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Posts: 129
| It is time to start the reports for another year. I'll probably head to Wisconsin this weekend. I can't wait for MN to open. Let's all post this year and keep the muskies moving forward.
Tom |
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Posts: 51
Location: Aitkin, Blaine, Minnesota | MN Opener Destinations????
I will be on Mille Lacs |
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Posts: 633
| Home with my family on Saturday, as my wife is working. Sunday will probably be on Forest, White Bear, or Bald Eagle. |
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Posts: 267
Location: Right behind you (tap, tap) BOOO | <p>I'll be in Alexandria most likely on Lobster. I'm sure will fish Forest Lake by mid-week also.</p><p /><p>8 days to go.</p> |
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Posts: 129
| Fished Minnetonka today for bass. Temperatures in the 59-61 degree range. Water was a little cloudy and had some organic material. The weeds seem a little behind this year. The bass and northerns were small and shallow. Hopefully the stable weather midweek will help fishing.
Tom |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | I cannot wait! Due to family committments, which has plagued me for the walleye and bass openers, I will only have a few hrs each on Sat and Sun. Going out w/ my Buddy in search of a Fatty that we lost in the fall..... |
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| Was on WB Monday. Didn't get a water temp, but things were very slow - even the little pike were slow. Caught/saw several very large, fat bass caught so I'm pretty certain they have not spawned yet. No ski's seen (nor was I fishing fo them). Weeds are coming up pretty good in spots, considering the bad weather.
Where to fish Sat? Maybe Rush?? |
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| Was out on Owasso last night for about an hour. What a sewer!!! Floating algae, scum, weeds, and tree "cotton" were so bad in some of my favorite areas. Large areas of the lake were virtually unfishable with anything except maybe a spoon or a sloppy pig. Water temp was ~65. Curly pondweed is up in some areas, but spotty. A few areas of cabbage. Fairly little milfoil yet.
Can anybody give a report on the water conditions on other lakes - is Baldy a choked up too? Clear, Forest ?
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Posts: 46
Location: Hugo, Mn | Steve,
I was on B.E. last week walleye fishing. Water condition was great. Weeds are really starting to grow. Will be out there early tomorrow for the opener.
Dave |
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| Fished Tonka today. The temperature ranged from 68-71 degrees. Two musky follows. the only thing landed was a bunch of bass. Too many boats. It took over 40 minutes to get through the line to take the boat out.
Tom |
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| Hi guys can anyone speak to the H2O conditions on Independence. I know at this time last year it was already pea green with very little if any visibility, however the year before it was fairly good. |
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| Forest was weed laden on top on the wind blown sides, lake 2 & 3 weeds looked treated already with chemicals. I saw 5 mid-30's fish, low and slow behind. I would like to hear how Indy was? capt big fish |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | Fished Tonka Sat. 43" boated and 2 other follows. Fish seemed to be holding inside the weedlines. Treats - How did you do....Saw you as we cruised by.. |
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| Fished Forest Saturday Score: Muskies 7, Steve 0 Most were in the 35-40 size, one larger. Most action was on a Viper. Shallow Invader also moved a couple. Can't say that any really made an effort the eat. Pike/bass also seemed to be very slow.
Weeds are up real nice on lakes 2 & 3 and some fish were in 'em, but very hard to get to 'em. Lake one was very very different - very tough to find any weeds and saw no fish there. Seems like lake one was stripped of weeds last summer/fall and they are not coming back very well. Some of my favorite beds on lake one were completely gone.
Fished Baldy Sun night - floating debris everywhere, but still fairly fishable, no action in the short time I was out.
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | It's great to see that someone has picked up where I left off and started this thread for this year. Last 2 years I started the posts in late March or early April with ice condition reports on the East side Metro lakes.
This year I probadly won't do much, if any, fishing at all. Haven't even bought my liscence yet, Heck I don't have the boat winterized for the winter of 2003/2004 and winter is passed and the new season is underway. I have had other priorities.
For those who know me and my wife (and best fishing buddy), they already know that we have been fighing a long battle with brain cancer. Sadly that battle is slowly coming to its' end. In April the doctors told us that there wasn't anything more that they could do for my wife and that the cancer would have to run its' course. They gave her 6 months then. The cancer is progressing faster than we had hoped. Of course no one can know the time or place of their passing but I suspect that we don't have much more than a couple of months left together, if that.  So I'm spending my time with her and getting our affairs in order, but after this is behind me, I plan on doing a lot of fishing as it will be the best thing to heal my broken heart. Then I will start posting regular reports. Until then, enjoy every fish and every follow for you never know just when your muskie hunting days will end.
Edited by fishpoop 6/10/2004 3:18 AM
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Posts: 633
| Paul,
I am sorry to hear the news. Please enjoy all the time you have left with that special lady. Take care.
Lance
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| Sorry to hear the bad news from Mr. Poop. His posts and insights were always a joy to read. I know he is doing something more important the musky fishing now. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Tom |
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Posts: 292
Location: Minneapolis | Fishpoop,
I'm SO sorry to hear about your wife. I lost my dad, my first and favorite fishing partner, to a brain tumor ten years ago. As tough as that was, I can't imagine what you're going through now. No question the time you are spending with your wife is more important than fishing.
For the little it's worth, you haven't missed much by not fishing this season. The monsoons have put the Metro muskies in a serious funk.
My thoughts are with you.
Rick |
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Posts: 45
Location: Brooklyn Park | My regards to you and our family.
Fished tonka yesterday in what seemed to be ideal weather. We had 7 follows but no takers. 3 legal size and one of a sow! Small pike were going nuts on small bucktail.
Rippin' Lip
Bmax |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Hi, I just found this site... sweet.
I was on Tonka saturday 6/5 - two follows, shallow... after 1pm [got on at 5:30am]. Was back on Tonka sunday, 6/6 = zip Then off to Cedar Lake on 6/12 = ZIP weedy! Then Island Lake 6/13 = ZIP [small northerns].
Water temps all cool... Tonka was greening up pretty fast [water runoff and fertilizers].
[Also fished Long Lake on 5/11 and Shell Lake on 5/27, in Wisconsin for smallies. I had a musky follow on each lake swimming a grub;]
~Thrasher330 |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | The weather has them all screwed up right now. We need a stable weather patern for them to get Real Hot! I found them shallow and I found them Deep in Tonka. Find the baitfish in 15-20ft and you'll find the Muskies! Weird I say that because my 43" opener came in 2 ft of water. Ahh...Work both and see what you get! That is why we fish, eh?
I have stayed off since opener - and will give it a shot Saturday, maybe tonight if I am lucky enough! Too many graduations and family stuff going on this year.
