us an extra hour on the slopes and we never dropped a car through the ice. Plus, I take my wife's minivan out and let her use my Audi - minvans are a dime a dozen...

I do have a good Lake Minnetonka map and see Seton and Black on it. I'm pretty familiar with the area as we fish on Minnetonka out of our boat during the summer. Am pretty sure I understand the directions and will stop by, say hi (and thanks!) and introduce my 8 year-old sun Tommy to you (as well as my 5 year-old daughter Mallory if it is warm enough for her to come along - she loves fishing too). I'm sure I can find 16 feet of water easily enough, but is there any particular section of the lake that we should focus on? Of course I'll be looking for your rig.

Thanks again - Greatly appreciated!

Troy and Tommy

[Fishing Queen]

Hi Troy,

Well I was out on Black on Sat we moved our permanent over the point on a 19' mark. we did OK alot of small sunnies we did hit some crappies during the day. We also caught a few small bass that day. I went over to Seton there was way to many rigs for me there would be to much noise. If you can get there early before the rush I bet you could pick up alot before the crowd moves in. Sunday I spent with a good friend her mom just got out of the hospital.It doesn't look good for her mom so I wanted to take her out for a little break. Alot of my friends our parents are getting into that time in their lives that we start to lose them. All I can say to everyone is spend this time with them. If you don't see them often or have had some space put between you both. Forgive and forget spend this time because you never know what can happen. Go fishing with them or just spend the time.

Take care all

Pat

[Matt Johnson]

We targeted basin orientated fish this past weekend. A lot of fish out in the 17-22 foot mark. We tried shallow but it just wasn't going. Crappies, gills, and perch were all relating to the bottom 3 feet and were feeding heavily on bottom larva and bloodworm. Caught a lot of fish on blood red plastics again.

The particular spot we were fishing was just off a deep hole up on the mainlake basin in about 18 feet of water. There were a series of scattered humps out there and we had the area to ourself. Had to punch about 25 holes before we found the pod of fish, but once we did we didn't have to move for several hours. Those fish were untouched and have seen absolutely no fishing pressure this winter. The fish holes they saw were ours.

Here's a shot of one of the gills...

The wind howled a little bit so it was nice to find a spot where we could hunker down for a bit and flip the trap.

Ratsos worked well, as did Nuggies on a Marmooska. Another guy in our group was working them over with a size 2 Sweedish Pimple tipped with Gulp.

Key here is that we decided to venture away from the crowds and locate a different, more active pod of fish. I spent some time talking with the people fishing amongst the crowds and they were having a very hard time getting the fish on their flashers to commit. Simple moves away from the pressured fish can pay off at certain times. Moves as small as 100 yards can make the difference between five fish or fifty fish. So stay mobile and move until you find a pod of fish that are active, they are out there everyday, you just have to find them.

With the warm spell we're going to see in the next few days the fishing should be good. Looks like a few single digits are going to sneak in over the weekend, but it shouldn't play that big of a role...

[lakepepinboy]

Pat,

I took my 8 year-old son and 5 year-old daughter out to Seton on Sunday. We got there around 10am and stayed until 3:30pm! There were only a few rigs/groups when we arrived, but things got a little crazier by about noon. We caught a lot of sunnies, but they were all pretty small. The kids convinced me that a dozen or so were keepers, so I promised to clean and cook them up when we got home. I was wishing I hadn't when it came time to filet them. While I didn't feel like I came up with much meat, we had a couple large cast iron skillets full when I cooked them up the next night and both Tommy and Mallory loved them and both said they can't wait to get back to the cabin this summer. Thanks so much for allowing me to have such a great day on the ice. Mallory isn't sure she wants to go again because she doesn't like have to hold her pee until Tommy and I are ready to take her to bathroom. Tommy wants to return ASAP and we might head out for a few hours tonight.

It was hard getting used to the light tackle you suggested, but after using it for a while, it became obvious that this is the only way to go for panfish. Tommy caught on immediately and is already a pro. Mallory never really caught on, but she loves holding the fish, taking them outside, talking to them, putting them in the pail, counting them, etc. more than anything else so it didn't really matter.

