Fall Walleyes on Tonka like on Mille Lacs?

My brother (site name Aphid) and I have done a lot of 2 hr drives up to Mille Lacs in the past for the fall walleye trolling runs. With having families now, the random last second decisions to go when that night’s weather is forecasted with light winds and a touch of full moon, doesnt always work out like they used to.

Generally along mille lacs shorelines, we troll at 1-3mph in 5-10′ FOW husky jerks and rogues, spending about 3-6 hours on the water. Typically we get bit a lot with walleyes ranging from 20″-28″.

TIME though isnt there for us like before.

Just curious for feedback:
Has anyone experienced the “mille lacs jerkbait trolling bite” and also see it repeatable/comparable/proven on Lake Minnetonka? The 15 minute drive to Tonka would be much more doable than the Mille Lacs trip if so.(We could probably get approvals from the wardens/wives easier too…ha ha)

Thank you for the discussion and feedback!
Jim

Shhhh…That only works on mille lacs

Check it out

lots of luck, with a post spanning 6 years

Lot’s of great info.

Wonderful info! So it does appear there are walleyes out there!

Out of curiousity, since there is more milfoil on Tonka, is the line selection or use of steel leaders more the norm to avoid the weeds or muskies from beating up the line? Generally i’m using 12lb Floro/ no steel leaders up on mille lacs and that is sufficient for ripping through the remaining cabagge up there.

But knowing how thick the milfoil is on tonka in summer, does it lay down a lot more in the fall? 12lb test would seem to be more prone to breaking if hung up in weeds…
and it seems like Lots of Luck’s posts are saying the fish related to the weeds…

Thanks guys, i’m really impressed by Lots of Lucks posts – wonderful sharing.

Jim

Just dont try that BS on Waconia.

The bite on tonka is nothing like what you described on mille lacs. There some eyes in tonka, but they are hard to find. There is normally a 5 to 20 minute window that it turns on and hopefully one of the 3 people in your boat gets one for the night. On very rare nights there are more then one caught, but going home without any eyes is far more likely on tonka. Probably not what you wanted to hear.

On tonka, stay away from the channels at night. No fish there.

Quote:

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The bite on tonka is nothing like what you described on mille lacs. There some eyes in tonka, but they are hard to find. There is normally a 5 to 20 minute window that it turns on and hopefully one of the 3 people in your boat gets one for the night. On very rare nights there are more then one caught, but going home without any eyes is far more likely on tonka. Probably not what you wanted to hear.

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Sorry but I have to disagree with the majority of your post. Yes, they are hard to find at first. Once you have established patterns and locations you can successfully repeat catching walleyes out every outing. Yes, numbers will vary and true you’re never going to get the quantity of Mille Lacs, BUT I believe you have a better chance of catching a 10lb walleye on Minnetonka over Mille Lacs. I’m on the fence about “windows”. You need to develop a “milk run” of spots. If you pull a fish off of a spot another one will replace it. These large walleyes are the apex predator, other than the muskies, and we find that after we catch a fish another one will take its place on the prime piece of structure or prime ambush point. We often will pull a few fish and then run to another part of the lake to let things settle down and allow new to fish to replace the ones we have caught and released. I think the “windows” many times are the new fish, there are only so many fish in the system. The other “windows” I believe are the weather changes or conditions, especially when the weather is becoming favorable. In other words we usually catch fish throughout the evening.

Tonka Walleyes

Lots of luck – I’m glad you feel that I missed the mark. I’m going to keep pounding Tonka until I do lock in better on patterns. It’s just too convenient to not fish it. I’m only 5 minutes from popping my boat in the water. Consider this an open invite to join me out on Tonka for some fall fishing if you get the itch.

As far as size of fish – they are fatties. I have caught my pb on tonka just shy of 30″

Don’t give up, keep trying different locations. If they are there, they will eat and when they do, I am begging everyone to please release them.

I was able to get a couple of evenings on Tonka this past week and will add that there were schools of really nice crappies mixed in with the walleyes. I am not a fan of using $0.50 shiners on crappies, but it is always fun to catch nice ones. Got a couple of eater sized walleyes each evening right around dusk and a few little ones witch is always a good sign for the future.

I prefer to fish the west side of the lake (using the narrows as the split), but have never caught an eye on the west side. They always come from the east side. Does anyone get them on the west side? Not asking for any specific spots.