Was out on this little gem of a lake with a friend on Wed morning in his canoe.  We fished for for 3 hours and it was a blast, except for the part where his trolling motor couldn't get through the weeds.  We had to paddle and was hard to hold some positions but fishing was good.  Our fish came near the weedlines and openings.   I got the first 3 fish while my buddy caught the last one.  All our fish came on Senko's except one.  I bought 2 packs last year and was instantly sold the first time I used them. Anyways we started with spinnerbaits, poppers and crankbaits no takers.   I changed to the Senko and caught two nice bass.  My friend didn't have the setup for the heavy weeds we encountered, so I let him use my setup.  Unfortunately he ended up losing the only 3 worm hooks I had to errant cast, bad knot and a hungry pike.  I put on a weedless jig with a trigger x minnow and caught a pike.  He luckily still had a swim bait hook we rigged for the Senko.  As we were about to leave the lake, he caught a nice bass too.  I'm glad to get him on fish.  He also told me he went out a little after I left, and he got a big pike but couldn't land it, also on the Senko.
My first time playing guide and I think I did a good job :).  I also advise him on his new spinning setup.
 My two bass.  I let the big female go.

Thanks Shane.  There was two things I forgot to mention.  One, I got schooled by a big bass I lost earlier in the day.  I say he was probably around 5lb.  He jumped out and threw my hook back at me.  The hook literally landed in my lap.  I was a bit humbled lol.  
Second, my buddy did have a few fish before he landed the bass.  But he couldn't land them.  The fish knew how to use the weeds to their advantage.  The first thing they did was head towards the weeds and started to circle them.  He lost 3 fish that way.  Only a pile of weeds on the end of his line was the tell tale sign.  His mistake was lowering the rod causing slack. The last fish he got a good hook set and didn't lower the rod.  Always keep a constant pressure.

Any clue when they plan to drain Normandale? I wouldn't mind another trip or two out there before it gets emptied.

Are they still planning on the drain? Talks of that have been going on for a couple of years now.

OK, so why do they wanna drain a lake??????? 

how big is this lake?

They want to drain it to eradicate a certain type of invasive pond weed that causes a horrible stench in the summer.

If you canoe it or have a small boat with an electric there are some decent bass to be had.

They have done it successfully to a few other lakes up stream. They take out the dam that forms the lake.

The plan I heard was to completely drain the the lake dry.  Thus killing all fish in the lake. It will likely take years for fish to find there way into the lake and for the entire population to rebound.

I didn't think fish could  make it over the dam on 'tonka.

theres a real weedy lake out by brooten just like this, those weeds seem to choke themselves out after a while and becomes a realively not so weedy lake. does this lake do the same??

Loos15, have you fish Normandale lately? Looks like the new rain has raised the lake may find some new open holes out there now.