West Metro Fishing Report

[Cody Gruchow]

i did quite a bit of fishing this weekend and hit 4 different lakes.

first lake was LOTUS LAKE in chanhassen on thursday evening. With all the boat traffic out there i was not able to get to some of the deeper spots. So i fished shallow most of the time. Started with a a slip bobber with a glow hook and a fathead.  Hooked into a nice 3.5 lb bass but lost it boat side. Then when the traffic started to slow down i trolled a lindy rig tipped with a minnow and the crappies were very active, nothing of any size but lots of smaller ones, nothing bigger than 9 inches. Then just before dark i worked my way over to carver beach and tossed the lighted bobber out in about 14 FOW, caught more crappies and 4 small walleyes nothing bigger than 14inches. there were alot of people fishing from shore on the beach but i didnt see any fish landed. The walleyes seemed kind of sluggish, marked alot of fish but no takers.

Lake Susan in chanhassen- I trolled a crankbait in the deeper water during the day with only a few small northerns taking it. Also pulled a lindy rig along the outside of the sandbar with no takers. Asked a few people how the fishing has been and they said slow.(whos gonna report a hot bite on a local metro lake?)

Steiger Lake in victoria- there are no walleye in this lake. this is my go to lake for some huge Large mouth bass. the fish in this lake seem to favor live bait over anything else. i fished a medium sucker minnow off the bottom, that produces better results size wise. I caught multiple 3lb bass. Only a few small northerns most of which were 27 inchs. The northerns bite was very light they would hit it and just sit there with it. The weed growth in this lake is way ahead of any other lake in the area, with the whole lakes shore line being cover all the way around. Fishing off the dock looks like it will be very difficult. This lake is catch and release only for all bass and northerns.

Then Finally i hit lake waconia on Saturday- We trolled with crankbaits most of the time and caught 3 sheephead and a small northern. Also had something hit the crank so hard that it almost pulled the pole out of my hand and then took my lure. Possible suspect is a muskie. we didnt boat any walleyes, but marked some but i think the cold front shut them down. We left at about 9:30pm and i counted 2 boats still on the water.

[Fawkinnae]

That's a mighty fine report.

[dakids]

Just got back from waconia.  Caught several small bass and 1 walleye today.  ALL were caught in less than 5 feet of water using firetiger spinnerbaits and rattle traps. Had 2 lazy muskie follows an the rattle traps.  And just like Cody,  I forgot the camera in the truck at the landing.  There were tons of small perch in the shallows.

[Jdrummer]

nice report! Ill have waconia and Tonka lakes in my sight come this fall for a giant muskie!

[dakids]

When fishing for muskies, fish tonka only if it is overcast.  If it is sunny go to waconia.

[Tyler Rother]

Fished Waconia this morning for muskies, and found out there was a bass tourney, not one follow, not one fish seen. Every angler in the tourney we seen, caught nothing for the first 2 hours of observing. Only fish I saw people catching were gils'. Odd. Like they say, 1 in 10k casts lands a muskie.  time

[Jdrummer]

When fishing for muskies, fish tonka only if it is overcast.  If it is sunny go to waconia.

Thanks for the info !

[Cody Gruchow]

curious why overcast tonka and sunny waconia?

[dakids]

Waconia is not as clear as Tonka.  Also WAY more jut skiers and pleasure boaters on tonka.  Also don't be in a hurry to leave as the sun is setting.  I have caught 2x more muskies after dark on tonka than during the day.  Mark every follow on your gps and come back after dark and catch them.

[Cody Gruchow]

oo i see now. ya that makes sense. so what works better in each lake? i use alot of topwaters i dont use to many plastics and only a few stick baits. my favorite is the bull dawg. never caught a muskie yet but ive had more follows with the bull dawg then any other lure.

[dakids]

Topwaters have a poor hooking %.  Your best bet for hookups are bucktails.  I don't know what it is but the brass blades work best on Waconia.  I like white or black bucktails with firetiger being a very close 3rd.  Start with smaller lure earlier in the season.  Bulldawgs are AWSOME.  Use the smaller ones earlier.  The muskies that bite them usually inhale the entire bait.  Work the weeds and the windy side of the lake.  I also feel that speed kills, throw in eratic and you have a deadly combo.

On the north side of millacs we troll deep diving cranks in 5 feet of water at 5 to 6 mph.  the lure is flying and bouncing off of the bottom.  Very eratic.  I know it is a differant lake but the concept works everywhere.  Have you ever hooked a weed and just jerked the line real hard to clear the bait and had a pike destroy the lure.  Try small, fast, and eratic early.

Just my humble opinion.  CPR

[Cody Gruchow]

i have always trolled real fast for pike. because i was told that if they really want it they will get it. but i mainly cast for muskies. i agree the hooking % is low for topwaters but it sure is fun to watch. i use alot of bucktails for pike so ill have to buy some bigger bucktails and throw for muskies. i plan on hitting waconia here soon, but i have 2 trips up north in a row and i broke the peice that clips to the motor on my fuel line last time so im struggling to find a replacement, which is turning into a nightmare,because i use a older motor.