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OutdoorMN News - Bassmaster pros glowing over Mille Lacs fishing


Rick

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Elite bass anglers from throughout the United States are experiencing first-hand this weekend what Minnesotans already should know: Mille Lacs Lake is one of the nation’s premier bass fishing destinations. 

2016_elite_millelacs_bs6t8548_govdeliveryFifty of the country’s best anglers, displaying their catches during Thursday’s weigh-in at the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship and visiting with Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, praised the lake for its abundance of big bass.

Later, when the weigh-in at Grand Casino Mille Lacs concluded, tournament emcee Dave Mercer put the day’s tally in perspective.

“There have never been this many big smallmouth bass caught in Bassmaster tournament history,” Mercer said. “Nothing holds a candle to this.”

Mille Lacs Lake has long been known as premier lake for smallmouth bass fishing, and the tournament taking place Thursday, Sept. 15, through Sunday, Sept. 18, is a major event – open to spectators – at a lake that long has been a tourist destination.

Enthusiasm about the Mille Lacs bass fishing was a sentiment shared by Louie Stout, Bassmaster senior writer. Stout said anglers in southern tournaments often catch some bigger bass than those in Mille Lacs but Thursday’s total large-fish catch was unprecedented.

“Typically, the angler who brings in five largemouth weighing 19 pounds on the first day of the tournament has his head held high,” Stout said. “Today, there were a lot of low heads when the scale read 19 pounds.”

Indeed, a 19-pound, one-ounce tally put Florida’s Randall Tharp in 31st place. The first 23 places went to anglers whose five-fish limit averaged at least four pounds a fish.

Takahiro Omori of Emory, Texas, is the tournament leader. His first-day catch totaled 26 pounds, seven ounces. He told the weigh-in audience “this is my best smallmouth bass fishing ever.”

Tied for second after day one were Minnesota’s Seth Feider and Jason Williamson of South Carolina. The three-day tournament continues today and concludes Sunday. The winner will receive $100,000. The rest of the field shares the remainder of a $1 million purse. All bass are returned to the lake after weigh-in.

Perhaps Mille Lacs highest praise came from Kevin VanDam, the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society’s all-time money winner. An advocate for his home state of Michigan, VanDam said Mille Lacs was quite the surprise.

“I have been to great smallmouth bass lakes in Michigan….. to Lake Champlain…..to Lake St. Clair. No place has as many big ones as Mille Lacs. The bass are crazy big in this lake,” VanDam said.

“People across the country are seeing what a great fishing lake this is,” said Tina Chapman, director of the Mille Lacs Tourism Council. “We’re looking forward to the national exposure this tournament is bringing to our area.”

Although the tournament’s focus is bass, what anglers are catching is broadening Mille Lacs’ reputation as a multi-species lake, she said, noting that Bassmaster emcee Mercer caught a 52-inch muskellunge while fishing with a local guide.

“It’s a lake with a lot of big fish in it, and it’s a great place to be any time of year,” Chapman said.

“An event like this lets us shine a spotlight on the Mille Lacs area and introduce a much broader audience to the many exciting things to see and do here,” said Sarah Barten, public relations manager for Grand Casino, host sponsor of the tournament. “Mille Lacs Lake is a jewel of Minnesota – not only to the pro anglers competing but for the many fishing enthusiasts that the event will draw to the region.”

John Edman, director of Explore Minnesota, agreed. “There are so many reasons why the Lake Mille Lacs area is one of Minnesota’s most popular travel destinations, with fishing chief among them. It’s great to see the area in the national spotlight as part of the Bassmaster championship.”

The public is welcome to watch weigh-ins happening today and Sunday. They will be at 3:45 p.m. in the front parking lot of Grand Casino Mille Lacs. Also, on Saturday and Sunday afternoon the parking lot will be the site of arts and crafts vendors, food and beverage vendors, kids’ activities, interactive displays and more.

More information on the Bassmaster Mille Lacs tournament, including a schedule of public events, is available on the Bassmaster webpage.

Fishing is a major draw for out-of-state visitors, generating $2.8 billion in retail sales and 43,000 Minnesota jobs.

Information about the Mille Lacs Lake area and the opportunities it offers visitors are online. Mille Lacs Lake information is available on the Mille Lacs page. The lake’s bass season is open through Feb. 26.

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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