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| Fished the St Croix last night.
I saw a 37" popped just down river from me. I had a nice fish blow up on a topraider just off the boat.
I was working weedlines in about 6-12' of water.
71-72 degree water temps.
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| Dedicated Angler,
Do you fish the Croix much? Where would you suggest I start to learn the water? I live in St Paul and want to start fishing the Croix for ski's. Thanks for your input. |
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Posts: 45
Location: Brooklyn Park | Fished tonka on Monday, windy as heck and sunny. not much action. a few lazy smaller follows. Little pike are still going nuts. I need some new spots. please help.
Rippin Lip
Bmax |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Tonka is still off. Saw a couple little guys last night. Fished till 11:30 and nothing at night either. I think tonka's a no-go till we get some warm weather, then LOOK OUT!!!! They've got to go sometime!
Lately it's been a real downer. Opener I got a 37, 38 and 51 all by noon. I guess I jinxed the whole thing after that day.
Pray for Paul (Fishpoop) and for warm weather!
Edited by Muskie Treats 6/23/2004 8:21 AM
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Posts: 5874
| August 9th will find me in Minneapolis, Minnesota for a week, Treats. I think we will need to fish an evening or two! See if you can remove my hat in that Pro Craft! |
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| I've been out on tonka 3 times since opener and got skunked every time. Had some follows opening weekend and that is it. |
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| Tonka has been a downer for me so far. There have been three bites in my boat since opener, with none in the boat. Seven trips. Top that. Will be out tomorrow, Sat. and Sun. looking for my first this year. Not too optimistic w/out some warmth. Seen a few bruisers and one giant, but they're really dis-interested. The other folks that I talk to regularly aren't doing anything out there either. Time to re-group and do something completely different I suppose.
BrianF.
Twin Cities |
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| Fished Forest Tues from 5-10 PM - the pondweed is all completely gone and so were the fish. Water pretty dirty too. Saw two - one deep, one shallow.
Fished WB Sat from 5-11 AM. 7 follows, all low & slow and small fish. No pattern - some on rocks, some one edges, some deep into weed flats. moves fish on topwater, bucktails, cranks ... no pattern. Went back out Sun PM and lost one small one at boatside that tried to eat a topraider on the figure 8 after dark. Only fish I moved.
Warmer weather and approaching full moon is reason for hope.
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Tonka will light up after the 4th. Sounds like warm weather moving in [finally], less rain [maybe]... and all those boats out there during the 4th weekend are bound to make da muskies mad... right?
Keep'er possitive... and keep cast'n~!
~ Thrasher330 |
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| MnSteveH you are right on about White Bear. I saw 4 small fish low and slow but also 2 fish mid forties that I managed to keep my lure away from. Lots of muskie guys out Wednesday morning, more than I would have thought. I think the weekend will be pretty good but to many rec boaters for me to go back there. Thanks for the dead on reports, I'll be back on WB next Wednesday. capt bigfish |
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Posts: 129
| I fished Tonka this morning. The water has warmed up considerably the past week. The only muskie I saw followed in a bass spinnerbait. I followed it from a long way out. The fish had her mouth closed and the gills were not flaring. It was all over the spinnerbait and responded to what I did; speed up, slow down, and changed direction. It sort of followed the first figure 8 and then just moved away. Hopefully this was a good sign.
Tom |
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Posts: 2378
| On Sugar last night from 5-930. Two hammerhandles, a baby bass, and two strikes from what I believe were muskies. Both hit at the very start of the retrieve and didnt get hooks. Had one fish egging me on porposing around the boat. Each time only about 5 feet from my lure. It was at least cool to see that.
I am still on the big goose egg for the year. THe weather is finally starting to come around so I am hoping to get a little more action soon. One can only hope. |
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Posts: 129
| We fished Deer in Polk County today. The water seems more off colored than in the past. Many of the docks were posted for recent weed spraying. After seeing nobody home in our usual spots, we switched over to bass. We caught alot, all under 14". The surface temperature was about 70 degrees. We caught the bass on the inside weed edge. We caught most of the fish on a small crankbait. We were not hooking up on the spinnerbaits, so went to a smaller size with a trailer hook. I had a muskie on the crankbait, fought him to the boat where he bit off. He was in the weeds in less than 4 feet. It sounds like I am not the only one with a goose egg. I need to try something different, so it is time to pull out the musky flyrod.
Tom |
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| 3 more hrs on WB this morning 5-8 AM, then had to go to work. I must be crazy, but I'm out of town for a week starting tomorrow so I had to give it one more shot. Thought the full moon set prior to sunrise would have a few moving but still skunked. Saw two fish on a deep edge, one kind-of followed, ther other just kind-of appeared - very lazy!. ALso saw a very large fish surfacing over 45' of water - saw it twice and was for sure a ski. There as shuge pod of bait suspended about 18' down. I worked the area real hard from top down but didn't move a fish. There's a tremendous mayfly hatch going on right now and I'm convinced that the majority of fish are suspended over deep water. Where's that MH article about trolling during a mayfly hatch?
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Posts: 22
Location: Twin Cities | I fished Deer on 6/30 -- Warming water, didn't see that 70 until I left. Moved a few and caught one. Think deeper and slower next time out... |
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Posts: 129
| We fished Inde this morning. At 6:30 water temperatures ranged from 73-75. Water look like thin pea soup and much of the curlytail pond weed is dying off. Talked to a guy who said several people saw and caught fish on Friday night. We moved no musky this morning, but did catch and release a 31" northern. Inde sure seems to be a different experience than it was 5 years ago. I am not a hydrologist, but guess it has too much nitrogen-rich run-off and maybe the spraying negatively impacted the good weed beds. People havbe been asking for an Inde post. I hope they will post, if it turns around.
Tom |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Well, after my wifes passing last week I went out and bought my liscence and had my first day on the water yesterday. I went with a friend but it's hard to be out there without her. Went to Forest Lake. I have been on the lake a few times over the years, but have to say that I don't know it very well, so I relied on my friend as a guide.
The water looked kind of dark to me, but I guess I can't compare it to other years as I don't know it will enough. A lot of the weeds looked brown but did manage to find a little green cabbage and coontail. Water temp was 75. Tought that we might get a fish as the sky was cloudy most of the day and it started to rain in the evening.
Caught 2 pike,one about 5 or six pounds, on glide baits and had a mid 40 inch class fish follow my surface bait. The one pike was pretty decent for a metro lake. Other than that not much else to report. |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Hit a north metro lake last night for a few hours.
Fish were hot and I was not!
Missed 4 fish total including one that was a solid 45".
Couldn't get the hooks in them.
Two fish were on the Weagel topwater and the other two were on a Snowcrest Mag willow buck.
