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Posts: 275
| Now that the season is ready to start, I would encourage anyone who fishes in the TC Metro area post. No one is asking for your fishing spots or secrets, but information like:
water temperature
water clarity
surface, hair, cranks, etc.
inside/outside weed edge, rocks, etc
are you seeing and/or catching fish
We could even have some discussion about local lakes. This would make it more productive for all of us.
Have a great season!
Tom |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | I was on W.B. a couple of weeks ago right after walleye opener and was doing some crappie/walleye fishing. Didn't get anything as the weather was unstable, but the water temps then was in the mid '60s, which surprised me. This was before the recent hot weather too.
Also, was on Deer Lake Ws 2 nights ago. Found some nice green broadleaf cabbage and the water temps were 70 degrees there. This time I was after muskies, and again didn't get anything. I got on the water at sundown and stayed until 2:30 am. So I don't know if it's just me, or if the night bite isn't on yet. This was only the second time that I was on the lake so I'm not that familar with it. Also, it being after dark I didn't see any follows but I know I didn't have any strikes. |
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| Went to tonka this morning. Had 3 follows on 3 dif bucktails. The only thing i caught was a rock bass that was the same length as the bucktail it bit(7inch).
muskieboy46 |
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| Was on Tonka from 5 to 10 this a.m. Saw 3 fish all upper 30 inch range and everything was low and slow. Couple snakes caught but overall a very slow day. Fish were sighted on spinnerbaits and small bucktails. |
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Posts: 275
| We also fished Tonka this morning. there were alot of boats on the water. I think there might have been a bass tournament. Water was in the 73-75 degree range. Some early season places I was expecting to see weeds were barren. We had three follows, but no pattern other than happening in about an hour. The rest of the time was slow. Usually we can pick up some bass and northerns to keep the day moving, but only a couple of each of them. The follows were in 6-11 feet of water and they were very tight lipped as they came to the boat. Scary thought, but I am thinking of going and putting some additional time at work tomorrow. It was, however, great to be on the water.
Tom |
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| Fished Tonka and landed 1 fish. Went 38". Typical opener for me. Other than that, slow for the most part. Had one very lazy follow in the same area. |
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Location: Minneapolis, MN | Fished Crystal in Burnsville on Sat for a few hours in the morning. Only a couple of followers in the mid 30's. All follows came from outside the weed line on spinnerbiats and hair, no color pattern. Weeds are VERY thick already, nearly to the surface in 8+FOW and some are starting to get slimey. Saw one fish low 30's caught on a sucker under a bobber in the thick stuff.
Edited by Luke_Chinewalker 6/5/2006 9:09 AM
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Posts: 12
| WBL on Saturday
74-75
No real pattern other that the three biggest and most aggressive fish all followed within 20 minutes of each other.
Moved fish on Hair, Crankbaits, Jerkbaits, and Topwater.
6 fish over 30" followed into the eight but none pinned up.
Final score on 17" bass |
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| I was on Forest Lake Sat and caught a 35" on a topwater - walking the dog pattern. The ski grabbed the bait with so much force that it jumped clear out of the water.
I was fishing pike a few weeks back and also had a estimated 40+ fish on until it jumped and spit the hook a few feet from the boat. |
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| I doubt you caught a rock bass. I am unfamiliar with them being in Tonka. Most likely you got a smallmouth bass. There is a small population of smallies on Tonka but some are really nice. I have caught a few on Tonka musky fishing before. Just and FYI........were you near rocks and sand with sparse weed cover? I could even make a guess or two where you caught it. Keep fishing those spots a musky or two should show up there very soon as the water temps rise and they come out of post spawn. Generally I have not found very large muskies in those areas though. But you are likely to get a low forty or some mid to high 30's. |
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Posts: 275
| actually there are a number of rock bass in tonka and I wish I could blame that knowledge solely on my fishing partner, but...
tom |
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| I got out on harriet last night with a coworker before the massive downpour hit. The action was spotty at best with a few follows from sub-legal fish. The water quality was reduced due to an algae bloom and visibility was reduced to about 4 feet from the usual 8 to 10 feet. The milfoil was also matted up to the surface in almost all locations. |
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| 42 on saturday,,lost about a 40,,,my buddy lost about a 48-50,,,maybe a dozen follows,,,sunday horrible maybe 8 follows 1 hot fish,,,things are slow in the metro we have a cell phone network with reports comming in from all sides of city,,,pretty slow opener compared to most years,,Monday spent the day GPS'ing spots for Hartmans metro tourney this weekend,, after we moved maybe 6 fish all low and slow |
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| I am impressed. Do you boat more than a 42 on the opener most years and hook into more than a 40 and a 48-50? |
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| C
Figure in 13 hrs times 2 people the fist day,,,about 7hrs x 3 in the boat the second day,,10 hours times 3 on the third,,,,,,thats 77 hours times one fish landed 2 hooked,,,thats pretty sloooooooooooooow,,,first week of season is always one of best of the year |
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| When you put it that way yeah I guess your right. I had no idea of the number of hours on the water. Good luck in the tourney! |
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| Hit Baldy Sat AM - by 5:30 am the place was already very crowded - like a parade boats up and down the edges. Lots (!) of fish moving early (before 8 AM) but pretty much no eaters. I had 7-8 follows but most were low and slow - only saw one caught. Most everybody was throwing small jerkbaits - I raise fish on Vipers, Phantoms and spinnerbaits, but there seemed to be a decided preference for the weighted Viper. Two actually bumped the bait with thier snout, but nobody opened up. The guy I saw catch one was working his bait slowly with very, very long pauses. Most all the fish, especially early were out off the edges in 14-16' following the crappies. I didn't get a water temp but the curly-leafed pondweed has already completly died off so you know the temp is up and lake "ahead of schedule".
