Minnitaki Reports

[smbrickner]

Leaving Friday for Minnitaki by Siuox Lookout. Anybody have any reports for the area, sounds like the water is high.

[RapShad]

Sounds like we will be joining you this weekend on Minnitaki. I've heard the bass are prespawn still do to the cold unstable weather and rain. But that's about it.

[skap]

Just came back from Minnitaki yesterday. Water is pretty high right now which was a welcomed change from what it was last fall. Since fall I would say it is up at least 6+ feet. No issues with the chutes or anything like that.

Fishing was good but fish are somewhat scattered. Tended to fish the typical summer spots and not so much the shallow areas. Most of the time was in that 22-32 foot range with good results. Size was a little smaller than normal with the average being in the 15"-17" range. I think we only had a half dozen or so in the slot and a few over. Our largest was 24". We did nothing special, jig and a minnow. Did make it a couple of times over to the English River falls which was very good again as always! It was a little busy there but well worth the drive over!

To be fair though, it was a short trip and we only had 3 days of fishing total. Weather was also unstable with thunderstorms everyday and wind that constantly changed direction.

All that being said it was a great time with my two boys (ages 10 & 14) and I cant wait to get back up there this fall. Might even try to swing a quick few days over the fourth!

Feel free to message me if you are looking for more detailed info.

Good luck to everyone heading up!

[smbrickner]

Where did you /are you staying?
We stay at Timber Edge on Butterfly Lake.
Try and crawler harnesses or anything else? Trolling?

Originally Posted by smbrickner

Where did you /are you staying?
We stay at Timber Edge on Butterfly Lake.
Try and crawler harnesses or anything else? Trolling?

'
We also stay at Timber Edge, we like it there very much. I guess we can get thru the channel into Lyons Bay no problem if the water is high.

Last year this time the walleyes were still shallow, many were in or off the edges of weed beds. Then the next week the shallow bite tapered off and the fish moved gradually to structures in the large bays and main lake. I guess this is due to the very early ice out and overall warm winter and spring.

[jimmie]

A walleye Central bud lives in area and says that he had to move out to drop offs just past weed edge to find fish. Wind aided drop offs. A klittle rough with unsettled weather for sure. You might try the river ( Sturgeon) if the weather gets rough again.

[fire105]

Jimmie, with rise in water level from last year, has this hurt the or increased the growth of the beds

[scar]

Got back from Minnitaki on Tues. night. We own a cabin on Neepawa Island and 12 of us fished June 12 - 19. We found a lot of fish on humps and bars with 20' being the key. we needed to be anchored as they did not want the jigs moving. Best technique was find a bar or hump, locate 20', anchor, then cast jig out, retrieve very slowly and then vertical jig at the boat with the jig basically laying on the bottom. (We think by casting it out we could get fish from a distance to follow back to the boat then hit while it laid on the bottom at the boat).We used crawlers only and the bite was very good even with unstable weather, rain and many fronts with bad wind. 3 separate severe thunderstorms on monday. Biggest fish was only 25'' but many in slot or over(20%). Most days we put 50 -100 fish in each boat.We have been on the lake for 12 years now so know where many bars and humps are. We still find 5 or 6 each year by accident just watching our locators when we are in deep water and then watching depth change from deep to shallow. When you find one throw a marker out on the shallowest part then find the 20' spots fish each area for 5 minutes and move on if no bites. A well known bar that is on the big part of the lake is the one off of the pickerel arm short cut to the big water. you will see where the boats are. We did try trolling with spinners/crawlers but not nearly as successful as jigs. Crawlers are only $54 for a flat at the bait box in Superior!

[TroyMansfield]

Originally Posted by jimmie

A walleye Central bud lives in area and says that he had to move out to drop offs just past weed edge to find fish. Wind aided drop offs. A klittle rough with unsettled weather for sure. You might try the river ( Sturgeon) if the weather gets rough again.

fish are still slammin up sturgeon river and botsford thats for sure, right where your saying, minnitaki has been pretty good, alot of fish at the 20'mark and we moved all the way to 47' feet and were still catching them. minnows and jigs worked best but had good luck wth leeches on lve bait rigs and did well with worms with 2oz bottom bouncers with slow death. you can find fish on the humps or the shorelines and in the weed beds, island points I would wait for a few days of constant wind before tackiling many island points. I hit a few that the wind was into for a few days and we slammed them. next day was good too, wind change, slowed down the fishing. only big fish then, couldnt catch an under the rest of the day. mayflies should almost be over, we had a pretty good hatch the other day. good luck

[smbrickner]

Anybody got any tips for Lakers? Never caught one but would sure like to try.