Mille Lacs Report

[JLDII]

Well, I’m back home for a couple days and am taking a minute to offer a report of the fishing on Mille Lacs for everyone.

The shallow water bite is still the way to go if you want to catch fish this year. Some people are having limited success trolling cranks on suspended fish out in the middle of nowhere, but not enough success to justify the time and effort in my opinion. As many of you already know, we have an over abundance of perch, and other forage in the lake again this year, which has made finding a hungry fish next to impossible to do. That is the primary reason I have focused my energy on the shallow water areas this year, as well as last. This last week, I had 9 walleye clients and every one of them went home with their limits. All told for the week, we landed 47 slots in my boat, as well as 17 that were over the 22” slot limit, with 3 in the 27”-28”+ range. The perch are very thick out in the deeper areas of the lake, but have not been up in the shallows since early in the year when the young of the year (hatchlings) moved off the shorelines in search of food, as well as (bugs) which predominately hatch on the soft bottom (mud) which is nowhere near those rock s and gravel areas I have been having my success on. As the waters cool now going into the fall those perch will start showing up more in the shallows, and our daily bags will contain more and more perch as the season winds down. Time will only tell what effect this colder than usual summer will have on the fall bite. As of a couple days ago the surface temp at midday was only 70.5*, and that was down 4 degrees from a week earlier, which was the highest I had seen this year.

I’ve been working on some color patterns (choices) this year and have come up with some theories that are holding pretty true as the season goes on. It’s amazing how quickly a walleye’s choice preference can change with light diffusion by either/or wind, and cloud cover. I’m not going to go into great detail on these things at this time, but will in time, share this with you. For several years one of my most consistent colors was a crayfish pattern, but both this year, and last, with the high abundance of perch in the lake, it has done little if anything, and I mean fewer than 6 fish this whole season!!

As for other fish, the muskies are still following more than biting, with the best bite just in front of a storm, or at night when we have low barometric pressure, and high humidity. Weeds are producing most of the fish, but we are seeing a lot of fish on the shallow rocks.

The smallies are starting to come out of a little deeper water. There are still times when you can get them off the tops of the reefs in less than 4 ft., but more are now coming off the deeper edges in about 6-9 ft. Usually by this time of the season, the water is warmer than it is now and they are really aggressive and can be taken casting crank baits, but with the cooler temps, they are still coming almost entirely on plastics, with a few coming on topwaters on those few days when the conditions are just right. The other day only 1 of the fish we caught, we even saw before the bite, which is not a common thing on Mille Lacs.

Well, I guess I’ve rambled on long enough, but I do that when I’m talking fishing!!

Good fishing everyone, be safe on the water! :)

[EYESCHOOL]

Hey, thanks for taking the time to write it down Jack! ;)

[JPK]

I just got back yesterday from a three day trip to Mille Lacs. The fishing, and the weather was terrible! We got up there Sunday evening, put in the boat, and went out about 7:00. We weren't on the lake 20 minutes, when we heard thunder and saw lighting. We got in, docked the boat, and threw on the cover. Not two minutes went by and the rain cut loose.
On Monday morning, the wind was really blowing, and white caps were everywhere. Not one boat from the resort we stayed at went out the entire day. When we got up Tuesday morning, it was the same story with a little less wind. We managed to go out for a couple of hours, and from what we could see, we were the only ones out. Tuesday afternoon, we pulled our boat out and went up to Clear Lake.
It was still raining, but the water was a lot more manageable. We caught some small bluegills, bass, and a little northern.
Wednesday morning, wind still blowing, cloudy, cold and white caps. We decided enough of this trip and went home.

[Mille lacs rookie]

Hi Jack, new to mille lacs and was wondering if you could share some of your secrets so a youngin" like me can get some confidence. My limited time on mille lacs has produced few fish and frustration is setting in. You do not need to get to specific if you would rather not, but general locations (names) as I am not real familiar with the lake yet and general presentation would be greatly appreciated. I have recently become a fishaholic and I would love to become profficiant at conquering the willy walleye. Thanks in advance for your help. The Rookie

[REW]

Rookie,
If I had a piece of advice for you - this year - and that is to fish a different lake.

Mille Lacs is often a lake of good fishing and a lake of bad fishing.
With the excellent perch population, and the colder water that has been experienced this year - many many many folks are finding other lakes that may be nearby or further away, much more satisfying to fish.

It is not the fact that a lot of fish are caught at times on Mille Lacs this year as can be the case for other years.

It is simply the fact that this year, many fisherfolks are finding other lakes much more productive on a caught fish per hour of fishing basis.

Take care
REW

[JLDII]

Rookie, Sorry I have not gotten back to you sooner, I've been up on Mille Lacs since the time I posted that report.

I spend almost all my time in the S.E. sections of the lake, and have only fished slip bobbers since the end of June, except for one day when I pulled spinners.

The bite is going thru a big change over the last week. The string of cold fronts that came thru 2 weeks ago have really changed the fishes mind set, and they are really starting to show signs of a fall pattern. The lake temp has dropped 12 degrees in the last 10-12 days and it is getting tougher every day. The perch are moving up into the shallows now, at least the smaller ones. Larger perch are still coming off the deeper rocks, and limits are not hard to get. As for the walleyes, you will see many more on your graph than you will see biting our bait. My success has all come from less than 10 feet of water this entire season, unless I'm faced with a calm day and bright sky, in which case I've found most of my success in 14-17 feet with one spot that tops off at 19. As recently as yesterday, I pulled a limit out of shallow water. Unfortunatly, we had a very poor hatch this year,(both walleye and perch) and as a result, many of these shallow water spots are full of small walleyes who are having a hard time finding small enough forage to eat, and as a result, you will find yourself weeding thru 20-30 smaller fish between every keeper you catch. Yesterday for example, by myself, caught 37 10-12 inch fish before I landed my 4th keeper. Your best bet now is to fish when the wind and waves are really pounding into shallow rocks, or fish those same spots at night with slip bobbers and leeches. Seems that the better fish are more active at night recently than they are during the day. As for spots, well, Banana Reef, Graveyard, and Spider have been good, and I've heard some reports that Doe and Shaws are starting to produce recently also.

Good Luck!

[JLDII]

REW,

With all due respect, I beg to differ with your opinion about the bite on Mille Lacs this year. Since the end of June, I have only had 4 customers who have NOT gone home with their limits of walleyes.

The biggest problem most people are having fishing the lake is that they still think you can fish the mud or gravel and catch your fish. 2 problems with that theory. 1. Those areas are saturated with forage fish, and endless bug hatches, for fish to feed on, and finding a hungry fish is nearly impossible to find. 2. Most of the fish you find in those areas fall into the 22-28" protected slot, and are of no value if you are looking for some fish to take home.
The mid depth shelf which extends maybe 2 miles out from shore, and is comprised primarily of rock and some gravel, has been and always is void of large perch populations during the summer, but always holds a very decent walleye population. These fish are easy targets once you zero in on a pattern. It also helps that these areas I'm talking about have few, if any bug hatches on them which is one of the biggest reasons I was able to win the Red Door Tournament in early July.

[Mille Lacs Rookie]

Hey Jack, thanks for the info. I also talked to Mike over at Eddy's and he basically said the same thing. I since have gotten on a good shallow water bite on some spots he told me to try. Again thanks for the info. Guess I have learned already that just because we know it is August does not mean the walleyes know that. Glad that so many people can not be open minded enough to fish where the fish are instead of where the fish are supposed to be, makes more room for the rest of us. Thanks again. Rookie