Wayzata Bay, Lake Minnetonka

I made it out a few weeks ago on Lake Minnetonka for the initial dive in the Getting Deep Series. It was pretty dang interesting the amount of fish occupying mid depth ranges (7-15ft). High skies and hot, and we still found Walleyes basking in the sun. Bass were abundant to say the least. Mostly Largemouth but was able to spot quite a few smallies but didn’t get them on video. So many sunfish it was unreal, sad to say the majority of them were very very small but was surprised at a few 8 inch gills also.

You can see the area I dove, just a great little point extending out into deep water. I suspect the walleyes move up and down that break, it would likely be an awesome spot to drop a line! Honestly though, even in high skies I found 90% of the fish sitting right on top of the hump rather than off to the breaks as one would think. This could partially be because a lot of the Walleyes stocked in Minnetonka grew up in weed infested ponds and learned to use weeds as a primary piece of cover. Just a thought!

I’ve been out on Sturgeon Bay recently, and man I had some awesome stuff! Check back soon to see some really up close and personal bass footage!

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That is some very cool footage. It gives me a new perspective of what is actually going on under the water. Also to fish shallow for walleyes.

Awesome Video! Looking forward to seeing many more!

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Very cool video. Do you have a list of lakes you plan to hit this summer or just whatever comes your way?

Thanks! It’s been really interesting so far! No lakes in particular. I’d really like to hit a few of the more popular ones, on popular spots to kind of see what actually goes on. For sure going to hit Superior this week, Mille Lacs, Leech, more on Tonka. Any lakes with good water clarity is awesome. Any lake ideas?

Ben this is some great stuff. Do you plan on deeper dives as the heat of the summer comes on? This is something that I have to put on my bucket list, after snorkeling in Hawaii I told the wife I wanted to get certified for diving. The way this summer is going will probably not be until retirement ( only have been able to put the boat in the water for 1 morning and one evening since ice out).
Please keep the videos coming. Mike

Hey Mike!

I don’t know how deep I’ll get down there this summer. The deepest I’ve gone so far is about 33 feet on the lake my cabin is on up by Leech Lake. The thermocline was at about 22-23 feet and as soon as I hit it, the water temperature went from 75 to about 52 degrees. It got a little chilly with my light wetsuit on!

Being a little green behind the ears, I’d like to find someone more experienced to go much deeper (50ft+). I’d like to go dive the mine pits up by crosby, people say it’s a pretty good time.

Get certified in a heartbeat! It’s so much fun, especially as a fisherman! I’d do all of the pool training sessions in the winter and then get certified in the spring either locally or when you go on vacation. It’s well worth the money!

Man O man! You are going to go through withdrawals pretty soon! There is only one way to fix them….

Wow I never gave the thermo cline any thought, that would be a shocker. Planed a morning outing for next Friday. Went back to driving truck and still doing the asbestos work on the side. Maybe I could write the scuba gear off as business expense, I have written enough resperators off as it is.

Haha respirator…scuba gear. Same thing, it works!

Very cool! That’s going to add some sweet footage to the episodes I’m sure! Have you entertained diving under the ice in the winter? The marcum footage is nice but diving footage is waaaaayyy better!

I have and frankly I’m not too sure how a feel about it. Mostly I don’t think it would be too bad….The other part of me is a little freaked out. If something bad would happen under the ice, things could go south quickly. In saying that, I think it would be a blast in a dry suit! Especially if we had a light snow year, it would make everything nice and bright down there.

IceAsylum wrote:

Wow I never gave the thermo cline any thought, that would be a shocker.

Its a really big shocker when you get a large exchange of water in your wet suit from moving the wrong way. Feels like jumping in the lake early spring.

So any chance you might want to dive on Pool 2? I know of a few wing dams that have about 1100 jigs stuck in them…..

Steve Root wrote:

So any chance you might want to dive on Pool 2? I know of a few wing dams that have about 1100 jigs stuck in them…..

I’d be game for sure. May have to wait until the water goes down a touch otherwise I’ll let go of the dam and end surfacing down in Gulf!