Got Walleyes? Tonka Report

Saturday night (10/21), Minnetonka, 48 degree water temps, 27 degree air temps when we came off the water, long line trolling resulted in 4 walleyes for three anglers.

Chris holding the first fish of the night, 23″, he later landed a 20″ also.

Yours truly holding a 24″

The story of the night though belonged to the kid, Mark (14). Now this young man caught his first walleye of his life Saturday night. I’m not sure if we still can wipe the smile off of his face. I don’t think we have stopped smiling either. Let’s just say Chris and I were a little excited for him also. 28.5″ of girthy walleye.

All swimming to be caught another fall night when they are approaching that magical 30″ mark.

Awesome way to get the young man into the sport!

Way to go Mark!!

Thx for the post and the pics. Nice fish! I hope to be out this week. Still chasing that 30+” eye from Tonka. Were you using the old standby HJ in firetiger??

NICE fish!!!

From those pics I would’ve guessed you guys were on the pond.

Went out Saturday night, I managed to catch and release a beautiful 27.5″ fish. Fish came within the first 15 minutes of when we began trolling. We thought we were in for a treat with the calm water, full moon and mild temps. Did not get a sniff of a fish the rest of the evening. Oh well, what a beauty of an evening to be out.

Water temps were 41.5 to 42 degrees.

Edit: Pics Added

The Best part of all… THE RELEASE

JakeH,

I have never been on the Pond, but I have seen the pics of those Mille Lacs eyes, more astonishing is the numbers of fish I read about guys boating, amazing!

Some day I will have the necessary rig to go up there….

lots of luck
if you are willing to swallow a little pride (like i have to every time i launch there) and you are not an idiot…you can fish mille lacs in a 11 foot boston whaler and catch fish. this is all i have right now but i’ve made it work. you have to play the wind right and allow it to dictate where you will fish, but it can be done.
i will say it’s tough launching this thing with people looking at me like i’m on crack but i refer them to reports with the pigs we’ve landed to clear up any questions and it makes it worth it.
good luck

Well, I thought I would just piggy back from my report last year.

We’re out on Tonka again chasing those big beautiful marble eyes.

Last night (11-8-07) was a special night for myself, I caught and tied and proceeding to catch and break my personal bests in a matter of 15 minutes or so.

Conditions were as follows:

Air temp was about 27 when we came off the lake at 10:30, water temp was 46.0 or so, very light breeze out of the north I believe, with clearing skies, stars came out.

Long line trolling cranks at about 1.5mph or so, not real sure, we worry more about boat control and position then speed. Most time we cannot even get the position right.

Well, I managed a 27.5″ to tie my best and broke it with a 28.5″ x 18″ girth 15 minutes later. The night was kicked off with the youngster Mark getting a 22.5″.

The 28.5″ x 18″ is working out to around 11 lb. on some calculators, I cannot believe the build of that fish. Note how thick it is to the base of the tail. Wish I could make the pics a little bigger, she is a beauty.

All caught and released to be caught again.

Let me see if I can get a couple pics up on here.

This a running journal of sorts for me. No 08′ report, but went out last night 11-5-09, to see if we could find the eyes again, we were not disappointed.

Decided we, my buddy Chris and I, better get out and commence our fall trolling runs before the lakes are iced up. Last night payed dividends. Got started about 5:30 and wrapped it up about 10 or so.

Conditions were as follows:

Water temps were 45, light southerly wind, moon was 89% and waning. Air temps I guess were in the 40’s dropping throughout the evening. The bite seemed best when the moon was behind the clouds, blue, orange and chrome was the hot color. Boat speed was 1.4mph to 1.8mph or so, dealing with tenths, but under 2 mph for sure.

The rewards:

First fish of the night was the muskie at 42.5″ and the walleyes in order were 28.25″ x 16″ girth, 17″, 24.75″, 23″, 23″ and 25″. As always everything was released and yes I only caught one fish but I was running the boat (GPS, Depth Finder, Trolling Motor) and did a hell of a job on the net . You’re welcome Chris! It’s called dumb luck and boy was Chris way dumber than I was last night.