Fish are starting to rock, this weekend should be hot!!! |
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Posts: 46
Location: Hugo, Mn | Killer,
I was on a N. Metro lake last evening and nailed a 49x21. Largest to date for me. Had a couple others follow but turn at the boat.
Dave
Edited by Hugo 7/12/2004 7:29 AM
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Congrats on the nice fish Hugo!!!
Pics????
I think I saw your fish twice on Tuesday night  |
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Posts: 46
Location: Hugo, Mn | Phish,
Steve posted it for me in the July photo post topic. Saw another out there that looked even bigger the other day.
Dave |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | I might go out to the WB tonight?
I saw the pic....NICE FISH! |
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Posts: 46
Location: Hugo, Mn | Phish,
Good Luck. I'm grounded for awhile (finishing the basement). Might get out a little this weekend.
Dave |
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| PK:
Where you living now? Obviously back here in the cities.
Give me a shout via email and we can get together.
[email protected]
Midge |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Hugo,
I hear ya on that one. I have a honey do list a mile long and growing!!!! 
Midge,
Yep back in NE Mpls. Sounds like a plan, I'll drop you an email. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | <p>I plan on hitting Tonka tomorrow night and sunday morning. I haven't been out there in a few weeks, so I'm hoping things have picked up.</p><p>With the warmer weather... they gotta start get'n in the mood... right?</p><p /> |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | Last Saturday nailed a 43"and 47" on Tonka on bucktails inside the weed line. I'll be back out this weekend concentrating outside and then going in! They are starting to go! |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Tahoe, that's good to hear~! A 43 & a 47, nice fish, way to go~! |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | Thrasher - Thanks! Coincidentally, the 43" was the same fish I caught on opener in the same spot and same time. My other spot produced the 47". Bucktail of choice was a Mania Lilly Tail in Black. I have had no luck with jerks or top waters yet......I would think they should be going strong with this extended period of warm weather and I hear the weekend outlook is going to be beautiful!
Good Luck and let me know if you need more advice...Do you fish Tonka quite a bit for Ski's? |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Tahoe... yup, I'm out there quite a bit, I live close, so it's easier to slip in there than other lakes when times tight. I do fish other lakes too. Rush, Island, Chip, etc... I'll day trip anywhere in MN & WI. I'm hoping to hit Big Siss and a couple other lkakes in WI soon...
My parents had a cabin on Tonka from '69 to '87. I've been fishing musky since '85. I'm always looking for tips, etc... thanks...
It's an addiction I'm proud to say I have [grin].... |
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Posts: 129
| shh,
my wife thinks I fish Tonka for the fish.
tom |
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Posts: 46
Location: Hugo, Mn | Man..I need a cold shower after reading that one!!! I got to get out to Tonka. To bad you didn't hook that fish while you were there. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | That was wild... I didn't know if I should feel disappointed... or...... [grin]
I gotta get me one of those camcorder helmet deals~! |
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Posts: 51
| Fished French this morning-lots of fishermen, very green (and smelly), weeds decaying, no fish. We didn't even see one.
Bill |
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Posts: 129
| We fished Bone in Polk county today. Water temperature was in the low 70s and the water looked good. It was a beautiful day, the overcast helped. The crappies were biting this morning on clouser minnows on the bottom in weeds in 5-8 feet. The bass were hunkered down in the weeds, there are several types of cabbage, both shallow and deep. We caught them with flies, plastic worms and spinnerbaits. There were alot of musky fishers out, hitting all the usual spots. Alas, I am still muskyless tom. Looking forward to some significant time on V shortly and maybe will run into the real Musky Tom, but I think he might be going to hear ZZ Top. Too much work coming up for awhile, so no fishing until Vermilion. Keep up the reports and catch a 50".
tom |
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| Got out early this morning on one of my favorite city lakes and managed a 39" and had 3 other follows. I also heard from a guy fishing at the dock that another fisherman had caught a 38". The one I caught was taken deep using a perch colored countdown Depth Raider.
(July18th2004,Harriet 003.jpg)
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | A friend of mine boated a 42 incher last night on Indy... nice shape, solid release... |
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Posts: 14
Location: Burnsville, MN | Nice fish Dave, I've been pulling a couple off of the lakes, my girls have caught a couple as well. If you need someone to net your fish, let me know.
Todd |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Tonka finally decided to give up a couple... we fished friday, blue bird sky, post cold front... mid-day.... go figure [grin] Tim's was a 38 incher and mine was a 43 incher. Nice clean fish, easy releases.
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| 39 " on a top Raider. TOP WATER MUSKIES ROCK.
33" Pike on a Jake.
The Croix starting to cough up some fish. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I fished Tonka sunday and last night... le zippo......
I will never understand, with a big open bay to play in... why the tube pullers have to churn up the shoreline weedbeds... odd.
Wish I was out there this morning... storms moving in. |
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Posts: 51
| Out on Lake Elmo on Tuesday night, fishing in very shallow water 2-3 feet with a big spinner bait and plastic trailer. Had a 3 foot wide hole open up next to a patch of cabbage, got hooks for just a moment but no fish. Of course, that night I had my camera, so its no wonder. . . last week when my 8 year old caught her first muskie (28" tiger), I left the camera at home.
Bill
P.S. Murphy was an optomist. |
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| Yesterday was prime for Musky action.
We hit the water @ 6:00 AM. 6:15 AM I did not even get my line in the water and I was on the net. 38" topwater musky. 6:20 AM 2nd fish up on topwater slipped the hooks. 6:20 - 11:50 AM about a dozen small pike. Last case before heading in 45-47" Musky hit boatside on a figure 8. CRP'd and off the water shortly after noon.
The fish cut a dig hole in the Beckman, I got the hooks out, she put them back in again.
My boat partner said it best. " Thats an Anger fish" I still laugh when I think about it. |
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| Wierd morning on the WB. started out pretty good ... 30 " pike, 19" bass, 39" ski on topwater (maybe just a fluke...), all before the wind shifted at about 8 am, then nothing, not a single follow. I pounded weeds, rocks, edges, threw topwater, tails, spinners, cranks , nada.. With the rain moving in I expected that fish would be moving better. Instead, as soon as the clouds started moving in everything shut down. Oh, well, one's better than none. |
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Posts: 129
| Just got back from a week on Vermilion. Great sleeping weather!
We got 3 follows, 2 weeds and 1 rocks. People we talked to said they
were getting some follows, but no biters. However, heard about a guide and
his wife who caught about 100" of musky in 2 fish the day of the storm. The mayflies
were late and the bass we caught were very fat. We found no topwater bite yet, even on the bass.