I'm guessing that with all the nice weather we've had many of those fish had already been caught and with all the pressure they were getting these fish are already well educated.
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Posts: 35
Location: Burnsville, MN | Fished Waconia on Sunday with Eric H...
On the water at 5:30, the launch parking lot was already full. Water temps around 72-73 degrees. The reefs were underdeveloped. Felt like it should have been a good day, nice chop, change in weather, but is was not to be. We moved only one fish, maybe 40". No fish moving in any of my "hot" spots.
I picked up a nice largemouth on a bucktail... at least I got to set the hook.
Derek |
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Posts: 33
Location: Minneapolis, MN | Derek - A relatively uneventful opener is a good thing compared to 2005 when your tow vehicle was rendered useless by fire on the way to the lake. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of the lake.
Eric |
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Posts: 454
| I was out on Waconia as well on Sunday, nothing was moving. Caught 3 bass. There was a bass tourny going on on Waconia that morning.
Just got off Waconia again tonight, was out there from 6-9 tonight and nothing in the boat, just a couple of lazy follows.
I saw two guys in a Tuffy Boat, looked gunmetal and white from a distance, still waiting on mine, hopefully this week. Was that anyone here?
Tony |
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Posts: 35
Location: Burnsville, MN | Ha... Very true, thanks for the reminder. I am definitely one step ahead of last years game. It felt good to be on the water again. The Lake, as she has in the past, will give up her secrets eventually!
You are welcome in my boat anytime E.
Derek |
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| I stand corrected! |
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Posts: 275
| I think we are going to fish Sugar tomorrow. I will post a report the next day. Something like...it was a beautiful, but I got outsmarted by fish again.
Tom |
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Posts: 275
| Sugar Lake on Thursday - Water in the 73-77 degree range - water and weeds in great shape - one muskie follow- talked to 2 guys who fished from 5-9 a.m., they only had one follow. Bass were hot in the weeds on senkos and spinnerbaits - my first time on the lake.
Tom |
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Posts: 275
| We fished Tonka on Sunday. There were a limited number of boats out making the day very enjoyable. Water was 63 degrees in the morning and warmed up to 68 by about 2 p.m. No musky follows, but caught a bunch of bass and northerns. We we took the boat out about 2:30 at Gray's Bay and there was no line.
Tom |
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Posts: 734
| Fished Harriet last night seen three and caught this nice fish, here is the pic.
Edited by MuskyJay 6/12/2006 2:27 PM
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Was on the Bear last night, this A.M. Hit the water about 2:30 gave it up about 8:00 am. 1 small pike for my efforts. Was even out there during a Musky Hunter magazine moon phase. Moon set about 5:00 and the Sun rose about 5:30 am. Of course it was light before this, but the sun didn't actually rise until about then. I didn't look at my watch for the exact time.
Anyhow, water temps at 68 degrees. I haven't been out there for a couple of weeks,when I was trying for some walleyes, so I am assuming that the temp fell over the weekends cold weather. Water was very clear. I trolled deep diving cranks along the breaks and midlake humps. I cast topwater, bucktails, spinnerbaits and glidebaits. 1 small pike on a bucktail. Marked a lot of bait fish on the graph. Clouds of them everywhere. Lots of fish suspened over water 20 to 40 feet deep. But nothing that would hit a muskie lure. Maybe the fish are to well fed in this lake, that's why they don't bother hitting lures anymore? Their stomachs are full.
I haven't seen a muskie yet this year. Didn't go so good last year either. Kind of discouraged. Nice fish Muskie Jay.
Edited by fishpoop 6/13/2006 12:03 AM
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Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | MuskyFlyGuy - 6/12/2006 3:25 PM
We fished Tonka on Sunday. There were a limited number of boats out making the day very enjoyable. Water was 63 degrees in the morning and warmed up to 68 by about 2 p.m. No musky follows, but caught a bunch of bass and northerns. We we took the boat out about 2:30 at Gray's Bay and there was no line.
Tom
MuskyFlyGuy,
I was out on the Wet End of Tonka on Sunday and it was eerily quite. Put in at 6 a.m. left at noon, one or two little muskie follws. The pike on the other hand were more than willing to bite. Muskies on Tonka are not cooperating at all yet for me.
Edited by lots of luck 6/12/2006 4:03 PM
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Posts: 35
Location: Burnsville, MN | Nicely done MJ... great way to get the MN season started.
Hey Fishpoop, I'm with you, two days on the water, two fish seen... none in the boat, it's depressing, but as a wise man once said - "Keep chuckin Bitc*"!
Derek |
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| Fished the Missisippi below ford dam last night had one bulger behind my topwater,, never saw it probbably an ambitious smallmouth |
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Posts: 12
| Fished the Croix 75-77 degree surface temp.
Lots of other hunter out there. I trolled a bit looking for new spots since they were multiple boats on all the usual ones
Had one swing and a miss on a little reefer in the weeds. All things considered it was a lovely night but a slow fishing day |
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| Hit Calhoun last night with the usual being the result. Three follows and no strikes was the final score. I headed into Lake of the Isles for the final hour prior to sunset and managed a small tiger that exploded on my Top Raider. |
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| Any milfoil mowing reports from Calhoun or Harriet? Just wondering what has happened this week on either lake with regards to milfoil harvest.
I fished Sunday on Calhoun and caught an upper-30s fish right after the cloud/rian/wind transition. Raised 2 other fish during the outing. Nothing over 40. Saw and momentarily hooked the biggest bass I have ever seen on a 8 inch Jake. The open mouth (boatside strike) looked like a 45-inch muskie.
