Lake Mille Lacs--Camp Walleye

[Bob Jensen]

Fished on Lake Mille Lacs last Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16. Lots of walleyes taken in the 19-25 inch range. On Wednesday I fished with Aaron McQuoid, one of the top anglers on the lake. Aaron really knows fishing and Mille Lacs. Aaron or his brother or dad would be top choices if you're looking for a guide on Mille Lacs. Contact them at 800-862-3535.

Aaron had us use slip-bobbers. Fire-ball jigs, 1/16th ounce size, with a couple of split-shot up a little higher were very productive. Jig was tipped with a leech. Jig color didn't seem to matter, we kept changing after every third fish or so and the walleyes just kept biting. Once we located the fish we caught one at least every ten minutes.

The next day I fished with Wayne Stensrud, director of Camp Walleye. Camp Walleye is a function of the Walleye Central Internet Site. We fished the north end, an area that neither Wayne nor I have been on very much. We simply looked for fish with the sonar, and when we located a group, we fished there. Usually got bit within five minutes of starting to fish a spot. The Humminbird Legend 3000 that we were using did a great job of revealing the location of the fish. It made finding them much quicker.

Eighth ounce Fire-Balls tipped with shiners were good early. Walleyes showed a definite preference toward the shiners.

Later in the day we switched to a straight snell behind a sinker. A half ounce Rock-Runner Bottom Bouncer did a great job of preventing snags. We fished over small areas of rocks with sand around them. Again, shiners were the desired bait. Only one fish came on the leech.

In two short days, maybe twelve hours of fishing total, we caught lots of fish. One was in the slot, one was under the slot, the rest were over the slot. The slot is 14-16 inches for keeping.

It appears that, if all else were equal, the slot should be expanded. There are a lot of fish too big for the slot, and typically we need to take the size of fish that are most abundant to maintain a healthy fishery. The slot limit has done a fantastic job of creating a wonderful fishery, now it would appear that the slot needs to be altered to make sure the fishery doesn't get out of balance. With the other considerations regarding why the slot was implemented in the first place, I don't know if it can be changed.

Anyway, if you're looking to get bit by really nice walleyes, Mille Lacs is the place to go.