Hopefully we'll get a chance to see you in person one of these days and thank you in person!

Troy

[jholland]

Got out today, went to Wayzata Bay and well, didn't do too hot. I was off to the east side of the bay in about 17-19 FOW. Setup and started probably about 7:25am, left at about 11:30 when the weather was terrible and I wasn't catching a thing. Was hoping to target some pannies, unfortunately the day was cut short. I'm probably going to go out to our wheeler on Grey's Bay tonight to watch the Wild game and enjoy the night.

I really wanted to get some crappies, unfortunately I think since today bummed out, tomorrow might be a bit chilly for the portable, so I think I'll leave that to you crazies who dwell in -40's. If it's not TOO bad I'll probably still head out.

I'm out on Grey's almost every weekend in a Tan 8x16 V-Front wheel house with a green/red stripe on it. We're usually kind of in the corner of the bay towards 101, feel free to stop by whenever.

[Matt Johnson]

I took a large group of people out on the ice on Saturday for their Father/Son Retreat weekend. Many of the participants, both fathers and kids, had never been ice fishing before and some have never even caught a fish! We targeted mainly panfish but found our way into a few bass as well...

Working over a finicky bluegill...

... and his first fish!!!

Father Richard... from Africa and his first time on the ice kissing his price catch!

Bass!!!

Another first!!!

The weather on Saturday was a little windy, but when we started to get cold we brought out the soccer ball and football and played a few games

Most of the sunfish we caught were in 7-9 feet of water on the weed edge. Maggots and waxworms tipped on a little teardrop seemed to be the ticket. By the end of the day these kids were catching fish without a bobber and were hole hopping like the pros!

I sat down with the group at their church before we ventured out on the ice. Once I found out that most of them had never ice fished, and that some have never even caught a fish, I realized it was going to be a fun day! This was one of those days where you really get to see why ice fishing is such a great sport! One of the more fun days I've had on the ice in a long time!

[WallyGader]

Those look like some proud fishermen you have there!

[Matt Johnson]

Spent a good part of the weekend out on Tonka guiding. Ran through a tank of auger gas on both days but ended up finding fish a on few spots each day. The target was crappies for the most part. Sorted through a bunch of smaller ones but eventually tied into some larger fish. The deeper holes held a lot of fish but it ended up being the shallower weeds that held the more consistent numbers of larger fish. Depths from 9-13 feet seemed to be key. Fish were caught on size 8 Ratsos, pink head and white body. They would hold tight in the weeds and then slowly rise out to take the bait. About 2-3 feet of weeds on the bottom is what we focused on.

A great weekend to be on the ice weather wise. Not much wind and a lot of warm temps!

[lotsofish]

I caught a bunch of crappies this weekend out of 25 fow, hugging the bottom, with 1 gill and a few stray perch mixed in.

[Turk]

Mississippi River open water fishing vertical jig and minnow, vertical jig and plastics, or trolled cranks for walleye and sauger. 25 feet and deeper in day for eaters, pitched jigs shallower in low light for big walleye.

With soon to darken water fish will move shallow. The hot day bite hasn't even started.

Keep catchin'

Turk

[iFishMN.YT]

So...Whats workin now?

Nothing is working for me, I have caught a total of 0 fish out of my three times out since open water, the weather isnt helping, but I should be able to find something. I am try a different body of water today, will see how it goes.

[jholland]

I've hit Tonka a few times. Won't name where but we've done well in about 6-10' of water. The temperature of the water was 41 degrees but I'm sure with today warmer water will be a lot more abundant. Bottom was pretty dark and muddy. Bite really turned on around 7:45 and slowed down again at about 8:40.

Used flu-flu's with crappie minnows. Nothing else was working really - Tried Fluflu/CrappieMinnow, Teardrop/CrappieMinnow, Fluflu/Microshad, Fluflu/Shad, Teardrop/Microshad and the Fluflu/Minnow was doing the best by far.