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| Walked my dog around harriet weds,,,,mower out and about,,,,driving past calhoun the offshore humps still had matted surface weeds so mowing must be behind sced there,,,by the way YEARLY parking permits are sold out at pavillion |
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| So what's happening out there. I haven't been out in a week. |
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| 41 last night,,my buddy 'Dock is in" missed about a 45 at the side of the boat,,,,no follows just the two two eaters,,,work those baits slow and deep,,,This is ONE wierd year I have seven for the year but not that many follows total compared to other years,,No topwater, no figure eights,,,Are people finding fish following LESS compared to past years?????? |
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Posts: 275
| Fished Tonka on Sunday morning. Water was impacted a little by the rain, but the bass and northerns were hitting hard. Had one musky follow on a spinnerbait. She had her nose on it and followed it through the first half of the figure 8. Like others are saying, low and slow.
Tom
Edited by MuskyFlyGuy 6/20/2006 2:59 PM
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Posts: 480
| My partner released a 46" and a 50" in 5 fow and 22 fow respectfully on Monday morning. Nice way to start a vacation. Also he boated two pike 30" and 34". It sure is nice not having to travel very far for awesome fishing. |
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| I was on Indy on Sat and had a 40"+ take my bucktail 10-15' from the boat. Unfortunately, as soon as she had it in her mouth she opened and slowly swam away. Sunday morning I went out again and had a mid 30"s follow in 8-10' of water. I also saw a few surfacing at the same depth. I am going out again tonight and will get a report in shortly! |
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Location: Apple Valley | Fish White Bear yesterday morning from 5am to 1pm with nothing going on. Didn't move any fish. Got a few pike.
Went to St. Croix this morning and moved a few muskies on hellhounds. Very slow follows!!
I did catch a nice Pike on a hellhound.
Edited by porterhouse 6/21/2006 4:16 PM
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| out last night,,,'Dock" got a low 30's and I lost about a 40',,,no follows,,,water temps have dropped about 3 degrees |
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| I fished Indy last night with no luck. I saw 3-4 fish surface in about 10' of water but no follows or strikes. I did see a boat fishing in the shalows catch a upper 30"s fish. Frustrating when they surface 15-20' from the boat and you still can't catch them!! Any ideas what lures work well in the deeper water? |
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Posts: 12
| Fished forest
74-75 degree water @ surface
Poor water clarity from what I understand ( About 3 ')
missed one 40ish in fish @ boatside on a figure 8
caught 4 pike 28" - 35"
All the action was on cranks worked stop and go. All fish hit right after the pause |
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Posts: 12
| Fished forest
74-75 degree water @ surface
Poor water clarity from what I understand ( About 3 ')
missed one 40ish in fish @ boatside on a figure 8
caught 4 pike 28" - 35"
All the action was on cranks worked stop and go. All fish hit right after the pause |
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Posts: 275
| Fished Deer in Polk county yesterday. The water was 66 at the launch and got up to almost 73 by 12:15. We had two follows and spooked two others. It almost looked like he was courting her. Is that possible?
Tom |
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Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | MuskyFlyGuy - 6/12/2006 2:25 PM
We fished Tonka on Sunday. We we took the boat out about 2:30 at Gray's Bay and there was no line.
Tom
Wow, That usually never happens on a weekend. |
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Posts: 275
| However this past Sunday with the sunshile it took about 45 minutes and don't get me started on the people who launch and tie up the ramp while they look in vain for a parking spot.
tom |
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Posts: 9
| And then have their wife hold their $150,000 boat right where you want to go, and get mad at her when she complains about not being able to hold the boat. |
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Posts: 7
| Tonka hasn't been too nice to me yet either, but looking back i've never done well their until about mid july. i have started seeing some nicer fish on the mid lake reefs though, just getting them to bite is the problem. i think i'll stick with indy for a little while, last week i saw 6 fish including one really nice fish. and i know what you mean when they surface just feet away from your topwater...if you hear anyone yelling in anguish-it'll be me. however, strange as it sounds, i've had a lot of luck on that lake seeing fish sitting on the surface with their fins sticking out of the water and throwing topwater at them...go figure
Zelmsdawg
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| Tigers,,anybody,anybody???? Tigers usually turn on last week in June -first week in July almost a sure thing,,out last night,,nothing!!!,,,Anybody catching the stripes ????? |
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Happy Hooker and I hit Forest Lake today. Nothing, not even a follow. Water temp was 77 for the most part but found one area that the unit said 80 degrees. Dead flat calm. Water color a milky green. Threw everything. Worked the weedline, breaks and bars on 3rd lake as well as up shallow and some of the flats. Happy said he couldn't believe we couldn't even get a follow. I told that I could believe it, he was fishing with me. LOL If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.
Had motor troubles to top it off. Nice day to be out, but would have been better off staying home. I did manage to enjoy every cast though.
To add insult to injury, when I put the boat in the water, there was a group of girls about 7 to 11 years old fishing off the dock. They were out by themselves having a good time. 1 of them caught a sunfish about 3 inches long. She was using a worm, a short line, a bobber, hook and a stick. Yes a STICK that she and found lying on the ground. No rod, no reel... a Stick! I had a big rig with all the electronics and rods and lures and who knows how much money tied up into this rig. She out fished me. She at least caught a fish, with a stick! Granted it was a 3 inch sunfish and I was throwing lures 3 times the size, but she caught more fish than I did. Didn't spend as much money either. LOL Still it was good to see some kids fishing. No adults around they went by themselves. Good to know that not all the kids are wrapped up in video games. Maybe future muskie fisherwomen someday?
Edited by fishpoop 6/29/2006 5:20 AM
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| Happy, the tigers were going nuts on opening day my boat got 4 and my buddy got 2 from the same lake not to mention the 4 that we collectively lost.
