Super User gimruis Posted April 26, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted April 26, 2022 17 minutes ago, A-Jay said: Did you have to use a verry wittle faway knife ? Haha. I would have needed a tiny surgical kit to clean any of those dinks! Unfortunately, its kind of what we're stuck with here in MN until May 14. The good news is that a late spring will give us the opportunity to target some heavy prespawn bass when the season does open. Most years we don't get much time to do that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
throttleplate Posted April 27, 2022 Share Posted April 27, 2022 every lake we visited last saturday in detroit lakes minn was iced over except the big culverts had a open path of water. No bait fish in site and the hr we spent casting, bobbering not a sniff. Thought i would catch a bass or pike as i did last year at this exact time on the small underspin crappie lures as last year i couldnt keep the bass off it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted May 2, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted May 2, 2022 I am going to try my hand in the MN Bound Crappie Contest on Saturday. Grand prize (random weight) is a new ATV. They haven't had it the last 2 years. http://mnbound.com/crappie-contest 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted May 2, 2022 Super User Share Posted May 2, 2022 8 minutes ago, gimruis said: I am going to try my hand in the MN Bound Crappie Contest on Saturday. Grand prize (random weight) is a new ATV. They haven't had it the last 2 years. http://mnbound.com/crappie-contest Too bad Ron lost Raven...she was a sweetie. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted May 2, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted May 2, 2022 25 minutes ago, MN Fisher said: Too bad Ron lost Raven...she was a sweetie. I think they're on like Raven the 4th now or something. So at least the genes are still there. I've fished in this a few times. My experience is that waiting the last hour of the contest (its ends at 2pm) to bring your crappie to the weigh-in area at Lord Fletchers is not a great idea. Its kind of a zoo there, especially if its a nice day out. Finding a spot to dock or beach your boat can be tough. What I am going to do this time is bring a fish there way before that and then just skip the 2pm results. One needs not be present to win anyways, so I figured it would be a lot less people if I went at about 11am instead. Plus the grand prize is random anyways and the tie breaker is the first person to weigh in at a specific weight. If I win, I'll get notified later anyways lol. It looks like a pretty nice day right now, about 65 and mostly sunny, so it is definitely going to be busy. The downside to weighing in a crappie early, is that if you catch a really big one, you can't change your weight. There are prizes for big crappies too. I've never caught one of those giant 15 inchers out there, but dozens of people do every time. Also, if I'm on fish, others will take over my spot when I leave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted May 2, 2022 Super User Share Posted May 2, 2022 5 minutes ago, gimruis said: I think they're on like Raven the 4th now or something. So at least the genes are still there. Ya - Raven 4 is still in 'training'. Raven 3 died March 2020. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted May 14, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted May 14, 2022 Caught 8 bass and 2 pike in about 3 hours this morning. A bluegill colored jerk bait did most of the damage. Biggest largie I got was 18 inches. There’s virtually no weed growth yet. North metro, water temp 62 degrees. It may be a while before I can go again. The moving process starts on Monday… 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 65 degree water temp south of the metro this morning. Caught a couple 2-3 pounders and a bunch of pike/tigers. Back at it tomorrow. Gonna try some different things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted May 21, 2022 Share Posted May 21, 2022 Got out again Thursday and finally caught a couple up shallow. Didn't see any beds or damaged tails. 67 water temp and the very start of some green grass. Most fish that I caught were still out off the breaks in 10 fow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted May 27, 2022 Share Posted May 27, 2022 Tried a new to me south metro lake today. Water temp only 61. Fish were very shallow and aggressive. Caught most on spinnerbaits and swimbaits near docks and pads. No giants but a very fun day! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted May 30, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted May 30, 2022 5 hours ago, MN Fisher said: All my Metro buds - batten down the hatches. I have a brother in law who lives in Alexandria. Ping pong size hail came through there an hour ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Finally got on a few better fish after catching about a thousand dinks this year. South metro lake, 68 water temp. Fish were in pads and under docks and were eating chatterbaits and swimbaits. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted June 4, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted June 4, 2022 I caught 6 bass and 5 pike yesterday morning in about 4.5 hours. It was a bit of a grind. Biggest largie I caught was a post spawn beat up 18 inch female. Water temp was 67 degrees. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 On 6/2/2022 at 3:57 PM, Adrift said: Finally got on a few better fish after catching about a thousand dinks this year. South metro lake, 68 water temp. Fish were in pads and under docks and were eating chatterbaits and swimbaits. Thank god dinkfest is over. I hate postspawn which is easily translated into I suck at fishing post spawn. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 11 hours ago, Deephaven said: Thank god dinkfest is over. I hate postspawn which is easily translated into I suck at fishing post spawn. I know the feeling! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted June 18, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted June 18, 2022 Went for a few hours early this morning. I only caught 4 bass but they were all quality fish. Biggest largemouth I caught was 19 inches, which is my best this season so far. Water temp 72 degrees. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrift Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 Went to Wisconsin for a few days with an old fishing partner. We struggled pretty hard only catching a few brown ones a day. Back home now I went shore fishing yesterday and today. Lots of sunnies on beds and the bass are just inside the weed line. They were blowing up on the frog but couldn't pin any. Caught a couple on a chatterbait that I was popping off the bottom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted July 2, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted July 2, 2022 There is a pretty good bite out there right now. I caught 14 bass and 6 pike this morning in the light rain. Didn’t get anything too big, but constant action. Water temp 74 degrees. