Minnesota guide Matt Johnson of Matt Johnson Outdoors gives his latest Lake Minnetonka fishing report on June 13th, 2024.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing report: 6-13-24
Lake Minnetonka fishing has been great! The largemouth bass bite has been awesome and will only continue to get better. Anglers can also expect to run into plenty of panfish, walleye, and northern pike.
Beating The Wind:
We have had windy day after windy day here in the Metro area making the conditions tough to fish in. Although it’s been difficult, the fish are biting.
Lake Minnetonka Bass:
Water temperatures are in the seventy degree range and the bass have moved out into the main lake weed lines. Largemouth bass can be found on offshore structure and we’ve been finding fish pretty deep. A good chunk of bass can be found in six to twelve feet of water, but we’ve also been finding a number of fish in the 18-20 foot range.
Outside dock lines has been good as well, with a few bass starting to show up under docks. Look for the pondweed starting to drop as the milfoil comes up in the deeper water.
Baits
There are a number of different baits you can use to catch largemouth bass. Drop-shots, jig worms, and ned rigs are all working well. Some of our better colors have been green pumpkin and blue flake.
Walleyes: Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report
The walleye bite has defiantly slowed down a bit here as the weeds thicken up and the walleyes fall into their finicky summer patterns. That aggressive spring bite has tapered off and the fish can be found right in the thick of the weed beds.
Tactics:
Pitching ned rigs at these fish has been the number one strategy over the last week and should continue to fish well as summer progresses. It allows you fish through the thick weeds and can work it a lot slower than swimbaits.
Ned rigs with a green pumpkin body and chartreuse head has been the hot color. Fishing them like a true ned rig has been the best way to get bit. Pitch it out and then hop it along the bottom. Let it sit and then continue to hop it back. The key has been to slow down your cadence.
A leech and bobber are deadly always, especially if you have forward facing sonar to pick out individual fish between the weeds.
Lake Minnetonka Crappies
Crappies and sunfish are also being found on the new deeper weed edge in that 6-10 foot range, schooling up heavily. Very easy to spot, with these mass schools cruising this weed edge very tight to it. They are feeding well and are very easy to catch right now. Fixed float, 3-4 feet down, and using a minnow imitation bait. They are keying in on a pin minnow style presentation over a bug. You can also cast small swim-baits and paddle tails, 2″ or less, at them.
Muskie:
Anglers are still seeing some Lake Minnetonka muskies up shallow basking in the sun. Bucktails, jerkbaits, and swimbaits are moving fish.
