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Posts: 164
| My son has been begging me to take him to Lake Minnetonka this year but I keep saying no as I generally stay away from the Metro crowd. I am going to fulfill his request and surprise him on Monday by taking him up there.
I am wondering if anyone has any good advice as far as what side of the lake to target that would be out of the way of the general recreational boater crowd or is this simply impossible.
Any reports on the crowds up there with the no wake restriction being lifted? I was also curious if because it is a Monday what will the crowds be like. I often times fish to get away from the chaos and crowds of people and therefore I have avoided metro lakes all together. I know Minnetonka is a great fishery but just don't prefer crowds or long waits for landing or loading up the boat. I plan on being on the lake by 5:30 am. Any advice would be great. |
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Posts: 91
Location: Metro , Mille Lacs, and G. Rapids | Was out today nightmare couldnt escape the hooligans in the monster boats all i can say is best of luck finding a calm area no clue if its different on a week day |
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Posts: 552
Location: WI | You'll be fine. It'll start picking up some as evening gets closer, but weekday mornings are fine. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | raftman - 7/27/2014 10:17 AM
You'll be fine. It'll start picking up some as evening gets closer, but weekday mornings are fine.
Ditto, 6pm and after and you will love it. Better even yet from 9pm-1am. Also you will have a lot better time once school starts and the weather hits 70F or lower for a daytime high. That sheds about 75%+ of the boaters off the lake... I miss Minnetonka... ;( Good lake to fish and fun to just boat around on. |
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Posts: 158
| 5:30 AM on a Monday. You will have no crowds or wait at any launch. Good luck. |
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Posts: 205
| make sure to post your report |
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Posts: 134
| Was out over the weekend. (first Tonka experience) There are a bunch of idiots out there but our first day was a week day and was very nice out there. The fish are pretty cooperative right now so you should have see some, good luck! |
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Posts: 164
| Alright, so the trip is complete. We did get on the lake by 5:45 am and yes we were one of two fishing boats on the water. By about 1100 am the pleasure boaters started showing up but nothing that was in-convenient. It was my first time on the lake and will definitely be back again. (During the weekday) We stuck exclusively to the west end of the lake. Worked the weed lines pretty hard and only caught one northern and one bass. After hours of not seeing one muskie come out of the weed line we started working deeper waters just off the weed lines and ended up seeing two mid 30's fish.
Hopefully my second trip up there will be more successful. |
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Posts: 5
| Last two nights on the water, 46, a 36.5, and my friend with a 48 that exploded on a top water 10 feet away.
Attachments ---------------- photo 1 (1).JPG (33KB - 136 downloads) photo 2 (1).JPG (115KB - 136 downloads) photo 3.JPG (127KB - 148 downloads)
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Posts: 205
| Fished Tonka for about 4 hours today 1 pike follow that it. My question for you guys that fish Tonka a lot how do you deal with the weeds I swear I spent more time pulling weeds then fishing every place I went around structure out to 15-20 feet deep was covered in thick weeds all the way to the surface. |
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Posts: 5
| Not sure what part of the lake you're fishing, but I don't seem to have too many problems with bucktails or glide baits going over the weeds in that range. There are some spots where chopped up weeds from boats make it difficult to throw baits, but can't do anything about that haha
Edited by Lando 8/1/2014 10:04 AM
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Posts: 205
| I was over by crystal bay there were weeds almost everyplace I went |
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Posts: 68
| Im betting you where picking up floating/sinking weeds or u where casting a mile:) you will startto notice that issue is really bad sat,sun,mon pleasure boats grrrrrrrr
Edited by Netmaster 8/2/2014 1:23 AM
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Posts: 558
| Ya there is weeds floating everywhere. The big boats like to drive through 5 ft of water and chop all the weeds up. Was just out there yesterday, had 2 follows, one was coming in for the kill and I had a #!=##=! Weed hanging off of the lure and the weed tickled her face and she bolted. Thanks giant salad shooters. I have a love hate with tonka. |
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Posts: 68
| Musky Face - 8/2/2014 11:56 AM
Ya there is weeds floating everywhere. The big boats like to drive through 5 ft of water and chop all the weeds up. Was just out there yesterday, had 2 follows, one was coming in for the kill and I had a #!=##=! Weed hanging off of the lure and the weed tickled her face and she bolted. Thanks giant salad shooters. I have a love hate with tonka. lol ya it can be annoying to say the least! What really blows my mind is when the sheriff blows buy you in a cast length and runs right through the buoys! I have video of them doing it was thinking about emailing it to mound police department let them know they are breaking the law and setting a bad example for the rest of the guys who have zero idea on that lake! sept ahhhhhhhh! |
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Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | bigdogg2278 - 8/1/2014 11:12 AM
I was over by crystal bay there were weeds almost everyplace I went
I find it ironic that "Crystal bay" currently looks like pea soup. |
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Posts: 540
Location: MN | Netmaster - 8/2/2014 11:26 PM
Musky Face - 8/2/2014 11:56 AM
Ya there is weeds floating everywhere. The big boats like to drive through 5 ft of water and chop all the weeds up. Was just out there yesterday, had 2 follows, one was coming in for the kill and I had a #!=##=! Weed hanging off of the lure and the weed tickled her face and she bolted. Thanks giant salad shooters. I have a love hate with tonka. lol ya it can be annoying to say the least! What really blows my mind is when the sheriff blows buy you in a cast length and runs right through the buoys! I have video of them doing it was thinking about emailing it to mound police department let them know they are breaking the law and setting a bad example for the rest of the guys who have zero idea on that lake! sept ahhhhhhhh!
I was almost arrested for chasing down a sheriff and absolutely losing it on him for doing this about 4 years ago. The whole time I has yelling at him he just kept repeating you need to calm down sir. Lol |
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Posts: 134
| Here is a video of our 51.5x 20" Tonka Musky... forgive the video first time night fishing(under prepared) also forgive the girlish giggling when we realize how long the fish really is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzPN3i4Bf-U |
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Posts: 1084
Location: Aurora | "our Musky".. now that's a team!
Nice work but we can't forgive under-preparedness.
~runnin out to get a spot light~ |
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Posts: 200
Location: Twin Cities | Can anyone recommend a bay in tonka? I can provide some spots on independence. I'm just lost when I go out there. |
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Posts: 833
| I wouldn't get hung up on spots out there. If it looks fishy, fish it. There is so much structure on Tonka that I would just hammer it all and see what shakes loose. Pick a ramp and plan a run of fishy looking locations and start chucking. Some spots have history, yes, but I've seen fish all over that lake. Just work it until some magic happens. |
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