I caught several nice northerns on the flyrod on divers. They were alot of fun. We went on the reef that others had
been telling the resort owner held no walleyes. Nothing showed up on the depth finder, however it was loaded with walleyes as seen on the
Aqua-view. Overall I am glad to be home and fishing Tonka.
Tom |
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| Calhoun July 31, no fish caught, we saw 4 live fish all on topwater, 1 dead 44" in the NW part of the lake. Pretty fresh kill, probably hooked mid-week. It makes me sick when I see that. Weeds were low, they must have been trimmed, the water looks good. I'll go back. |
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| Hit Owasso Sat night for a short time - thought I would hit it just right - hot sunny day, full moon rising 1/2 hr after sunset, approaching storms, ... pretty much had the lake to oursleves too ... but nobody bothered to tell the fish. Not even a single follow and we hit all the prime spots. The lake's very dingy (6-12" visibility) and we found no weeds anywhere in the main lakes areas so the spraying must have been very severe again this year.
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Posts: 633
| Hit Owasso Sunday morning. Scum on the surface, and lots of algea. I saw a couple explosions of muskies going after schools of sunfish. I lost sight of my White tiger manta at 2 feet. My dad, nephew, and son joined me after 9:15 am, and the sunfish were biting nicely. I should have gone to White Bear.
Lance
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Posts: 27
| Hit Calhoun last weekend and pulled in my biggest to date (38")on a Depth Raider. Also landed a few nice northerns.
Fished White Bear on Saturday morning, found a new spot and then hooked and lost boatside a upper 30's low 40's fish.
Still not seeing to strong a bucktail bite. When are these fish gonna turn on?
steve
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| Just a test. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I hit Tonka for a few hours last night. Other than a 23" northern and my favorite SeaRay tuber... not much else happened. I have one explosion as my cast landed... too far out to see what it was, or how big...
I'm looking forward to post Labor Day on Tonka... less big boats, etc...
Oh, I forgot one thing... I found out the 'wave capacity' of my 18' Crestliner Canadian. A large boat went by [within casting range of course] and slowed to maximum wake for me [what a guy!]... the curler came to within 2 inches of coming over the bow... Da ol'grey ghost can take a pretty good wave... she was a bigg'un.... good to now the limits I guess............ |
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| I fish atleast once one evening during the work week and one day during the weekend in the metro. The fishing was pretty good at the end of June. My fishing partner and I boated seven fish. But since then it has been slow. Seeing some fish but they are not that hot. Had a mid 40's blow up at the boat on White Bear the other night but no luck. Fished Harriet a few times. The city must have either poisoned or cleared out all the milfoil with that machine. They lake is totally bare. It really killed the fishing. There is no habitat and tough to find any kind of weedline. I was able to find one small patch of milfoil and moved three fish from it. I think they fish will lock into any kind of weeds left.
Has anyone had any luck on Indy this year? |
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Posts: 51
| Had a very short window this morning, so I ran over to Lake Elmo and fished from 6:45 to 8:30 A.M. Picked up a 22 inch tiger on my third cast, a 35 inch northern 15 minutes later (my biggest northern to date); and lost a low 30 inch tiger on a spectalular jump about 15 feet from the boat. All fish caught in less than 5 feet of water, and on a Thorne Bros. red/white spinner bait with a large silver blade, and a smaller gold blade. Also had a white and pink 6 inch Kalin curly tail grub on the hook.
Bill |
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Posts: 129
| Thought it was going to be rainy today, so packed the rain gear
and went to Tonka. Caught a bunch of northerns on a spinnerbait
and a suntan. I either have to get out earlier or go out later.
The warmest water we found was in St. Louis Bay with 75 on the surface
and 70 at 6 feet on the bottom. I wish I had more to report.
Tom |
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Posts: 26
| Good weather Friday helped to put 5 in the boat, 4 over 40", with this one the biggest.
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Posts: 129
| now that is a day of fishing!
tom |
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Posts: 110
Location: Albertville, Minnesota | Nice fish.
Hopefully tonight we do as good if not better than last Thursday on Tonka. Will be out this weekend battling the boat traffic also. I wonder what this 3 day cold spell is going to do to the fish. Its warming up a bit so it should be interesting.
Chris Loch |
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Posts: 129
| fished Tonka this morning.
sighted none, caught same.
tom |
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Posts: 328
Location: MN | Fished Tonka Sat AM - Caught a 47.5" on a shallow raider after she followed a Marv's spinnerbait and raised 4 other fish. Good morning to be on the water! |
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| Was out on Forest for a couple hrs tonight. Had one blow up on a topraider right at dusk, and another eat the magambo tail off a spinner bait - how do they do that and miss the hooks? Lake One has lots of great cabbage this year and millfoil out to about 9 ft. Water's relatively clear too - about 3-4 ft visibiloity on lake one, but some algea bloom too. Seems as if the harvesters have not been out there. Does anybody know if they stopped harvesting this year?
Anybody suggest any patterns? I was working the weeds in 4-6 ft. Couldn't get anything to chase faster baits, only action was when I slowed down.
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Posts: 267
Location: Right behind you (tap, tap) BOOO | This year the harvesters have been out on Forest Lake. I don't know if you fish Lake Three or not but that whole section of the lake is screwed up. Tough to find weeds and when you do they are thick. Spots where we used to see fish everytime we were out aren't producing follows or anything anymore. My friends have been working the lake prety hard and found some new areas and have been doing quite well. All I can say is fish the 8-10 foot range seems to be producing for them.
Esox23 |
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Posts: 51
| Was out for an hour on Lake Elmo last night with my 5 year old daughter
and got her a small tiger-her first.
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Posts: 24
| White bear coughed up another one on Wed night.
Same Durst custom Granny, 2 weeks in a row. Same size, and girth on both fish.
I assume they get bigger. But at any size they get the blood going.
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| After being skunked Mon night on Forest I headed out again Tues and got a 37 and 38, lost a 3rd and saw several others. Had action on all three lakes with lake 3 showing slightly larger fish. The weedbeds are better his year than I've seen in a long time (even on lake 3) I'm sure the cold front has them turned off again right now, but things are starting to look up. Fish already seem to be in early fall patterns, twitch and jerk and long the weedlines.
Any info about Baldy? Will be heading there this week. |
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Posts: 51
| Spent the evening on WBL last night. Had a couple of fish flash at topwaters right near the boat, and my fishing partner had a big fish blow up on his Doc. The splash was so loud, I thought he had done a cannonball of the front of the boat!
As a bonus, I also had a 19 inch largemouth hammer my Topraider. Nice fish for bait.