The tiger bite was over weeks ago! |
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Posts: 291
Location: Minneapolis | Harriet was a Dead Sea last night. Not even a follow. I can normally guarantee seeing a fish there (catching is a whole nuther kettle o' fish!). Not last night. Anybody know why the water quality is SO awful? It's like a sewer, and normally Harriet is the clearest of the City lakes. Calhoun is in good shape, and even Isles was surprisingly clear a couple weeks ago. What up with Harriet? |
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| Thank the city of Mpls for that one. The locals don't like to look at the icky milfoil. So they chop it up and it kills the fishing in the water clarity. Maybe they should but so much crap on their grass and it wouldn't drain into the lake. By the way the milfoil grows back in a week. |
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| A very warm spring seems to always darken harriet,,,Cement bike paths,sidewalks,roads parking lots,,and capped shoreline around pavilion,,lots of cement to conduct heat on this lake, we had alot of blue bird high intensity sun this spring,Im guessing its a early bloom,,,Carp seemed more active this year too,,,this also gets runoff from the pond in cemetary I dont know how much the the lawn in cemetary gets fertilized,,,always been a mystery if there are any Muskies that got into that cemetary pond its connected to Harriet and Calhoun by pipe it does have big carp in it so large game fish can get in,, |
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Location: Apple Valley | I also fish Forest this morning From 6am-2pm. Had 2 follows . Both fish around 40". Both followed a water chopper in 4ft of water. Very slow and lazy follows.
I did catch a 32" Pike on a m&g spinnerbait. She hammered it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brian
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Posts: 207
Location: Mpls, MN | Went out tonight, nothing HH. Did the usual spots. Zip zero nada. Water level is much higher then it has been in the last 2 years too.
Edited by mm12463 6/29/2006 11:23 PM
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| Hit Calhoun last night and it was brutal! Fished from 3:30 until about 10 and only saw 3 fish with the biggest about 38". It was a beautiful night to get skunked. |
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| Went out twice this week in early morning. Fished weeds in less than 10 ft. No luck with the muskie so broke out the ultralite stuff. Boated 50 'gills, perch and sunnies all within a couple of hours and in the 8 - 9 inch class. Now what do ya think the muskies are eating? Always carry an ultralite. |
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| Went out twice this week in early morning. Fished weeds in less than 10 ft. No luck with the muskie so broke out the ultralite stuff. Boated 50 'gills, perch and sunnies all within a couple of hours and in the 8 - 9 inch class. Now what do ya think the muskies are eating? Always carry an ultralite. |
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Posts: 207
Location: Mpls, MN | Fished Waconia this morning. 5am-1pm. Saw 1 and maybe another. Nothing hooked. Water was about 72. Didn't see another muskie chucker out there. We did everything but chuck jigs. Cranking twitches and jerks were the ones to get things going. Oh well - still fun. Going to hit Nokomis tonight maybe. |
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Posts: 734
| Fished Indy tonight, one missed a glider and had one follow on a stillwater. Both were upper 30's to low 40's. Overall really slow |
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Posts: 454
| I am amazed that you didn't see other guys out fishing Waconia for muskie! That lake has turned into a complete zoo. It is usually lined up with 2 or more boats on most of the better spots and the pleasure boaters are starting to make it really tough to be out there, especially on the weekends. |
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Posts: 207
Location: Mpls, MN | Scuba divers totally messed up the moonrise spot we wanted to hit. Right on a reef, they have the little flag up and doing thier thing. But so be it. |
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| First time ever on Rush lake,,,west-pea soup,,,East tinted but not horrible 78-80 water temp,,,Bluebird skys and no wind,,,the only follow we had was when someones Springer spaniel jumped in and swam out to our boat and jumped in,,first time ever Ive been out in metro and not seen a fish two times in a row,,its sloooooooooooooow!!!!! |
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| I fished Forest this past weekend. Water temp was in the 78-80* range. Saturday I had a mid 30"s fish on but it spit the hook right up at the boat. Sunday my pops caught a 41.5" fish in the shallows and about 4pm we saw a mid 30"s while drifting. All the fish were seen/caught in 3-5' of water. |
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Posts: 12
| Sat AM Way early 2:00 till 8 AM, I fished Deer lake. water temp 75-76
Not A sniff from a musky - I hammered the Largemouth though.
We had a shift in wind direction and some rain kick up that I think hurt us a bit. We fished Hait, Topwater, and twitched cranks.
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Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | Nobody is fishing the Metro lakes? Or is it just to hot out? |
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Posts: 734
| I have fished Indy twice in three days. I have seen two fish the first time and none the second. Slow out there very slow. I give up for a while. |
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| I fished Forest Fri, Sat, and Sun with no luck. Sat night we fished from 5pm to midnight with not even a sniff. The only fish caught was a few pound bass around 11:30pm Sat night. Very slow! |
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Posts: 275
| Fished Minnetonka on Saturday. Bass and northerns were active, but no muskie follows.
Tom |
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| I fished Sugar yesterday with not even a sniff. No bites, follows, pike, bass, anything... I am getting extremely frustrated!
Anyone having luck out there? |
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| Out yeterday,,started at Vineland bay around 1:00 pm saw 2 fish in about 5 hours,,,,then loaded up and went to northend worked 6 miles of weedline saw 2 fish in first 20 minutes then nothing,,,fished for about an hour after dark,,,pulled out at 10:30 pm and there were two guys that just pulled out they said they had been on the water since 3:30am-19hrs,,,and saw 5 fish,,,Wealthwood landing is getting pretty shallow more so then normal |
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Posts: 33
Location: Prior Lake, Minnesota | Sugar is one of my favorite lakes. -It can be stellar or brutal- Weather usually plays a big role. I usually stick to Sept./Oct. Any time after Goose/Duck/Pheasant openers. Pressure drops off a bit. Its too bad cabbage has really dropped off in the lake.
My 2 cents |
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Posts: 734
| Where are the fish in Lake Independence, not even a follow on a new moon, at moonset, and a lightning storm rolling in. I am really stumped.
