Minnetonka Safety

[willfishforfood]

I recently purchased my first boat a 16'3" Lund with a 76" beam. I have heard some bad things about the boating traffic on tonka and I was wondering if my boat would be big enough? Are there places that a guy can fish without getting run over or swamped? If i were to stay off of the main part of the lake would I be ok? What areas should I avoid? Is there any certain boat landings that is better for fisherman to launch at? Or should I just stay off of the lake all together, being that I have a smaller boat?

[Down to Earth]

I have a 1982 14' Lund and have been on Tonka a few times. Weekends can be a bit tough, but if you get out early mornings you should be ok. Or if you can swing it during the week that probably would be better. Minnetonka is so vast with many bays, etc that you are out mid day on weekends you should have no problem finding places to fish if you do a little searching. I've always put in at Maxwell Bay and have liked that launch.

Andy

[Dkoy]

You should be ok. Like said, avoid weekends if possible. I also have a 16 foot oldy and I do fine in any of the bays. The only place to stay out of during traffic is the main bodys, ofcourse its the whole middle stretch. Thats where a lot of the big boats will be gunning, you most likely will hit a lotta big waves in tight quarters especially on the weekends. All the bays on west and south west end to south east end are good to go with a 16, throughout the time. Most smaller bays are smooth, other than the regular water skiers, which is not too bad. Pretty much do-able. Good luck! Also keep a lot out for a few bays where you can't fish in, saw some peeps getting cited this weekend.

[SWMuskeye]

Willfish,

I'm sure others will share the same sentiment here. Avoid hardscrabble point and the structure east of the Narrows on weekends. I too have a 16' boat and love to fish the structure near the narrows, but have had many a close call out there. Nothing like a 30' ciggarette boat going 50+ within a 100 yards of you w/some hopped up teens on it.

There's plenty of lake out there, just watch out for main waterways (red & green bouys) and near rock buoys.

[markkstanley]

If you fish weekends the west end of the lake has the least amount of boat traffic (helps that Fletcher's is in a no wake area ) The main lake from Arcola area to Gray's has a ton of big boat traffic and becomes unfishable by noon but if you get out at sunrise you can fish anywhere you want over there. It's not as bad a most people think. Just pay attention to your surroundings and you'll be alright. Now the weekend lines at the launches is another story in itself.

[willfishforfood]

Thank you all for the input. This will definatley help me plan any trips I may make out onto Tonka. I may stick with Independence for a while as it sounds like there is some good musky action on that lake.

Good Luck Fishin