Also tried dipping those microshads in the Gulp Alive! minnow juice. They didn't pay attention to it until I switched over to cut up pieces of the minnows that came in the juice. Sunnies swarmed the thing instantly and some of the small ones that couldn't take the whole piece would thrash around with the bait forever. Still yet to actually catch a fish with Gulp Alive, though.

[TrophyEyes]

I went out to Tonka today after work for a few hours (4-6pm). Two guys put 44 crappies, 1 bass, 2 pike in the boat and one muskie hooked twice and quick released. It was a good time we caught a couple really nice fish as well.

[jholland]

Hit Tonka again today as well. Pretty much the same results as my last post. Still working Fluflus with crappie minnows. During the night I did switch to a Berkley Gulp Alive 3" Minnow. Had to cut it to about half the size but I finally got my first crappie on Gulp!

Water was a lot warmer today, highest we saw was a 49 on the way to our spot. Where we fished it was 46.

Fishing kicked on at about 7:20pm today, and ended at about 8:50pm, when we left.

Total count tonight was about 20 crappies, 2 small largemouth, and one 3.5 pound bucketmouth.

'Nother good night out. Back out tomorrow!

[carverfshrmn]

Was out today and got 10 Crappies between 9 and 11 inches in 4-5 fow tossing twister tails. Was on the lake for say 2 hrs at the most. Fish were down about 2-3 ft. We would have stayed but got a little chill my Buddy did, so will try again tomorrow! They are moving around a bit now, so have to move with them.

[bwally]

Hey Joe, I sent you some mail. Is your Dad going with you tonight?

[jholland]

 Originally Posted By: bwally

Hey Joe, I sent you some mail. Is your Dad going with you tonight?

He's not, but I already have the seat filled tonight

Tomorrow looks stormy, if it seems nicer early I'll let you know I'm considering it. If it's a bad day we can start looking into the weekend or early next week.

Skipping school Monday for some crappie action

[bwally]

Monday is cool. I might have to skip a little work. Let me know what you are planning.

[Matt Johnson]

Tonka has been good lately. Look shallow and stay on the northern shorelines. Seems like finding 48-52 water temps is key too. Slow-profiled presentations have been working around boat marinas and channels...

[markkstanley]

I have noted crappies are not staying put. Have to do a little searching every time but once you find them it's lights out. Out in 7ft depths on main lake areas near the usual spawning areas. Some of the small bays/boat channels are starting to hold fish although they are moving in and out depending on weather. Pink/white and chartruese have been my best colors for jigs. Been tipping the jigs with 2" power bait minnows and Gulp Alive. Also wind blown shore and bays are key - the warmer water is pushed in that direction as well as the bait. For example on Saturday I fished SE areas as the wind had been blowing pretty good out of the NE.

[Matt Johnson]

Tonka was good today. We caught a lot of bass on the inside weed line and also right up tight to the shoreline. A lot of sunfish on their beds and both the bass and carp were cruising those areas causing a ruckus. Slugs, frogs, shallow cranks and spinnerbaits worked well. Water temps were into the low to mid 70's.

Also lost about a 50" muskie boatside. Hit a spinnerbait right alongside the boat and I had her hooked for a couple seconds until it cleared the water and threw the bait back at me. A very large fish. Also had two other muskies follow up to the boat...

[bassNspear]

What is working now boys, i have been off the lake for over 3 weeks, so i need some help out there.

Lets hear it?

[Matt Johnson]

Found all of our fish off the deep weededge on Tonka yesterday. They are really starting to school up out there. Red Shad jigworms have been the hot ticket. Also managed a few fish in between the docks in areas with any sort of weed growth. The fish seem to be cruising chasing around baitfish. Slugs worked well in those areas...

[jholland]

Found all of our fish off the deep weededge on Tonka yesterday.