Please practice Photo Catch and Release

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You’re welcome Chris! It’s called dumb luck and boy was Chris way dumber than I was last night.

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Mind if I borrow this line off you? I can think of a couple fishing buddies that deserve to have it used on them…

With regards to the fish…

And taking the time to share your outing with all of us…

I wish I was at least half that dumb.
great report

Got back out this evening and managed to put four walleyes in the boat. I was also manged to get outfished 3:1 one this evening. Another kicking. I kicked the evening off with a 23″ and Chris followed up with a 23″, 24.75″ and a 25″. There is an obvious very strong class of fish out there in the 23 to 25″ range. Next couple years look to be potentially fun.

Similar conditions, with warmer air temps which made it very comfortable for fishing. The only difference this evening was we both lost fish. Not sure why, but mine came shortly after making contact with a fish, happened two or three times. I would feel a few head shakes and then nothing. Short biters maybe?

Tonight’s story was about being on “the spot on the spot” on a trolling pass. Absolutely amazing to see our trails on the GPS. When we would hook up and break out of trolling pass time after time we were within 10 or 20 yards of each previous hook up on a very large piece of structure. I think the fish were playing the wind and current/eddy that was being created and were literally stacked in the same area.

Night was tough due to the trolling motor failing 3/4 through the night. Changed deep cycle batteries, not getting juice anywhere in the motor. Tried the big motor but just could not slow down enough or have the precise control of the electric.

Had a Leinenkugel and called in a night.

Edit: Almost forgot, you can tell the muskie angler side of us kicked in, when Chris and I are on the floor cutting treble hooks in a 23″ walleye . Didn’t even get a pic either because Chris was worried about the welfare of that ‘eye and getting her back in the water. Such a humanitarian.

As always, Caught Photoed and Released

Very Cool! Thanks for the progressive updates, Keep em’ Coming!

Nice fish guys. Thanks for the reports.

Those pictures really fire me up. Keep them coming.

Very nice fish.. It must have been great to be out there with the warm temps.

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Very nice fish.. It must have been great to be out there with the warm temps.

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And the temps look solid through for at least 4 – 5 more days.

11-9-09 Report goes as follows.

Had to work hard for them last night. Got out a little later than usual, but the bite has been a little later so we though we would have dinner with our families first before heading out for some more trolling.

Dead calm, clear skies, water temp still 45.5, no moon up.

Night started out great with Chris scoring a 23.75″ on the first trolling pass, we thought we going to be in for a dandy, but it proved to be more difficult than that first walleye led us to believe. I followed up with a 23″ and Chris followed up with yet another 23″. After a long lull in the action we called last pass.

During that last pass I hooked into a good one on an old school floating rap, I think it was an F13? in gold and black. I could not move her! After a few minutes of battling and watching the rod tip pump she was off! Simultaneous, “ughhhhh” in the boat. That would have been a good way to end the evening. Chris turns the boat around to troll back to finish up and I manage to tie on another crank as humanly fast as possible to try to get a little more action in before we leave. Remember we’re supposed to pack up now. No way, we lost one and we often catch them in groups or windows of time so we make one more pass and I have a fish on again! Can’t believe it, this is another better one and before I know it she is barried in the weeds. Trolling motored over to her and kept the pressure on and finally she popped out, little fight later and Chris slid the net under her. After a high five I bumped her on the board, 26.5″. Now lets wrap it up and go home.

Tonight we tried some things out of the box and it payed off, fished shallower, as shallow as 2.5′, than we ever have, pulled my 23″ off of a new location and pulled some new styles of cranks. Learned a lot this evening.

All eyes CPR’d as usual

Man I have never gone that shallow. Afraid of losing fish in the foil but now I’m going for it. Just need to up the line strength and use MH rods. The flu bug still had me down yesterday but I am going out tonight. Feeling good and that 30″er is just waiting. Maybe try HJ14s based on your report.

