Minnesota help needed

I’ll be in Minnesota on the weekend of June 3rd for a wedding and have Saturday until about 4 p.m. to get in a little fishing. We’ll be staying on the southwest side of Minnetonka, so I can’t stray too far from the area and I’d prefer not to spend any money on boat rental or on a guide.

I’ve never fished Minnesota before or spent any time in the area, so I’m needing help on where to go to find a few hours of peace and fun and maybe cpr a few fish. I’m not looking for anybody’s secret honey hole, just some places to try (doesn’t have to be ‘Tonka since I understand that it is not very shore-friendly).

Thanks in advance, guys and gals!

Stieger lake in Victoria isnt far away and usually offers some action on sucker minnows for northerns and bass. Catch and release only on the gamefish in that lake… but fun to catch.

There also is Minnewashta lake, but requires a daily park permit, but has nice picnicing area, and fishing dock.
Also lake Waconia, read my Waconia post, you could get a small rental boat from Mase’s. If you are stuck on shore fishing, you can fish around the bridges and canels on Minnetonka.
you can also make a post looking for a boat ride on that saturday. you can make a post to see if there will be an IDA member in that area that you could fish with, this last idea makes the most sense.
good luck.
Jack..

Matt,

Send me a PM the week before you are here. I may be able to get out that day. If so, I’d be happy to have you in the boat with me.

Kooty, thanks for the offer but it now looks like I’ve got a couple of guys who want to tag along.

Thanks for the input, guys. If anybody has any other spots for me to try, let me know!

Wow, what a beautiful day on Saturday!

Thanks for the help, guys. We ended up trying Waconia first, but found access limited due to numerous people on the dock and shore.

Headed into Victoria and got some help from a nice kid working at Cabin Fever and headed to Parley (which was crowded) and then to Stieger.

Caught a couple chunky largemouths off the dock using a chatterbait ripped over the weeds and saw some guys catching decent northerns on suckers from the dock as well.

Also found my dream house on the trip, the ranch at the top of the hill south of Parley. What a spread.

Ya, that place is pretty darn nice. I live about two minutes from it to the west. I ride the sled over that way quite a little in the winter. There are several really nice places tucked in over there.