Minnesota fishing guide Matt Johnson of Matt Johnson Outdoors gives his latest Lake Minnetonka fishing report on August 1st, 2024.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report: 8-1-24
We’ve had some really warm weather this past week with lots of pop-up thunderstorms and wind which has lead to some unstable weather. Overall the fishing has been good. Bass, crappies, and bluegills have been fishing well this past week in the Metro area. Water temperatures are hovering around eighty degrees on most lakes in the Metro.
Lake Minnetonka Largemouth Bass
The bass fishing was good and consistent on Lake Minnetonka and most of the lakes in the Metro. This week the best presentations have been the jig worm with a stickbait plastic or the ned rig. We’ve been using a 1/5-ounce jig head on the Ned rig. The best colors plastics were green pumpkin, blue, or black.
The bass are really hugging tight to the bottom and in order to get bit your bait has to be worked near or on the bottom. The slower you can work your presentation the better. The fish aren’t in the mood to chase baits around.
Look for largemouth bass along the main lake deep weedlines. Main lake weed humps are also holding plenty of fish. Most of our fish came between eight and fifteen feet of water. Some smaller bass can be found slightly deeper in about twenty feet of water.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report: Northern Pike
The northern pike can be found along the weed line in the same places as the bass. Faster moving baits have been the ticket. Swim jigs, crankbaits, and swimbaits have been effective. If you are just looking for some good action with a hard fighting fish northern pike are great species to chase this time of year.
Lake Minnetonka Fishing Report: Panfish
The bluegill and crappie have been schooled up and the panfish bite has been excellent this past week. Look for bluegills and crappies in the shallow weeds and weed beds. Cabbage weed beds were best, but the key was finding fish with our electronics that were swimming amongst the weeds. The best depths have been between six and ten feet of water. Small jigs under bobbers were our best presentation by far. Natural color, minnow looking plastics were the ticket on all the lakes we fished for panfish. Small tubes and bright colored plastics did not get bit.