Bill |
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| White Bear Lake is hitting indeed! My brother nabbed a 53 incher there, a couple of days ago this week, mid-day, during overcast/humid conditions. Please see my posting under the "White Bear Lake" heading for more details on hot spots.... This lake is HOT!!
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Finally got back on the water after nursing a sore back for the last 3 weeks.
I hit Tonka sunday for about 5 1/2 hrs. Perfect weather [grey cloudy, threatening weather, a little fog... ahhhh].
Only fishing boats out there... gawd, I was in heaven.
Not sure where the muskies were tho...
I checked out some new area that show promise. The biggest thing I boated was a 25" nothern.
It didn't matter... I was back on the water [<--pardon the pun;]
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Posts: 129
| We fished Saturday morning and it was heaven with the
clouds and lack of party boaters. They were hitting on any color as long as it was white.
We ended up with a bunch of fish we released. The biggest was a 32.5" northern. We fished a number
of new weedbeds. The northerns were hitting hard. The one musky follow came to the boat
when I was casting without concentration. It was funny hearing you have a musky follow and then scramble
to get your attention back and stumble trying to start an 8. What was ironic was that we had both cast to the same spot
and the non-focussed one hadd the follow.
Tom |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | We hit Tonka last night for a couple hours. Two follows [one each]. A couple of 40 inch class fish. Northerns were biting too...
Weeds are continuing to die off. Traffic is lightening up. Still a few id-juts out there... but hey, it wouldn't be 'Tonka fishing' if
there wasn't some 'entertainment' too...
Things seem to be picking up~! |
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Posts: 129
| We fished Tonka this morning. The rain and clouds
kept the boats fairly sparse. The water temps are mid 70s,
which is quite a bit warmer than last weekend. The fish were aggressive
and we caught everything except a musky. We had no follows, but saw two guys
C&R one off of a point. Does anyone have an idea about what to expect after this
influx of water?
Tom |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | My weekend was not what I expected... best laid plans... yadda, yadda...
I did get out on Tonka Monday morning [6am to 10am]. Dark, cool, blustery... post cold front... I threw hair, cranks and a suick. Nothing. I did mark some big fish suspended at 20 ft in 58 ft of water, off one of the structures I was working [the drifts were FAST].
Everything seemed shut down. Not even a slimer [northern].
I only saw one 'big' boat... other than that, about a half dozen fishing boats. Nice change of pace, and it will only get better from hear on out.
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Posts: 113
Location: Shoreview, MN | Fished Forest Friday 2-8. Wind was blowing pretty good out of the south and with the warm, stable weather I had great expectations. I pounded the windy sides to no avail. Had a small one follow a Topraider, and another small one blow-up right at dark. Otherwise nothing. Lake is pretty murky, but pretty decent weeds out to 7-9'. |
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Posts: 827
Location: Minneapolis,Minnesota | Sunday
Fished a large west metro lake, half dozen follows in the AM. The front rolling in made them go. My partner got a 48" on a topwater and I got a 42" on a Bulldawg right after that.
Monday
Fished a small west metro lake, we got out there about noon and I had a 37-38" in the net by 12:30 on a Walleye 'Dawg (thanks Dennis L.) My partner lost a nice low-mid 40's fish boatside on a bucktail. Not a bad 3 hours of fishing.
Heading out tonight, not sure what lake? |
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Posts: 129
| Fished Tonka this morning. Nice water temps and good conditions.
One nice follow with an open mouth and gills starting to flare,
but I ran out of real estate and the fish veered off. Northerns
are still hitting hard.
Tom |
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| Fished Waconia Sat. 11th. To my unwanted surprise I got to the access at 7:00 and parking was already in overflow. I asked a guy at the dock and he said there was TWO tournaments going on. Thats to times in a row on that lake and there have been tournaments. At least they werent musky tounaments. I dont know why I stayed but I still managed to boat a healthy 37 incher. The surface temps are hovering around 68-69 degrees. The weeds are still real strong and thick on the reefs. Finally, I have a question -when I was waiting for my fishing buddy to come and back in with the trailor I saw some guys taking photos of a fish on shore. From my distance it looked like a small norhern. My guess is that it was the winning fish in the 4 spieces tournament that was going on because there was a small crowd and one guy had a clip board. When I asked the guys at the dock they said it was a 9 pound ski. Granted he let it go off the dock, but isnt it illegal to even have possesion of that fish? Dont you run the risk of the fish dieing in the livewell? I was going to say something but I wanted to get my facts straight before I go preaching on my soap box to a bunch of anglers. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I had one of my most active musky fishing days on Tonka ever saturday.
I got out to my first spot... first cast, a chunky 40 incher follows up to the boat, I go into a figure 8... she just kind'a hovered about 12 ft off the side of the boat and watched... on the third '8'... she bolted off. A good start, I thought!
I caught a couple of 24" Northerns...
I was burning my bucktail in, completing an 8, and casting, always watching the bait. I'm standing on the very front of the forward casting deck, within inches of the trolling motor. As I reel in and begin my 8, and I see a muskies head poke out from under the boat [the fish couldn't have been more than a few inches from my slow running trolling motor], as my bucktail passes it's nose, bang... she's on~!
I free spool and thumb her some line. She takes a nice power run as I loosen the drag a bit... three more runs and she's ready to unhook. I only had one hook from the treble in her, and I was fishing alone, so I brought her up to the side of the boat. I noted the length from markings on the side of the boat as I gently grabbed her on top of her neck. I reached down and flicked the hook out of her with the needlenose pliers and let her go. She bolted to the depths free and easy. I measured from spot to spot... 44"
I started casting again, caught a few more northerns [biggest was a chunky 26 incher]...
I moved to the next spot, and was casting a large tandem spinnerbait, a 32" - 34" musky took a spirited shot at it, but missed... couldn't get her to go again.
I caught a few more notherns
The next spot brought another musky to the boat, a solid 41" - 42" fish... followed the 8 three times like a champ... the hair of the bucktail was tickling her nose... but then she spooked and bolted off... couldn't raise her again.
Then next spot produced a few northerns... as I reeled in my bucktail [hey, it was producing, so I stuck with it] a small northern was racing to catch it. As I'm watching this, I see a shadow under my leader, bucktail and the northern. A huge musky was 'following' under the bait and northern... Wild~!
The northern grabbed the lure, the big musky did one of their classic 'flick turns' and hovered for a few seconds and disappeared.
What a wild day! I saw five different fish and caught one... plus a bunch of northerns...
I went back out sunday, no muskies, but I caught a few northerns...