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| Independence is very dark and not that deep,,probbably not the best choice in July,Aug, in a abnormally HOT year |
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| I fished Indy on Wed from 7pm-10pm. I had 2 follows in the first 1/2 hour and a guy caught a 41" 20 yards from me. He said they also caught a 42"er earlier. |
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Posts: 734
| How deep are you keeping your boat in at Indy? |
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Posts: 275
| Fished Tonka on Friday. Saw two - both sunning themselves in 4' - 6' of water. One on a sandy point and the other on a sand flat. The bass were very active.
Tom |
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Posts: 548
Location: MN | I was out on White Bear today from 5:30 until 8:30 am. Two follows... no takers. Getting pretty warm by the time I left also. Next time I think I'll start at Midnight 
NIck |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | is the water still over 80! I am waiting for it to cool but with 110 degree days that's not happening. Anyone out their got the water temps. |
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Posts: 267
Location: Right behind you (tap, tap) BOOO | Forest was at 84.5 on saturday morning around 8:00 am. Had 1 follow, she came in on a bucktail half dozen times around on the figure 8 and then take off on me. That was it, nothing else seen.
Esox23 |
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Posts: 548
Location: MN | Pedro - 7/31/2006 11:26 AM
is the water still over 80! I am waiting for it to cool but with 110 degree days that's not happening. Anyone out their got the water temps.
White Bear was 81 at 8:00 am |
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| I was fishing in about 8-10' on the East side of the island. |
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| Been wating for two weeks for water temps to go down and couldn't stand it any longer. Hit WB last night for a couple hrs around sunset. Waters temps still 82. Saw nothing. Nite bite? |
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Posts: 12
| Fished WBL This morning 4:30-8:30Am water temps was 80.9 @ Surface.
Mixed it up with a bunch of 24-30" pike. I saw one musky lounging as we drifted past him. Had a couple of other hits but did not connect
fished all morning 12' or less |
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Posts: 548
Location: MN | I'm heading out to WBL tonight around 8:00 PM. We shall see how it goes. Hopefully the cooler nights will drop the surface temp a little.
NIck |
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Posts: 30
| Fished WBL last week until 2:30 am. nothing moving but a few bass. I think it's too warm with water temps in the 80's. |
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Posts: 480
| Fished WBL Saturday morning, caught one 42" muskie trolling large crank slow on deep weed edge. Caught only small pike in shallow weeds. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | Fished Tonka Saturday morning. Saw one small Muskie and only caught a few small Northerns. Even the Bass weren't biting.
Slow. Slow. And Slower...... |
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Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | Herb_b - 8/14/2006 12:03 PM
Fished Tonka Saturday morning. Saw one small Muskie and only caught a few small Northerns. Even the Bass weren't biting.
Slow. Slow. And Slower......
Yeah, I use to think I had Tonka nailed down till this season. For some reason I keep going.... Hopefully it turns around come mid sept. |
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Posts: 275
| We fished Tonka on thursday and Saturday. Caught a bunch of bass and northerns, but the Muskies are hiding. They must know I bought a Muskie Treats and are avoiding me.
Water pushing 80, but seems to be dropping a little.
Tom |
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Posts: 275
| Does anyone have any information about water quality on Inde? temp, color, weeds?
thanks,
Tom |
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| I fished Tonka on Saturday evening and got a 44" and a 48.5", never saw another fish not that I am complaining. Other than some very brief feeding windows the lake is really a riddle to me this year. I got the two fish about 20 minutes apart and both were caught about 2 hrs before sunset on exactly the same spot. Have yet to see any really large fish this year. |
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Posts: 275
| Fished tonka today. surface temperature was about 76 and the aqua-view showed it in the 68-70 degree range 8 feet down. threw alot of musky lures, but got nothing, so switched to fishing bass and northerns. Had a good day on them, fishing the weeds. I kept coming back to a half ounce buzzbait throughout the day even though I was catching nothing on it. Late in the afternoon a musky busted it on an inside weed edge in about 3 feet of water about 10 feet from the boat. amazing to see it all unfold. we battled 370 degrees around the boat, hoping the line and the lure would hold together in the milfoil. They did, we got two quick pictures, and safely released it. Not a monster, but battling a 43 in 3 feet of water and weeds made the day.
Nice to have a cloudy day!
Tom |
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Posts: 275
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Edited by MuskyFlyGuy 8/18/2006 9:56 PM
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Posts: 275
| With the water temperatures going down, fish are becoming more active. We fished a lake in the west Metro on Friday. Surface temperature was 72 and we had 6 follows and landed a small one. Today we fished Tonka with temperatures about 72. We had one follow from the weeds and one on that got off in the weeds. We caught northerns and bass on the surface in the weeds. Lots of boats on lots of spots. we got off the water before noon as the lake got real busy.
Tom |
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| 3 of us out on Tonka for 1st time this year,,,Buddy missed two good fish but thats all we saw,,,I think the hot temps last two days stalled the water temp and killed the bite that was very good the weekend before when it cooled,,,Boat traffic was HORRIBLE!!!!!! even for tonka,,water dark and we noticed places that were full of cabbage last year had none or considerably less this year |
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| Got a 43.5" on Tonka over the weekend, never saw another fish. I can also say the boat was crazy busy, especially with muskie guys. |
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| Fished the afternoon of Thursday right before and got caught in the storm. Had 1 follow and that was all. It was VERY windy. The 1 fish I saw was on the very east side island. I forgot the name. I have much better luck on the eastern part o f the lake. |
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Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | I use to be a die hard Tonka guy, now besides a time or two and Bass opener I wait till mid Sept to go to Tonka. Can't stand either getting off early to beat the rush or waiting a hour and half to get my boat off the water. |
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Posts: 30
| Fish are finaly going again. Got a 45" and a 38" last week (north Metro). Moving lots of fish very shallow. |
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| my bro finnialy caught his first on mon not big but nice 37" tiger on wasserman. if you want fish go to wasserman or peirson lots of fish not huge but big enough saw a couple of 44s at least on peirson big for a tiger go shallow with big bucktails |
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Posts: 275
| Nice day on Tonka today. Clouds and no crowds. Water temperature slowly keeps dropping.
