Minnesota guide Matt Johnson of Matt Johnson Outdoors gives his latest Lake Minnetonka fishing report on June 5th, 2024.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report: 6-5-2024
Lake Minnetonka is heating up and so is the fishing! It’s an exciting time on the Metro areas premier lake and the fishing has been good for a variety of species. If you can get through the weeds the conditions have been great, and this report will help you get dialed in for your next trip out.
Walleye:
It’s been a very good spring on Lake Minnetonka for walleye and we hope to see that bite continue. Water temperatures are in the upper sixties now and the curly pondweed is at an all-time high. With the mild winter and lack of weed die off the curly pondweed is thick and the walleyes have been holding in it so adjusting your tactics to fish the weeds has been important. It is going to be weedy all over the Metro area and Central Minnesota this summer.
Tactics:
Casting Swim baits: The best retrieval method has been dragging it along the bottom, letting it sit for a second and giving it a hop. Repeat that cadence over and over again to give it a bit more eratic action and trigger more strikes.
Bobbers: Another tactic that can be taken advantage of is using forward facing sonar to spot fish between the weeds. A good way to target these Lake Minnetonka walleyes you see without spooking them is a weighted slip bobber setup with a leech. Use a 1/8-ounce or 1/4-ounce sized jig that will get down to the strike zone quickly.
Gear Setup: Running a braid mainline to cut through the weeds and give you no stretch on those hook sets has been crucial. All of our set-ups have an 8-10-pound test braid paired with a short 8-10- pound test fluorocarbon leader. This line setup gives you the best of both worlds giving you confidence fish won’t get spooked, as well as giving you strength and lack of stretch on your mainline with the braid.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report: Bass
Location:
Largemouth bass are off their beds now. Most of these fish have been pushed into that five to ten foot depth range. With the curly pondweed being so thick when fishing sub surface it is important to look for different vegetation such as cabbage. Finding those 8-10ft weed edges has been key as well. A majority of the post-spawn bass are sitting there. A few bass can also be found near bluegill beds. Fishing has been very good. We are catching lots of fish and some of those 4 pound plus-sized fish are mixed in.
Tactics:
Topwater: Frogs and buzz baits produced fish above the thick heavy curly pondweed, especially in morning our evenings. Fishing the deeper matted weeds has produced consigner action on top.
Ned Rigs: Producing lots of smaller fish on deeper weed lines in that 8-12 foot range.
Wacky Rigged Senkos: The old classic has been producing the biggest bass out of everything else right now. Although it’s been producing best by doing absolutely nothing, completely dead sticking it on the bottom has been the key to success. Even a little movement is too much, the fish are absolutely keying on that sitting bait.
Lake Minnetonka Bluegills:
The bluegills have been starting too bed up making it the most exciting time of to chase these panfish. Very visual and a variety of presentations will work to trigger those strikes. Remember to release some of those bigger fish on beds so we can help keep the population up, especially on a heavily pressured lake like Minnetonka.
Muskie:
The Minnesota musky season opened up and there is plenty of action to be had out on Lake Minnetonka. Happy Fishing!
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