Tonka update

  • mstanley
    Shorewood,MN
    Posts: 350
    #1338403

    Water temp was 51 last night and the upper lake has turned over. Milfoil has laid down. Found a couple of schools of fish in 20ft off points but no takers. Didn’t move any muskies either. Anyone else been out lately?

    gary_wellman
    South Metro
    Posts: 6057
    #324886

    Thanks for the update Stan.

    I’m heading out this Sunday to chase skis all day.

    Did you see anything shallow?

    MFO
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts: 1451
    #324941

    Seems like in the past I’ve noticed that there isn’t as many muskies shallow like there would have been a month ago. In fact some of best action this late has come on the edge of a sharp break where there were bait fish suspending.

    mstanley
    Shorewood,MN
    Posts: 350
    #324971

    Out again last night – dead sea. The sunnies have moved back in shallow so you might find some muskies inside but the water is crystal clear now so they will be spooky. I was casting/trolling bucktails, spinnerbaits and a Believer on the outside edge and over the milfoil. One observation is I marked a lot of fish anytime I got to a neckdown area. Like the entrance into Halsted’s channel from Priest’s bay was absolutely filthy with fish. I didn’t bring any light tackle along so didn’t try to fish for anything but muskies. There were some really big arches mixed in so I suspect the muskies were there but were not active. The warmer weather should turn things on!

    gary_wellman
    South Metro
    Posts: 6057
    #324979

    Thanks Stan;

    I’ll drop a note on Monday morning. See what happens on Sunday!!!

    sippiriverrat
    Andover MN.
    Posts: 390
    #325033

    My partner and I hit it hard for musky on sunday with one follow all day.I have the 27th,28th, and I am planning to pound tonka both days, I will post with the results.

    catchinwhoppers
    Twin Cities
    Posts: 3
    #325140

    I drive an hour and a half to mille lacs for night fall trolling but live a heck of a lot closer to minnetonka… question is, does anyone have success on walleyes on minnetonka that might save me the gas and time to get to mille lacs with still decent success? I guess i am also wondering, is there similar structure to mille lacs on minnetonka that can be fished, with out ALL THAT MILFOIL? Thanks for any tidbits. I belong to the other site FM with hundreds of posts but now find this site being a heck of a lot more informative and can have my results being posted result in some of you helping me out when asking questions.

    Thanks for any responses…
    Catchin’

    mstanley
    Shorewood,MN
    Posts: 350
    #325143

    Sadly the short answer is on Tonka you have to deal with the milfoil. It is not Mille Lacs. Walleyes – at the least the big ones – don’t seem to school up. I have largely abandoned longline trolling because the walleyes seem to tuck into the weed edge and it’s hard to follow it with 150+ ft of line behind you. Snap weights, keel weights, 3ways and lead core are the way to go. I fish the Upper lake exclusively and the only shallow bite I know about is in the channels. Otherwise you need to troll the deep weed edge from 15 to 20 ft or deep jig/slip bobber if you locate a school. I haven’t tried snap jigging but it ought to produce. I’ll add one caveat – I am a big fish hunter and am quite content with one nice fish an outing. Numbers of 14″ or so fish can be caught with decent regularity (or so I hear) on the reefs of the lower lake and some other places. Maybe Waterfowler or some other memebers can point you in the right direction. One nice thing about Minnetonka right now is boats are few and far between except for the channels. And there are a lot of walleyes in the lake. Just need to use different tactics and experiment. The fish are out there.

    kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    #325156

    I concur with Stan. I do long line in the channels with some success. I wouldn’t consider it a Mille Lacs in any way shape or form though. I will likely be out Sat night on Tonka trolling some channels and live baiting a secret little spot that continues to show fish like mad this time of year.

    Another lake not to be overlooked this time of year is Independence. It has even less traffic than Tonka. I’ve only discussed this lake with some guys who fish it, but if you aren’t up for the long drive it’s an option.

    BTW, what other site?? Just kidding!! Welcome to the best site on the net!!!

    catchinwhoppers
    Twin Cities
    Posts: 3
    #325186

    Heh Heh… yep that one…

    Thanks for the heads up guys, much appreciated. I understand the how the lake is so much more different, I am sure I will still be heading up to Mille lacs a few more times and put my self through some sleepless hell the next day, but what can you do when you are catching fish?

    I might look at Independence too, thanks for the suggestion. Will let you guys know how or what i end up doing in the next week! Later!

    Catchin’

    mstanley
    Shorewood,MN
    Posts: 350
    #325209

    Was out last night on Tonka. Muskies till sunset then walleyes was the plan. Moved a lot of muskies, several swipes at topwaters and tails but no hookups. Just didn’t seem to have feedbag on. Walleye fishing was the usual – one 29″ fish and nothing else. Got to play netman on the walleye – sadly she didn’t hit my lure but nice to see a fish that size. Muskies were on top of mid water humps. The walleye location will remain a deep secret except it was from shallow water – less than 6 feet – on a husky jerk. I might give Independence a go. Any walleye hints?? I’ve only keyed on muskies and panfish there.

    kooty
    Keymaster
    1 hour 15 mins to the Pond
    Posts: 18101
    #325229

    Troll the swimming beach on Indy.

    gary_wellman
    South Metro
    Posts: 6057
    #325258

    Heard through the grapevine that a 51″ was boated yesterday afternoon……..That is a nice ski for Tonka!!!

    MFO
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts: 1451
    #325287

    There’s a lot of good info posted here so far on Tonka. I hold add trying the shallow rocks and sand. Basically 6′ or less on inside weed edges. If its a small area I like to cast it, but if its bigger than I’ll troll. I like using Rogues or Bomber Long A’s due to the rattles.

    mstanley
    Shorewood,MN
    Posts: 350
    #325430

    Hit Indy on Friday. Nothing to show for 4 hours of fishing and the rain finally made me give it up. Switched to Tonka for the evening. Again zippo. Was out again last night. Saw another boat nail a nice musky in shallow water at a channel mouth. We got two northerns. Later in evening the walleyes were sporadic in the channels. Had to go very slow with live bait – cranks did nothing. Just a little baffled why the bite for me has been very slow compared to the usual fall fishing. Running out of tactics I want to use. The fact I used live bait shows how far I have gone.

    gary_wellman
    South Metro
    Posts: 6057
    #325441

    Well;

    We hit Tonka fairly hard on Sunday.

    Found most of our fish relating to deeper water (meaning 20′).

    The fish were hanging off of weed reefs or rock reefs with access to deep water.

    Fish came in on hair and wood, with darker colors being predominant.

    Largest fish of course came in on a bass spinner bait. That fish was a very healthy, fat 41″.

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