MilleLacs In The Fall

[Eyecon]

I'm a very avid lake MilleLacs angler opener thru mid july. I have never fished the lake in the fall due to hunting season and work obligations. I know that fall is perhaps the best fishing of the year on the big lake. This year I've cleared the fall calender to fish MilleLacs. the question is where do I start and what techniques do I use. I only hear talk of pulling cranks in the shallows after dark. Any info,advise or tips would be most helpfull. Thank You Eyecon!

[REW]

Mille Lacs is like any other clear lake in central MN in the fall.
Sure cranks after dark in the shallows catch lots of fish.
But you can use large chubs, suckers, or red tails on a jig in deeper water, as on the gravel and rock piles and catch plenty of fish as well.

Night crawlers work well late into the year as well.
You can use much the same baits as you would use on opener and in the same spots (except larger baits - generally work better) and do very well indeed.

Take care
REW

[Eyecon]

Thanks Rew, no one ever seems to talk about fishing live bait in the fall. My next question was is there particular areas in the fall that produce better than others. I've got some great opening day spots if they head back into those waters. As much as I like pulling cranks, my first love is still finessing them with live bait! Have the walleyes moved into there fall patterns yet or are they still out on the deep gravel and mud? I'm thinking of running up there this weekend. Thanks again Eyecon

[Schnauzer]

I used live bait last weekend and did well. I think the fish are moving onto the rocks now. It was real windy so they probably would have been on the rocks anyway but the water temp is getting down there so from here on out, the reefs should produce.

NOTE:
I posted the following under the "boats and motors" topic but there is some Mille Lacs info as well so I thought I'd drop it in here too...

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I headed up to Mille Lacs this past Saturday and was greeted with 3+ foot rollers, wind, and a driving rain. The Tyee 1850 just eats up these conditions! We stayed nice and dry in that big hull and behind the nice windshield as we pounded through the big waves to get to my spot.
It got even better when we put up the top. We stayed dry and the top helped to keep it relatively warm in there too. I love the top - it is tall enough to let you walk around without ducking much. Of course everything seems better when you are catching walleyes and we did OK. My nephew caught his biggest fish ever - an 8 pound 'eye. I admired the folks in the other boats bobbing around us. Many of them stuck it out huddled under their rain gear. I would have bagged it. The great equalizer for me was the Tyee.

Are there competing boats out there that will do the same thing? Sure there are, but I certainly don't regret the Tyee! It is a fantastic boat.

FYI:
We were greeted with the tough conditions going out. We were greeted with a tough Mr. DNR Conservation Guy when we got back. He went over everything with a fine toothed comb. We managed to have two keepers which fit in Mille Lac's tight slot (16-18" ). I had the bigger of the two measured at 17.5". The DNR guy pulled and stretched that walleye in every direction possible until he came up with 17.75", still a quarter inch within the slot but I have to admit my heart was beating a little faster watching him go at it like that. Moral of the story: measure them well, "close" isn't good enough on that lake. We checked out fine but I was nervous, I have never had a bow to stern going over like that.

Also a note on Mille Lacs: Much has been written about their suffering economy due to that slot. If you are a meat hound, it certainly is not the lake for you. But, if you like to catch walleyes, it is a wonderful fishery. All it takes is letting a couple fish go and you realize there is way more to the experience than the dinner table. Just my $.02.