Hey Matt, saw you driving just behind me on 394 on the way to Tonka. Funny thing was, I looked back and saw your black SUV and a boat and thought "Wouldn't it be funny if that was Matt? Maybe I should slow down and get next to him and see... Nahh..." Then as I took the 101S exit into Wayzata I caught all the logos and stickers are your window. About 8:30-9:00am? Was on the way back from a friend's party in Uptown that night before.

As for a report; Pick a weedline, get a shiny metallic Hot'N'Tot, and troll it around the edge for a little while. I've been doing this with all sorts of lures lately and we've been producing very well. Size has been an issue, but when you get a few 20-26" walleyes mixed in there, it's a great day! HotNTots always do the best, but obviously there are tons of smaller snakes to be caught, limiting your time dragging a nice big Bulldawg or Invader.

The bite seems to be hot in about 12-15' with ~5' of weed growth on the bottom. If you can ride the edge, even better. I've been seeing some bigger Muskies coming out of deeper water, so I think I'll try out some new spots this week.

Time wise, early morning has been slow. Three trips out at about 6:30-7:00am and the bite doesn't really turn on well until about 10:00-10:30. We've been having luck from then until just after sundown.

Some things, while trolling through a few deep holes, I've been seeing a LOT of fish stacked up in about 20-25'. Haven't tried catching them, but the graph seems [PoorWordUsage] sure they're there.

Edit: All of this is about Tonka ^

[Matt Johnson]

Hey Joe. Yep, that was me on my way to the lake

[Matt Johnson]

Tonka fish are on the move! Found fish in 6 different bays yesterday. A lot of the fish are holding on the outside weedline, 8-14 feet of water. Crystal Bay continues to be my bay of choice. Jig worms and beavers are working very well. Also found a lot of fish holding around the islands. Any mix of bottom content and game on! Manns Baby Minus-1 was a hot crankbait in shallows yesterday, very aggressive strikes!

[polarsusd81]

I have been running a Mann's Baby 1 Minus as well and catching a lot of fish on them the last couple weeks. Lots on silver/black, a parrot color, and bright yellow/orange as well. Burning them over the submerged weeds, as Matt said, is triggering some amazing strikes. Deep cranks have been working wonders as well for me the last two weeks. I think every bass I have pulled in for three weeks now has been on cranks. Next up on my list is the drop-shot.

[Matt Johnson]

Found all our fish yesterday on the deep weedline. Had to downsize to keep the bites consistent as the midday heat picked up. Ended up throwing 2" Mister Twister Mino's by the time the day was done

Depths were mostly 7-12 feet of water. Found a few isolated weed patches and pulled several fish of those. Water temps were in the low 80's for the most part.

A couple fish came off docks too. Wacky-rigged Comidas were the ticket there. Also caught a couple fish in the slop tossing jig-worms...

We tried the spinner-bait bite on the wind-blown areas but only managed a few pike... had to leave that area quick

Looks like a nice few days in the near future... go out and get 'em!

[Matt Johnson]

Outdside weed edge... outside weed edge... outside weed edge! The schools of bass have been cruising those outside lines and are looking to eat! Fishing has been consistent the last few weeks on the outside weed edge in 8-14 feet of water. Jig worms have been hot, as have stick worms. 3/16oz Title Shot jigs have been my go-to and I prefer something darker in color when looking towards your choice of plastic. Don't be afraid to snap-jig either. Also catching some fish on drop-shot if you can stay over them. Also take a look at the milfoil bouys... those underwater weed points are holding fish too. Also any inside turns along the weed line will stop bass in their tracks!

Here are a couple pictures from the last couple weeks out there on Tonka...

A lot of excellent fishing yet ahead of us! Keep chasing those fish and move until you find a productive spot!

[mattash2225]

Largemouth: I've been grabbing them out from under pads and on the deep weedlines. Mostly using 4" plastic worms. I fish mostly early mornings and late evenings (almost dark). Darker colors seem to be better than the light or florescent stuff. The bite has died a little on crankbaits and spinnerbaits, but it occurred to me the other day that I haven't tried combining the two in quite some time, so I might try that!