Tom |
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| Youngbuck is right "tigers" are going, not that anybodys gonna fish for them,,out for 2hrs sat and got a nicely marked chunky 38 on St paul lakes |
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| what's wrong with fishing for tiger muskie? |
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| Got a 49.5" on Independence and had another nice fish charging hard but wouldn't eat.....typical Indy pattern is in full effect right now.
Does anyone know what the deal with the secondary landing is on Independence? With the primary landing being closed for the year in mid-September, I'm curious to know if/how you can still get on the lake this fall. What are the rules with parking around that smaller landing? |
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| Justin
nothing wrong with Tigers,,,,just that not many serioui musky people do it,,,,No fisherman on Tiger lake I was on sat,,no fisherman on the lake I hit this mourning,,,And I harldy ever saw a boat all summer on Nokomis the lake I swim in after work just about everyday,,People just dont use this resource like they should |
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| Fished Forest Fri and Mon. Lost/missed two big ski's (one each day), boated a small guy on Fri, and got a couple pike over 30". Had a couple other lazy follows but mostly it was either a fast/violent strike or nothing. All were on spinnerbaits worked high and slow in areas with very thick weeds and reasonably clear water. Very hard to get a decent hookset under these conditions. I still don't understand how even a small pike will completely inhale both hooks of a Rad Dog and a big ski comes up blank. Lake One has a nasty bloom going on and didn't do anything there. Lake Two seemed the clearest with some decent areas of cabbage but I moved more fish in areas with really narly coontail.
Also fished WB for about an hr on Sunday before lightning drove me off. Water temp was 73 but a lot of dying weeds on the flats - seems too early and water temps still too high for this much die-off - the weeds on Forest were in much better shape - but didn't have enough time to seach WB for new caggabe growth. There's also some bloom on WB and the water color is about as green as it ever gets.
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | Going out to Tonka tonight, fishing the east End. Hopefully the boat traffic isnt so bad, but the moon should make up for it. If i score anything I'll let ya know.
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Posts: 275
| Fished Tonka on Thursday night. Too many other boats had the same idea. Nothing like 300 horses on a 35 foot boat 150 feet away from you to make it feel like you are on Mille Lacs. With so many fishing, I am wondering why so few are posting. Water temps in the 68-69 degree range. No muskies, but a few northerns and bass.
Tom |
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Posts: 454
| I haven't been out in the metro lately, but when no reports are coming in, it usually means people are on fish.
I might hit Waconia this weekend, I will post if I get out. Caught a 40" on Bone Lake in WI last weekend on Sat.
Tony |
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | Tonka is spitting them out, but only on select lures for myself. Rubberbaits deep are the one thing that produces. But I cannot seem to score way shallow. But all I see out there is guys up in there???? So i cant figure it out. Anyone who fishes up tight (1-5ft) - whats the deal????
Lost 2 on Wed. Bad hookjob on one 40 and lost another at dark half way in - felt good - hooked on a Btail.
Edited by The Dogger 9/15/2006 6:10 AM
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Posts: 136
| I have been finding the fish in less than three feet of water. Hitting Tonka tonight. I am afraid that everyone else is going to have the same idea. |
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | Common Sense Guy- I have been finding really good rock/sand/boulder structure with isolated weeds on the edges (and not always milfoil) and also a few cabbage/"curly-tail" isolated weed spots in shallow too. I have tried them multiple times and have seen only one fish. But I am not trying these spots at prime time bc of the lack of confidence - should i not give up to easy?. Another question if you dont mind, and im not asking for any secret - so you can let me hang on this one if u want, but are you just beating the shorline regardless of the structure and coming along fish here and there with no pattern besides it being in shallow water?
Anyone else feel free to help a guy out. I am willing to share what i got on the deep weedline spots that have produced almost every day I've been out the last month. Thx guys!
Edited by The Dogger 9/15/2006 11:50 AM
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Posts: 136
| Been fishing points with sand/boulders that are close to deep water. There is always weeds around as well. Deep water is the key in my opinion. I like the gravel/boulders because it draws baitfish>bass/walleyes>muskies. I don't fish shallow randomly. That would be a waste of time. There must be something unique like a point or an inside turn. Then when fish are up on those spots they are there for one reason. If they don't eat, leave them a lone and come back in a half hour. |
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| Was on Forest Friday 12-5 pm - water temp about 63 - fished shallow wind-blown weedbeds/edges - only saw one half-hearted follower. All three lakes were very green <1 ft visibility. Nobody else I spoke with had even see a fish.
Fished WB Sun 8am-noon - wind was really howling - water temps about 66 - moved quite a few fish on shallow rocks with Topraiders but couldn't get hooks into any - they seemed be slapping at the bait but not eating it.
Been a very fustrating year for me - I've managed a few smaller fish and been one some good ones but seems like I'm there at the wrong times - mostly mid-day, bluebird post-fronts, just after moon rise etc. I guess I'm just lucky that I'm getting out on the water at all. I'm guessing there's a pretty good nite-bite going on right now.
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Posts: 480
| fished white bear and moved zero fish from 730am to noon, onto the big pond til ice up. |
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Posts: 275
| What's wrong with this picture? We drove by Calhoun on Sunday morning on the way to Mille Lacs. There were 7 boats on Calhoun. My one way drive time to Calhoun is 5 minutes and the North shore of Mille Lacs was about 2.5 hours away. Two small follows on Mille Lacs. The ramps/access to the lake are very shallow. Most people were trolling/drifting in the 6-8 foot range.