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | MuskyTom,
Please drop me a line at: [email protected]
Thanks, |
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Posts: 113
Location: Shoreview, MN | Fished WB Fri from 12-5 - south wind howling, cloud cover, thunder in the distance....nothing - man was it dead - not even a snake. Threw tails, topwaters & cranks ... ultra shallow to 30+' deep. Must have just hit a bad time when things were shut down. |
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| Thanks for the post on Tonka, I enjoyed reading it! I was out Sunday and things were much slower for me, I raised 3 fish and had a mid-40's fish blast a phantom but I never got hooks. One think that I can never figure out is the northerns, one day you'll catch 12 and the following day you never get a bite. I don't mind them not biting but always wonder if the muskies follow a similar pattern, they don't for me? Some days all you see is muskies and the northerns don't bite.
I have one spot, actually two where I see a low 50's fish almost everytime out. The one fish is easy to identify as it's got some unique markings. But how do you get these things to bite, I have brought one big girl up on 5 different lures (different days) and it won't bite. Maybe I need to get out there before a storm or something. Anyone else find fish (big ones) to just key in on one particular area like this? |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | tom a.
I've got a deal for you give me the gps co-ord's for your big gal and I will go there and catch, photo and release her. Then when I'm done I'll tell you how I did it . . . serious
Edited by marine_1 9/13/2004 11:25 AM
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Posts: 259
Location: Alexandria, MN | Tom A
I know what you are talking about. Last year I caught 24 muskies on Tonka,
with 2 over 50" -- Those 2 50's and some of the others were a long process. I would
see them almost everytime, and always in the same spot. The fish on Tonka are getting
pounded, they are becoming harder to catch every year.
I would go back at different times of day, in different weather and try different lures.
When they went they went, there wasn't anything magic, one day they would just
come out and hit the lure.
Don't give up, just keep going back to the hole. Try a different lure, or if you are seeing her on a
spinnerbait, try adding some rubber to it for extra action and smell. Sooner or
later you will be there when she is ON, and your time will be rewarded.
Good Luck!
Steve |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | tom, I don't think what fishin freak is suggesting is a very good idea. We had better stick to my plan just step away from boat and hand over the GPS co-ords and everything will be ok. |
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| Thanks for the follow up guys. Marine 1, I think I'll pass on your offer now - I won't tell my buddies where the big ones are at, it's like deer hunting.
Fish-n-Freak, I'm thinking like you except for the fact that I haven't been out there when they've really gone nuts yet. Don't get me wrong, I've boated some decent fish this year but nothing huge. You mention the pressure, although it's bad, if you keep looking for new spots it's still very easy to find unpressured water on that lake. Given all the shoreline, milfoil and other stucture, I'd say it's got more spots than a much larger lake like Mille Lacs has. I stay away from crowds and see fish in pretty unpressured areas. But with that said, I'm fishing 2 big fish that are on a popular spot, I just won't go there unless no one is on that spot.
What's a good bait for these fish that have seen it all? I throw alot of spinnerbaits, phantoms, jackpots (other top waters) but no plastic. |
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Posts: 267
Location: Right behind you (tap, tap) BOOO | Tom A, maybe try throwing a Dunwright Glider at them, it's a newer bait, and the action is kind of like the phantoms...
Esox23 |
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| Just a suggestion, but it seems like when many guys return to an area where they've seen a big fish, they fish it in a way that tends to promote another follow - i.e. you're trying to find out if it's still there. Instead, approach it like you know the fish is there and get very agressive - burn a bucktail, or twitch the hell out of a crank. Piss the fish off enough that it strikes. If it doesn't follow - no big deal because a follow was not what you wanted - you want a strike. Another suggestion that I've received is to try the opposite end of the spectrum and use a really slow, in-your-face preseantation like a creeper - barely move the thing so the fish gets impatient and has to eat it rather than follow it.
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| Fished WB from 2-8 - only saw one fish - mid 40's - baby Depthraider in 18' near a very sharp drop into 50+'. As far as I can tell there's nothing shallow, not even the small pike. The walleye guys seems to be working 35-45' so I'm guessing the ski's are out there too.
Anybody seeing any real pattern right now? |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I fished Tonka from 6:30am to 3:00pm friday. I had two follows mid-40's and an upper 40's. The usual spots were not producing so I tried
some other haunts.
The wind swept shore and/or points with old cabbage were the only spots I saw fish. I talked to two other boats musky fishing, same report.
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | Boated a 42 and 36 on Saturday fish were in their typical spots. |
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| Boated a 42" & 40" on Saturday also, fish were going pretty good. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I took the day off yesterday and hit Tonka after fishing smallies in Wisconny with a friend for a couple hours in the early morning. After
beating the @#$% out of the water for 5 1/2 hours, the musky gods decided to throw me a bone...
A personal best [and first 50 incher]... 50 x 26.5 bee-yatch! What a pig~! Perfect shape, seeing that fsh in the Big Kahuna was a sight I
won't ever forget. That, and the hit on my bucktail, straight up, cleared the surface, head shaking, backflip, that was the most spectacular
sight... just AWESOME!
The houses on that shore probably won't soon forget this adrenaline overloaded idiot howling and jumping around in the boat after she
powered into the depths on the release...
My only regret was no one was with me to share the moment, and take my picture...
UNREAL!!!.... [BIG OL'GRIN] |
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Posts: 259
Location: Alexandria, MN | Thrasher,
Congrats! What a dandy -- You will have that 'film' playing in your head for a long time.
I know the feeling -- My two biggest fish were caught alone, so no high 5's, no pictures and
no help with the net. The netting job can be togh, when you are pumped up on a rush like that.
Congrats! again -- VERY nice fish. Tonka has some great potential and it's nice to see that they
are getting some girth. A few years ago, a girth like that was very rare on Tonka. I have caught
and seen some real pigs out there. Nice to have 'trophy' water so close to home.
Steve |
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Posts: 24
| Bald Eagle update
Water clarity between 0-2ft
Water temp 65-68
Bloom is still present
Some of the weeds are starting to look a little slimey and brown.
Had one hit boatside on a top raider. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Thanks Steve, it was WILD. I'm still pumped... having a hard time focusing on work today. I've seen some large fish out there this
year, and they are definitely starting to show some belly!
Yup, having the Big Kahuna in one hand and a fish nearing 40 pounds on the rod in the other hand was quite a 'dance'... She gave a
couple head shakes in the net, then calmed right dowm [unlike me - grin]... the release was smooth and so sweet.....
I'll be out there again saturday [I'll be the guy with a big grin on my face for no apparent reason]... and probably sunday.......