Report for 11-11-09

Conditions:
Last night presented itself with heavy cloud cover a stiff and steady breeze out of the southeast, it must have been a walleye chop, because the walleyes were more than willing to cooperate.

Results:
We boated seven fish last night ranging from the smallest, a 20” caught by myself to my new personal best a 29” x 18” girth caught by myself. The average size was down for the night though, we caught in order a 21”, 29”, 21.5”, 23”, 23.5”, 23.5” and a 20”. We also boated a pike, a rarity for us at night and I tail hooked a carp. In short, we had to mix up tactics, depths and locations to put it together.

The more we do this the more we are discovering the importance of replication and precision. Replicating trolling passes by putting lures at precise depths repeatedly at precise speeds. Of course when things slow down, I usually volunteer to experiment with lure or color selection. Last night was an example of how looking outside of the box produced a few more fish for us and gave us some more ideas for the memory bank to try in the future when things get tough.

Oh yeah, I caught a new personal best!

29” x 18” calculates to 11.35lbs

Tuesday night was good for me too. Biggest was the twin sister of your 29. These fish are just tankers. Thought I finally had my 30″ Tonka eye but fell short by 1/2 inch. We boated 4 others from 21 to 27. Speed was 1.4 or no dice. Last night wasn’t as good. One fat 25″ made it to the boat and that was it. Tuesday the lure was glass perch HJ12 again. Nothing else got hit and I was experimenting. Last night’s fish was fun. I got twisted up with my friend’s line and as I was reeling the mess in the walleye hit my friends lure. What a cluster but we got it done.

Report for 11-15-09

Last night left us scratching our heads with only one fish boated.

Conditions:

Cold and damp! Air temp must have been hovering around freezing on the water because we had crystals forming on the rear casting deck from the damp air. Dead calm and clear skies, probably the calmest we have experienced on the water in some time. Saw many bonus shooting stars. Water temps are still 45.

The problem last night was floating pieces of milfoil. There was considerably more boat traffic in the early afternoon and I think the boats mangled the milfoil. Without the wind to push it away, it stayed right in our typical trolling passes and disrupted 75% of our trolling passes, frustrating.

Results:

I boated one 25.75″, I’ll take that any night.

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Results:
I boated one 25.75″, I’ll take that any night.

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Yup, if you’re only going to get one, make it a good one. Those ‘Tonka fish are awesome fatties!

The weather looks solid again through the end of the week with highs in the low fifties forecast for the weekend. You guys going to keep at it as long as the temps hold?

I think I speak for Lots of Luck…yes! We wait all year for the fall bite. Can’t beat these stable temps and long window of oppurtunity.

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Results:
I boated one 25.75″, I’ll take that any night.

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Yup, if you’re only going to get one, make it a good one. Those ‘Tonka fish are awesome fatties!

The weather looks solid again through the end of the week with highs in the low fifties forecast for the weekend. You guys going to keep at it as long as the temps hold?

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James as long as the temps hold and the trailer tires ride through the water at the ramp and not over it.

Like Hillbiehle said, we look forward to this small window each year. This year we have taken it more serious. Very glad we did.

Lost on nice fish on the way to the boat Monday night. Only action I had. Last night improved some, boated a 19″,a 21″ and a chunk 28.5″. HJ10s and HJ12 in good old glass perch pattern. Dragged firetiger and black chrome and gold black around with no results. Speeds at 1.4 to 1.7 temps at 41. Still amazed at the number of musky boats out on Tonka. Used to be just walleye guys but the ratio must be 5:1 to the musky side.

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Lost on nice fish on the way to the boat Monday night. Only action I had. Last night improved some, boated a 19″,a 21″ and a chunk 28.5″. HJ10s and HJ12 in good old glass perch pattern.

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It has to be awful hard to trailer the boat to Mille Lacs when you can consistently catch such quality fish right out your back door!

Q: Are these big fish in these same areas at early ice?

Can’t speak for Mark, but I have never chased them on the ice, we usually change species and lakes. I may have to reconsider this season. I would imagine early ice would have these fish still hanging out in the same areas, good question James.