Tom |
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| Nothing is wrong with the picture? I am not sure what your getting at. There was some sort of bass championship so they were probably soaking plastic worms. Calhoun has a couple of real monsters that you will almost never see while Mille Lacs has hundeds of monsters that show their locations constantly. Did I mention that the DNR has changed to tiger stocking only on Calhoun? Yet another reason to drive right on by. |
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| i just want to know if that is really Justin Morneau posting or a imposter? |
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| why? if morneau liked tigers would you start thinking they are cool too?
anybody read the turnover discussion? people with water reading skills put out some tc metro reports on lake turnover. |
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Posts: 454
| Guest if you want to complain, at least let people know who you are. |
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Posts: 7
| that guest sounds bitter over Justin Morneau, i think it would be a nice deal if Members of the Twins used this forum |
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| WB temps on 10/3 were 59-61. Fish were very shallow and sluggish. Would follow a cowgril but turned off fast near the boat, got 2 to strike a weighted viper. 9 follows, 2 hooks-up, none in the boat. Been pretty much the same story all year for me. |
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | 59-60 degrees on the Main water of Tonka, fished my @ss off. Shallow, deep, weeds, rock, Even tried trolling, I was that deserate. Didnt see a fish. There was quite a few guys out and the conditions were awsome. I just got owned by them Z's yesterday. Kinda makes me wonder if I know anything at all anymore......
Threw Dawgs, Girls, Cranks, Gliders and Twichers.
Depressed Dog here.
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Posts: 215
Location: Twin Cities | --
Edited by The Dogger 10/5/2006 6:10 AM
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Posts: 33
Location: Prior Lake, Minnesota | I here ya Dog!
I think this has been a tough year for a lot of musky hunters. The weather has been bizaar. I can go to a local lake and get action from a dozen bitters in one day and go back the following 3 times and not even get a sniff. Its tough when you can only get out 1 -2 times a week. I guarranty if I had a flexible enough schedule to take off whenever I felt the conditions were right I would boat 3 times the amout of fish. Its tough but you just have to keep the mindset "All it takes is one cast"
I choose to go to Sugar lake last Sat. because its getting that time of year and previous duck openers have been very good to me. I get there after a two hour drive and it becomes blue bird skies - post frontal conditions with water temps still at 59-60 where normally they are barely at 55 this time of year. 85 degree air temp on Oct 1st. Needless to say it was brutal, casted shallows and weed edges for 4 hours, didnt even see a follow. Turned the Twins on the radio and trolled for 3 hours - nada. Casted for another hour or two and finally got a follow from a 40 and then got a 39" pike on a weagle. At hour number 10 had one hooked for a second and came unbottoned.
12 hours of fishing and 1 gator. Icing on the cake - cruzing to the access and see a mid 40's porposing in the shallows, kind of like "in your face" -
I have to take advantage of every time out. 1-2 times a week is not going to put you on prime days that often. If i would have boated that 1 fish it would have made that 15 hour trip worth every minute.
Sometimes the fish are just not going to cooperate. They dont get to the size they are just from CPR. (even though it helps
tremendously)
So hang in there and youll be rewarded.
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | I got on Tonka with a friend yesterday and we saw just two lazy Muskies following well behind our lures. The only fish we caught were a 4 lb Bass and a 3 lb Northern.
Oh, well. Looks like the metro lakes are tough right now. Thats fishing, eh?
Hopefully the fishing picks up once the water cools down. It was still 60 to 62 degrees over the entire lake.  |
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Posts: 275
| We did Tonka today, or should I say Tonka did us. We could not even root out a bass or a northern. I need to find easier water for Sunday.
Tom |
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Location: Minnesota | hit a north metro lake tonight and scored a 41 on a top water right at dark |
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| Took a couple days off last week and had a decent pattern going of a very shallow (2') sand/weed edge morning bite. Saw about 15, got hooks into 4 but only landed one skinny 40". Most fish hit a very fast-hopped weight jerk-bait, but had many follows with big tails and got one to go for a tail that I burned after I saw the follow - problem was I burned it so fast and the fish came up so fast that it overan the bait and I ended up with too much slack to get a good hookset. I think the fish laughed at me as he spit the bait out! The patterned was gone on Sat. Maybe switching to an evening bite post-full moon? Lakes seem like they are starting to clear from turnover - morning temps around 55. Things should be picking up soon. |
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Posts: 275
| Fished Tonka last night and brought the AquaView. We saw a walleye in four feet of water. The surface temperature was 58 and where we checked it was 54 on the bottom in 10' of water. We caught bass and northerns and my wife had a follow. At dark I heard a gentle slurp and a big swirl. A big girl had taken my surface bait. I fought her heroically for about 4 seconds and then she came unbottoned. What a joy to see her, but...oh well, I was going to release her anyway.
Tom |
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Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | MuskyFlyGuy - 10/9/2006 4:29 PM
I fought her heroically for about 4 seconds
Tom
LOL |
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Location: Minnesota | i had 6 follows over the weekend, but no hook ups
anybody else having luck? |
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| Fished Tonka yesterday for a few hours. Saw two but didn't want to eat. |
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Posts: 37
| Tonka this morning, 8-12, raised 5 and caught two mid to low 30's in 6-8' over weeds with suick
Mike Wallace |
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Posts: 275
| Fished a lake east of Hayward last week for 4 days and fished for muskies and walleyes. Put some walleyes in the freezer. Did not see a musky, but had one bite off an 1/8 ounce jig and minnow while fishing for eyes. Fishing was pretty good for two days and pretty poor for the other two.