~ Terry
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Posts: 223
Location: minneapolis | Way to go Terry ! I know you've been stalking that girl since you first laid eyes on her earlier this year. Sure makes all the previous trips out there worth it 'eh? (maybe my "snake-lady" routine from our last trip out scared all the slimers away so only the big girls were left to be had ! ) Congrats! |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Thanks Peg. Yup, I think your 'snake charmer dance' did the trick... probably confused the lakehome people, but hey...
whatever works, right? ;}
Just curious, are you gonna start a site called BabyGator.com? [ha, I kill me! ;] "Get slippery"
Keep an eye on your email... October's gonna be WILD
Well, my boats calling me... later. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | We hit Tonka for 9 1/2 hours on saturday... nothing shallow, nothing in the green weeds, finally had two follow in working steep drops.
The fish were pretty sluggish.... both low 40's. They came in slow, about 5 ft behind the lures, and just veered off about 12 ft from
the boat.
She was a chilly, windy one saturday.... |
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Posts: 27
| Fished WB Sunday a.m. Water temps 61- 62 degrees. Fished inside and outside weed edges deep and shallow. Saw no fish |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I hit Tonka last night for a couple hours after work. Seems like it's been a while since I've fishing with cloud cover and winds under 20mph. It was kind of weird ;}
I saw one fish, decent size. Wasn't really a follow... she was just kind of showed up boatside. She may have followed in part way and then just hung around the boat from that point, I don't know... I was near a steep dropoff, maybe she just came up to see what all the fuss was about...
I'm bringing a co-worker out to Tonka saturday. He's never musky fished, so we will have some 'virgin' mojo in the boat~!... always a good thing! |
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| I was out for the first the other night. Nothing, zilch, nada....I have not been on Tonka for 4 weeks....Where should I concentrate? Shallow, deep? What lures are most productive this time of year? I was throwing bucktails, top waters, a Crane and slow rolling a spinnerbait.....Need help... |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | Tonka has been tough. Got a 44" and lost one on Wed after fishing for a couple hours. No follows.
Fished yesterday and only saw 2, one 4'er that hit on an 8 (nothing in the net) and another that swiped @ the New Muskie Treat.
Went back to the big girl this morning and she hit my bait and drove it into a stump in one motion. Nothing else.
If I didn't know better I'd say the lake is starting it's turn. Very dirty water. Water temps .5 degree from deep to shallow. Let's hope we get a cold snap so it turns quickly and doesn't linger for weeks like it did a couple years ago. |
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| Thanks Treats - Should I concentrate more on the drop offs, inside/outside weeds..or all of the above?
Wish we could have hooked up this year...Congrats on the Tonka win! Finally got the job I have wanted but that has kept me off the water and I cannot find the pattern as in years past when I was able to fish everyday. |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | I've been searching shallow, mid-depth breaks and off steep drops. Kind of slow lately.
I agree, I'm seeing foam in some bays, so turn-over seems near. I think different bays turn over in Tonka at different times [due to the diversity of
water, bottom, etc...]. I could be wrong, but it sure seems like it.
Some bays that were 'dirty' are now clearing up, some that were clear, are now getting dirty. The good news is, we can probably always find fishable
water if the turn over is staggered.
Lately, I've had me best luck burning bucktails. This year seems to be a 'hair' year for me. Last year, anything was good, as long as it was a jointed
crankbait ;] For me, I've been seeing the fish right near steep drop-offs lately [due to cold front activity?]. I've been trying to stick to just above the
depth the baitfish are running, and fishing structure near the baitfish groupings. I'm seeing fish, just not boating a lot [yet]....
I'm going to spend about 12 hours out there tomorrow.... High sky and calm [yippee]............................................................. |
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Posts: 129
| It was a struggle on Tonka today. Beautiful conditions, but no fish. People we talked to on the lake said they were changing back and forth between several species.
My wife caught a small northern, so a boat at the launch said they wanted to follow us tomorrow. Don't have a plan yet for tomorrow.
Think we will look for clear water with depth.
It's a puzzle.
Tom |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Fished Tonka for 13 hours on saturday [dawn to dusk]. Three follows and boated a 41 incher [I'll post the pic after I get the roll developed - I need to
buy a digital camera!].
We tried everything, pretty slow. One follow was out of some tight cover [7am], shallow. One was off a 12' to 20' break [noon]. I boated the 41 off a
weed edge in 17' of water [1:15pm], dropping down to 28'.
We saw a lot of muskies early in the day surfacing. They appeared to be hunting sunnies. We talked to one boat [family] that was fishing for sunnies
and they reported the seeing muskies chasing the sunnies too...
A couple of the bays are definitely turning over...
We tries to stay in the clean water...
Beautiful day. Nice colors on the waters edge.
[another "Tonka special"]
Fishing a point marked by a bouy. The bouy is 35' feet from us. A 21' IO is screeming at us. He could easily go around us [and should have]...
Nope, he adjusts course to buzz right between us and the bouy! Of course, as he screems by, he is too gutless to look at us [his head is turned
towards shore]. Totally uncalled for! The bay was wide open behind us.
Only two things saved him from a severe beating - my fishing partner, and the fact this idiot had his 4 year old son with him. Yes, he was dumb
enough to come back into the bay 20 minutes later. Yes, he lives on the bay... and YES, I know where...................
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Posts: 27
| Fished WB Sunday morning 7-12. Saw one nice fish and caught 1 upper 20's northern(argh). Water temps from 50.5 to 51.6 around the lake. Turnover soon. A beautiful morning though, and I keep finding new spots to try. Marine1, thought I saw you out there? What was that huge piece of wood you where tossing?
Steve |
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Posts: 699
Location: Hugo, MN | That would have been the world famous Weagle . . . Those STUPID FISH were not hungry on Saturday morning nor were they very curious 6-11 nothing more than a couple of follows. |
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| Lost 3 last week - 1 on forest, 2 on WB. All made lame/lathargic attempts to eat small crankbaits near the boat - all were on steep/inside corners near deep water. One had a Baby DR t-boned sideways in it's mouth at boatside and still managed not to get hooked. pathetic. |
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| Hit WB on Saturday. Had and only saw one nice fish follow about 40-45 in. at 7 a.m. Fished deep weed edges with Ernie's/Grandmas. |
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| Time to lake hop,,,hit two on eastside one turning over the other dead,,went to west side and got 49 1/2 and 44,,get in get out until paydirt found this time of year |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | Took a vaction day yesterday. Day before the full moon, pre [major] cold front... I thought "Hey, this could be good!" So we hit Tonka.
I was wrong... we managed one follow, a 30 inch class fish... We pounded everything, even new areas we had not previously fished, trying
to find something. We talked to a other people out there, same report. Even the walleye and bass guys were coming up empty.