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 On 6/4/2022 at 10:10 PM, Deephaven said: Thank god dinkfest is over. I hate postspawn which is easily translated into I suck at fishing post spawn. Seems dinkfest isn't over for me. I've never been an offshore fisherman, but am trying like hell to become one. Only fishing the big T near my house deep, but trying to find them. Also trying to ignore my natural run all over the lake to spots I know hold fish shallow and stay on the main lake. Being I haven't owned a boat in 10 years, SI, DI are new to me. It's crazy to find deep weed edges, but that hasn't helped me find fish. Where should I look? The lake shows no thermocline setup yet, has grass growing to 22-23' deep (clear), and has lots of structure both deeper and shallower. When I look in shallower than 22' all I get are weeds. What I've been doing is finding humps, ledges, points with depths there and mapping out the weedline and looking for fish. It's put a couple in the boat, but not many. I haven't seen any schooling fish, but have seen some baitfish. What should I look for. I did catch 8 offshore bass this Tuesday, but all dinks and to be fair I only found them by watching them bust bait fish up on the surface. Not so amusingly after wearing out the school, I mapped the area and saw nothing. Caught an 16,17 and 20" in shallow after giving up on the deep. I know this lake holds big bags but I can't seem to find them except in shallows which are hit and miss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sully420 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 @Deephaven Don't force the deep structure bite sometimes Bass wont get on deep structure all season and sometimes they just show up early and stay all season. For me i look for schools of bait suspended off weed edges, when you start seeing this all over the lake than its a pretty good sign bass will be on the structure and feeding on the deep weed edges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted July 8, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted July 8, 2022 10 hours ago, Deephaven said: Caught an 16,17 and 20" in shallow after giving up on the deep. I know this lake holds big bags but I can't seem to find them except in shallows which are hit and miss. Those are solid fish. I haven't caught a 20 incher yet this season. I would consider trying another body of water. Maybe you don't want to deviate because of the proximity to your house, but Tonka is a very highly pressured lake. Almost every evening there is a weekly league and every weekend there is some kind of tournament. You could argue its the most pressured bass lake in the entire state. Some people might consider that a challenge. I avoid it. I'm not in any kind of competition here and I prefer to power fish. I still crappie fish there in the spring and muskie fish in the fall. Summertime is a no go for me out there because of the pressure, boat traffic, and busy accesses. I'm sure @MN Fisher would agree with me on the pressure and difficulty. I grew up fishing the lake in my youth (lived 5 miles away) and fished it a lot. I pretty much only fished with faster, power lures and caught quite a bit of bass and pike. We only had a 16 foot tiller boat with basic electronics too so our locations were a little limited. We primarily fished the eastern basin. Back then the pressure wasn't as high and the water was murkier. Its astonishing to me how much clearer the water is compared to 20 years ago out there. If I was to guess, I would say it has pushed fish deeper. The clear water and pressure have also combined to make it significantly more difficult. The same issue has made the smallmouth in Mille Lacs very difficult to catch. IMO there are better options than Tonka, even just in the metro. If you drive less than an hour, you can find a number of smaller lakes that receive almost no bass fishing pressure at all. I might add that its not just Lake Minnetonka that is seeing this increase in pressure. There are a number of local leagues, HS tournaments, and other tournaments being held on a lot of "metro" lakes now. Its making the fishing tougher. I prefer to target smaller, less pressured lakes that have limited parking so that the fish aren't as smart. If you are hell bent on sticking to Tonka, you might consider trying it at night time. Just my 2 cents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted July 8, 2022 Super User Share Posted July 8, 2022 1 minute ago, gimruis said: I'm sure @MN Fisher would agree with me on the pressure and difficulty. Definitely - Tonka is a madhouse all summer long...and it really affects the fish. I'm looking at trying a couple of the other, smaller lakes in the area...maybe have some better luck there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deephaven Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 I am hell bent on figuring it out, but not exclusively. It isn't the only place I fish, but I can be on the water in 10minutes and out and back in the garage in 15 after meaning even a quick 90min I can fish for over an hour. When I have more time I go elsewhere. I will map some deeper structure next time out and see what I find. Sole focus so far has been weed edges, but was disconcerting not seeing fish through or near them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User gimruis Posted July 9, 2022 Author Super User Share Posted July 9, 2022 My Father and I caught 14 smallmouth and 2 pike floating the river this morning. All of the brown bass were between 12-17 inches. Most of the fish were caught on a subwart-style shallow crank bait in crayfish color. Several of the fish took it while it was just sitting on the surface. When a fish would swipe and miss, I'd toss right back in there with a small tube and caught the very same fish. This occurred several times. It was great to be back fishing in the river again. I might try it again later next week. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super User MN Fisher Posted July 18, 2022 Super User Share Posted July 18, 2022 Maybe one of these days the weather will cool down to let me out on the lake. Having suffered heat exhaustion and heat stroke in the past, I do NOT do well in high temps...this is getting ridiculous. Don't talk to me about early mornings/late evenings...wife is home from the hospital and those are the times she needs me here for assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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