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First and Last trip to Mille Lacs Lake


swedishpimple

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Fished out of an East Side resort Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 1 22" walleye for 5 guys. Saw millions of 3" perch on the camera...but that is not what we drop the kind of cash we dropped for.

I will stick to Winnie, LOW and Red or any other lake in MN.

Hopefully the moderators will not see this as some "Negative" post. It is just honest. People heading to a lake to spend a few thousand of their hard earned money should know what an "average" fisherman will experience. The 1 walleye we caught was the only one we heard of being caught.

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That's the way this whole winter has been up there. If you've done any reading on the reports all winter, it's been a slooooooooow year!

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It has been a really tough bite out there this winter and I pretty much refuse to hit the lake until late ice this year. We have a trip planned to get out on the last ice for some perchin, but the eyes are not worth it this year in my opinion. Sometimes its not just about catching fish, its about being with friends and having a good time. If you guys came to the lake, expecting limits of slot eyes and a bag of jumbo perch, I am sorry to say that you picked the wrong year. There are far more reports of guys coming in with little to nothing, than there are of guys coming in with full buckets.

Guys that spend there entire weekend life on the Pond are having a tough go this year, seems the only ones really sticking fish are the guides, good way for them to boost some business though.

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We fished ML this past weekend in terrible weather and I thought the bite would be terrible. Many perch from 10-15 inches were iced and also 1 nice 26 inch walter. I know ML can be slow but, it can also at times be a great resource to angle. We targeted mainly perch so the eye count was down.

I was on the best perch bite I personally have ever seen for size. We were also taken out fishing by a guide so no credit here.

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You got a 22" walleye ---- dude, you killed 'em.

I know it's been a tough bite this winter, but you only need to go back a few months to last summer, or a few months more to last winter, to when the fishing on Mille Lacs was outstanding. And it will be outstanding again sooner or later. I don't think you need to give up on the lake altogether because of 1 trip in a year when no one is doing very well.

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The lake could use a break. Mother nature is providing it with the abundance of baitfish. A lake like Mille Lacs needs some years like this.

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I went up this past weekend. Sat night was wicked! Sat was slow for me but on Sunday I bet I saw 20 eyes that would'nt even look at a bait as I cought my limit of Jumbos in 2 hours. Most the fish I cought were all over 11 inches up to 14 inches. It was my Personal best Jumbo fishing I have ever had! Glad I went and I will be there next weekend to put the better half on em. You just have to figure them out. Thats the fun part! If you are not on em, Move! Hint - Stay away from the towns of houses.

Catching is just a bonus, not a right. At least thats how I look at a slow bite. Good luck

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I told my elf IM not going back there again til open water. VERY disappointing winter season. I sure Hope this trend does not continue into the boating months ahead!

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Fishing has been slow, but not terrible. I was up 3 days last week by myself and caught 10eyes. I managed 1-3 fish per prime time. Caught one 12"er otherwise the fish were 18-27.5". I also never caught any fish at night. Had another person been with me I think we could have put up 20 fish in 3 days, not unreal, but a lot better than what the reports are.

People should stop complaining and just start fishing, maybe you'll catch something.......

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Swedish I could of told you to stay and fish Red, Cass or Bemidji. Mille Lacs really isn't worth driving down and staying if you got Red, Winnie just an hour away, and Cass and Bemidji are right out your front door, plus with no slot, regular limits, what else can you ask for more and save on money? Unless you wanted to get away and get drunk with your buddies then I understand but with the fisheries within a an hour of you I wouldn't even think about coming down to Mille Lacs IMO.

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sp,

bg makes a lot of sense unless you have a lot of time and money. ive been to mille lacs twice this winter and didnt even see a walleye on the camera. a week ago saturday i went to minnetonka, caught 3 and missed 2 bites...2(10-12")-returned, & 1(13-1/2") that i kept for sunday breakfast because i havent had fresh walleye since last openwater season. the jumbos will tempt me enough to make one more trip up there this winter. otherwise, its time to start checking out other lakes. i too, believe mother nature is giving mille lacs a rest. its still a trophy lake and will continue moving that direction with the abundance of forage.

regards,

minnesotatuff

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A couple people nailed it on the head.......mother nature is giving ML the much needed break it has needed. This lake sees a lot of fishing pressure and it needs a break every few years to keep it's trophy fishery. At first I was heartbroken and extremely mad when I experienced two very uneventful Mille Lacs trips during early ice, but now I am smiling because just think how fat those walleyes are going to be in the next couple years and how awesome the perch fishing is going to be in a few years!!!!!!!!! \:\)\:\)\:D

GE

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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