Fishing crappies both Fri and Sat night. No fish in shallow but found some out on the weededge. About a dozen each night over 10″. Lots of smaller fish. Flu FLu and minnow and Culprit 1.5″ paddle tails did the damage. Got a 38″ musky which just would not let go of a small crappie. After 10 minutes of tug of war got the head in my small net and then it spit out my jig and the crappie. Measured the fish in the water and let it go. Lot of fun on 4lb test.
Stan,
that would be pretty cool.
have any Crappies moved back into any of the shallower bays yet. if not, would have to think they will, WHEN the warmer temps start coming up, starting on wed.
Jack. 
Nothing in shallow last night – scratched a half dozen suspended fish. Did see some baitfish in shallow and I think there will be a fairly quick rush to the shallows this week. Just need a few sunny days. Water was crystal clear. No problem seeing 10ft down in most bays and milfoil is coming up. Shallow water fishing window is going to close pretty fast. One cove I fish is already too choked with weeds to bother with.
Ken.
Remember where I took you and you caught that big muskie……
Go straight north of there, to the island, from the reef. On the se side of that reef is a big point/flat. I believe that you may find pannies there, as it is a shallow sand flat. I know the sunnies are in there in June…….You may find crappies around there too……
Just don’t tell anyone about that reef……..
Lots of crappies (small size to date) in Seton – but you will see a lot of boats too. I have been finding crappies suspended over 15 to 18ft depths. If your group is up to exploring use your electronics and find those suspended fish in the main bays. Try Forest Lake, Maxwell bay and then Black and Seton. In Seton the fish have been on the north side. Set up in deeper water and cast to the weed edges. The south end of the Big Island channel has been holding fish but they haven’t been active so far. I have had far better success after 8:30pm. The crappies are moving into the shallows then. Look for any area that has a little extra light – Gray’s bay channel for example has been a good spot. Maybe the crappies will have moved shallow by Sat so then the game plan is to check out any coves, shallow bays and fish docks. The U- shaped cove in Halsteds bay just north of the channel should be holding fish. Water temps were up to 56 in the shallow coves on Wednesday. I didn’t get out last night but they should reach 60 by Sat and that will bring everything in shallow. Good luck.
Thanks for the update Mark!!!
I’ll try that deeper stuff first and then as it warms up we’ll head to shallows. There is a place in Black I might try, too. I’ll let you know how I do. Hopefullly this bass boat can catch crappies, too!! 
I caught a 6lb northern the same way on a small rock bass, he didn’t let go until he was in the net, it was a thrill for sure.
Nice musky, I’ll bet that was a sight to see, the musky clamped on to the crappie!
I’ll agree on the crappies, nothing I’ve seen yet shallow, though I think we are getting pretty close now, fish I saw last night on the water prefered the 20-14 fow water range, and I can only assume from past experince that they were crappies from past experince sine they didn’t seem to want anything I offered them. Only one perch for the evening for me 
-speaking about a metro lake I fished, not minnetonka.
The boy’s had their crappie outing today and every boat had their limits. Black lake, Harrisons and Cooks all were the bays to be in but it’s also where you were in the bays that counted. The channels off these bays where people don’t know about is where to go. 2 feet or less is where all the fish were caught.
Minnows or no minnows it didn’t matter. Lots of fish. Both white and black crappies. Biggest one was 12 inches. Lots of 8 to 10 inch fish. My son and I caught all our fish by flipping catail bogs. Wherever there was an opening under the bog and deep water that’s where the fish were. Biggest key was it had to be a dark water bay. Fished clear water and no fish. Had to be dark stained boggy water.
Temps were in the upper 50s. saw lots of bass, too but wasn’t there to fish bass. 
Our limits came by 10 am. Caught fish as soon as we got there. A good time was had by all. 
Channel areas have been the ticket for me. Hit the clear water types at dark and you’ll be catching them all night. I did catch a few in shallow coves off the main lake Friday night. The shallow spawn should be going later this week. MNFISH did you try any of the deep weed edges? During the day that’s where I have been getting bigger fish – not a numbers game though.
Stanman,
Wanted to try deeper water but was too windy. Still had fun with the smaller fish. I probably won’t hit Tonka for awhile now. Maybe in June after work for eyes? We’ll have to get together and compare notes on the fish. 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