Tom
Edited by MuskyFlyGuy 10/23/2006 3:35 PM
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Location: Minnesota | Hit Forest Lake on Sunday, i had 1 follow right away, then saw a guy catch one at about 9 am, was dead rest of the day |
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| There are still catchable fish very shallow. Yesterday I pounded the deep edges for about 4 hrs with only one follow, then shifted to very shallow (3') rocks on my way to the ramp and netted a 41" on about the 5th cast. |
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Posts: 291
Location: Minneapolis | Yup. Some still shallow. I got a 39" this morning before work on a top raider. Saw one much bigger on a phantom, but that fish sank away well off from the boat. |
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Posts: 275
| We fished Tonka yesterday. Surface temperature started at 46 and went to 47. The bays on the east side have cleaned up after the turnover. I fished phantoms, shallow invaders, and suicks from 3-10 feet of water on weeds, edges, and drop-offs. Got a small northern on the second cast and then blanked for the rest of the day. Alot of walleye fisherman out, maybe I need to change species until next year. All the buoys are out, so if you do not know the reefs be careful.
Tom |
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| Fished WB Wed and Fri last week. Very slow. Lake is clearing up with water temps about 45. Fished shallow, edges, deep, trolled the basin. Saw two fish right on the edges in about 12', and got a 41" on top of the rock bar in 2'. Hit the sand and other shallow spots extensively without seeing anything. No pike either. Couldn't find any pattern, or any masses of baitfish. Turnover must still have the entire food chain spread out all over the place. Hopefully this new burst of cold air and the full moon next week will turn them on.
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Posts: 33
Location: Prior Lake, Minnesota | Went to WB yesterday and fished suckers. Had action from one fish. Actually, pretty entertaining situation.
My sucker was getting into some weeds on Ordway, so I gave him a little tug to pull him free of the weeds and saw a 41" come out of nowhere and chase him. My sucker actually swam about 10 feet at a good clip all the way to the surface where the musky came up and smacked it and took it down. Since it was a quick strike rig I let it rip right away and my drag wasn't tightened down enough (about the 5th time Ive made that mistake in my life, you would think I would learn to just tighten it down all the way by now) anyways, the musky burbs it up and takes off immediately. I thought we spooked him but he flew over to the other minnow and smashed that one. My buddy hooked up and we boated it, CPR. Here are the photos of my carnaged minnow and fish.
By the way what do you think that bleeding hole is toward the tail? I now its not a lamprey wound. Is it some sort of infection like the bleeding rounded off fins?
Edited by neids33 10/31/2006 11:54 AM
Attachments
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sucker.bmp (185KB - 93 downloads)
WB 2.bmp (185KB - 131 downloads)
tooth marks.bmp (185KB - 93 downloads)
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| Heres one for ya!!
Father and son went out to tonka Muskie fishinig for the first time ever in their lives on Monday
Father got a 54' and son got a 52'
'yes they had pictures"
Im sure we all think this is great that a father/ son got to share this experience but dont say you still just would 'love' to strangle them!!! |
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Location: Minnesota | i have just the rope for em
Edited by CowgirlAddict 11/1/2006 11:10 AM
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Posts: 454
| Thats a great story. Anyone have any pictures or details as to how the fish were caught? First time ever muskie fishing and they both break the 50" barrier.
I have a rope with a very heavy anchor on one end  HE HE HE  |
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| you might see them at Minnetonka outdoors in a couple days after the two make a few copies,one of the young guys who works there actually works part time at my work too and he was the one they showed them to. |
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Posts: 1188
Location: Iowa | That's not right...congrats to the guys but they are gonna be spoiled for the rest of their muskie fishing...
Big Perc |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | I expect they will get frustrated in time. There is no way they could ever keep up that pace on Tonka, or anywhere else for that matter, and may never boat another 50 out there again. One can easily see them fish Tonka many times with little success and all the while saying "where are those fish anyway?" - like so many of us.
Tonka can produce some good fishing, but can also be a extremely tough nut to crack at times. It is certainly a feast or famine lake and, over time, most will find more famine and less feast. |
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Posts: 275
| Fished most of the east side of Tonka over the weekend. Beautiful conditions, no extraneous traffic on the lake and still finding green weeds and temperatures in the 42-43 range. Only action was two follows on Sunday and only one of them was semi-serious. Sad day to take the boat out for the last time for the season and get it winterized. Have a great winter and see you in 5 months.
Tom |
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Fished tonka also both days for a while just follws. Mainly the east side. My buddy popped a 47' tonight on a jake trolling on a other metro lake. |
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| Fishing has been terrible for me for the past two weeks. It seems like after that big cold snap we had everything really scattered and has yet to group back up - not even marking bait or catching pike.
Fished WB Sat - water temps 41, fished everything from 3' to 40', cranks, dawgs, vipers&phantoms - trolled the main basin - not a single follow and couldn't mark anything on the DF.
Fished Forest Monday all day. Water temps 38 - tried everything from 3' to 25' - one very slow low follow along an inside turn in about 11'.
Where the heck are they ??
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Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Is the Grays bay launch on tonka still open??
what are the temps out there now??? Have not been there two weeks. |
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| has of yesterday 11-15 Grays was open,,had two buddys out there in the afternoon/eve,,they said they were the only vehicles in the lot,,watertemps they had 40.5 |
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Posts: 480
| I was out on WBL for the last time of the season and boarded this year's largest for me a 49". Trolled BIG crankbaits aound from 12-5:00 pm. The lake should be hard by next weekend. Duff |
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Posts: 30
| Congrats on a big fish. Was that you out yesterday in the Ranger that broke ice all the way out to the main lake? |
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Posts: 480
| No sir, white navigator/70 susuki. I saw a lund breaking ice fromthe ramp to main lake parts. Duff |
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Posts: 921
Location: Apollo, PA | Hey Captain,
You didn't catch that fish on a big black Supernatural....... did you????????
"Everyones got a little Captain in em" |
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Posts: 480
| Hi P-spawn, I thought you would have wanted me to try it out before I sent it? You would have done the same for me. Start looking in the mail. capt bigpiss |
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