Some old timers said the lake is turning over... |
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Posts: 479
Location: Eden Prairie & Pine Island | Was on tonka yesterday; it is not turning over, heck the water was 60 degrees! Some places very clear, too. Put one in the net after sunset on a surface bait, but otherwise it was slow. |
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Posts: 27
| Fished WB Sunday a.m. 7 - 12:30 Water temps 53 - 54 degrees, popped a 39" @10:30.
Steve |
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| Fished White Bear Wed from 12-5. One 39" in the net (that seems to be "the" size this year on WB). Came along a deep weedline near 50+ feet on a baby DR. I didn't see it at first and screwed up my initial 8, fish turned away, I did another big fast circle towards it and it came back and nailed it.  It was the only fish of any species I saw/caught and it came a little before moon rise. Several other musky hunters out, only heard of one other follow. Water temp was ~51.
Any info on Baldy or Forest?
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Posts: 633
| Fished Forest on Wednesday. Water temps in Lake 1 were 46 - 47. I saw two fish, and blew it bigtime. Ripped a triple D up from 13', and had a green shadow behind it. The fish turned away, so I started a big circle. I saw the fish come back, so I went deep with the circle. Then my rod stopped, as I hit the fish in the side. It had stopped, and I didn't. Did the drift again, and either raised it back up, or it's cousin came a calling. Fish spooked when it saw the boat this time. Talked to a guy at the launch who caught 1 on a dog. Not to many people out there until after 3:00.
Lance
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Posts: 51
| Fished WBL this morning. Had a lazy follow by a mid 30 inch northern-very strange.
Also saw 2 mid-40 inch muskies; both in 6-8 feet laying in the weeds; but they wouldn't move.
One we ran a spinnerbait right over is back, and it never even the budged.
The other just swan lazily away from the boat.
The only fish in the boat was a bass.
Bill |
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Posts: 27
| Fished Bald Eagle Sunday night 4-7. Never saw a fish, though lots of floating weeds and nasty brown water. Walleye guys where bunching up pretty good on the west end, though they didn't seem to be having much luck either.
Steve |
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Posts: 27
| Fished Bald Eagle Sunday night 4-7. Never saw a fish, though lots of floating weeds and nasty brown water. Walleye guys where bunching up pretty good on the west end, though they didn't seem to be having much luck either.
Steve |
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Posts: 129
| Fished Tonka today. 49 degrees at the Gray's Bay ramp. The rest of the lake we fished was in the 50-52 range.
We caught 2 small northerns. The good part of the day was the 6 musky follows. A couple came in hot, but backed
off at the boat. No fishing until next week-end, so hopefully they will feel a little less pressured next
Saturday. Keep those posts coming to help other people out until ice-up.
Tom |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | We fished Tonka saturday for 7 hours [10am to 5pm], wind increased throughout the day, mist to rain to mist, a little chilly [beautiful]... We trolled most of the time, el'zippo... Marked most of the 'baitfish' in the 28' to 40' range. We ran straight depths, zig-zagged in and out of multiple depths, around structure, a little of everything... slow, fast...
The bays we were in have cleared up, temps ranged from 48.7 to 52.9. Only saw one other boat fishing... and a couple cruising through...
We might try a little night trolling this week... something we've never tried before... could be fun. |
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Posts: 479
Location: Eden Prairie & Pine Island | Tonka Wednesday afternoon water temps still at 50 and pretty clear. Fat 41 incher succumbed to a jerkbait. If the bigger girls have been feeding to the same proportions, the upper 40's fish should be pushing 30 lbs. |
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Posts: 113
Location: Shoreview, MN | Fished WB last Fri and again on Monday. Water temps still about 50. Deep weeds still green in spots, shallow weeds gone in many areas. Fish were moving pretty good but not eating. Saw fish on both inside and outside edges, but more on the inside edges in 3-5' - some on the sand. Fish on the inside were more active, usually charging after the bait but then turning off just as fast near the boat. Fish on the outside edges were more lazy follows. I didn't move/see any fish in the weeds, just off the edges. All the fish I moved were on crankbaits. Depthraiders and Jakes on the outside edges and Mann's 1- and Shallow Invaiders on the inside edges. Also tried Jackpots and tiger tubes but not even a looker on those. As active as the fish seemed perhaps a bucktail would be the ticket.
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| Was on WB Fri - water temps down to 47. Fish were still on inside and outside edges but noticably slower and lazier than a few days ago. Crankbaits were still the only way I was able to move a fish.
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Posts: 129
| We fished Tonka today. The water is in good shape. We took the Aqua-view out
and although we did not see many fish the temperatures were fairly uniform. I had
two follows with similar results to the previous post on WBL. The docks are gone from
the Gray's Bay landing. One guy got on the ramp ready to launch and he started putting
oil in his motor. A reminder that if you go the the buoys are taken out so make sure
you remember where the prop-busters are. It's hard to accept the season is winding down.
Tom |
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Posts: 185
Location: Mendota Heights, MN | Fished WBL sunday 12 - 5, water temps 47-48.5 degrees. One 43" fish caught outside deep weed edge 14' of water at 2 p.m.. Wind was bitter, sky was clear.
Steve |
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Posts: 129
| The water temp in Gray's Bay was 41 degrees and in the rest of the lake
today it was in the 43-45 range. No muskies today, not even a follow. I did get
a 30" northern on a first break. The nice thing about northerns is that
they hit. Only 6 trailers at the
landing, out of the wind it was a wonderful day. Sad to think it might be
the last day on the water.
Tom |
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Posts: 146
Location: Wayzata, MN | We were out on Tonka saturday 9:30am to 4:30pm. Nothing to show for it but a cold face and fingers... I'm still hoping to get out a couple more times, but she's get'n close... |
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Posts: 113
Location: Shoreview, MN | Hit WB Thurs from 12-4. Water temps about 43. There were a lot of musky hunters out for a Thurs and they were all pounding the deep weed lines with nothing to show for it. I decided to try something diffent and had two follows on shallow on inside edges - go figure?
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Posts: 185
Location: Mendota Heights, MN | Fished WB Sunday water temps 43-44, lost one never seen, and partner boated a 38. What a beautiful day to be on the water!
I am hoping for at least one more weekend before the ice claims the lake and sends me into musky withdrawl.
Steve |
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Posts: 185
Location: Mendota Heights, MN | Fished WB Sunday water temps 43-44, lost one never seen, and partner boated a 38. What a beautiful day to be on the water!
I am hoping for at least one more weekend before the ice claims the lake and sends me into musky withdrawl.
Steve |
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Posts: 185
Location: Mendota Heights, MN | Fished WB Saturday in sleet, wind and snow. Water temp 40 degrees. Looks like the last hurah. Had one on and lost it over deep water in high winds.
Seasons best to all,
Steve |
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