Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports


Rick

Recommended Posts

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Getting ready to spawn my cousin said they are super fat!!! 

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ran the mud flats a few days ago. Mid lake flats. Saw fish holding on the points and side breaks to deeper just off em. Got some nicer fish out there 22-28inchers. But it was kinda tough. They were not super positive. Lindy n leeches. Hit a rock reef shallow at dark with bobber. Smallies to start. Got kind of worried at around  8 pm. It was dead. At around 8:30 the bobber kept going down steady. Was anchored in 5ft and drop was to 8-10ft where I was fishin bobber. Got a 28 inch big gal and a handful of em from 18-24inch. The fish were all full guts fat! Even the smallies/Rock bass I got there were fat. Funny thing was by 9:30 all the eyes got were small. Like 9-12 inchers and they were abundant. Could not keep em off the line. Not many reports here. It was real windy and tough fishing. I talked with several other anglers and they did similar. Heard the rock reefs by shore were full of fish still. The reports of the lake being in a state of emergency are up-played for media popularity in my mind. Stayed next to a couple fine guys from Iowa that came 10 hours to fish smallmouth out of Hunters Point. Mille Lacs is still a phenomenal fishery. People wanna be on it still regardless of bad press. All species of fish are still abundant. I've stayed at 2 different resorts the last 2 weeks and the service was great for lodging/landing. (Agate Bay/Hunters Point). I had great angling and had great services. Even last winter the Red Door was premium. Mille Lacs outfits do what they can to point you to fish and make your stay nice. It's just great. 

  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fished the mud and rocks today in the 5-10mph winds....(N 10-15mph gusts to 20 with 3 foot rollers) what a joke, nice forecast for a 3 hour drive! ANYWAY.....didn't do real great, 1 22" in the mud and lost another. Red spinner and leech. Tried power corking with one take down but notta when I set the hook. Marked a couple good pods  of fish in the deep mud (28-31') but couldn't get them to go. Boat control was a spectacular nightmare!

Moved to the south end rocks (16' to 3') with tubes and cranks for smallmouth....3 in the boat lost 1. A lot of windshield time for little results. Still beats work! Gonna go back next Wednesday, I'll let you know. 

Edited by Captain24
  • Thumbs Up 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not much talk going on here. Was out on the mud last Monday. Did fair. Graphed pockets of nice fish. They were kind of finicky at times. Seemed they hung side breaks or deeper. Long lindy and leeches did ok. I got frustrated and did some slow death rigging through them with crawlers and no takers. At some point they turned on for no reason. Got active for like an hour at a time. Some of my best action came from a blown up whole crawler on 8ft leader below the boat with a 1/2 oz weight. They hammered and ran with the crawler. When the leeches aren't going give the crawlers a shot. I use a #4 red hook, hook once above the knuckle and back through just below it. Inflate and fish it slow like a leech rig. They really seemed to like that presentation. The fish that hit that set up pounded it. My rock bite at dark was plagued by small eyes a plenty. 

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up Sat. Caught some fish. Wasn't a totally hot bite. But some bit. Yes, they're out on the flats.

 

 

Edited by 1eyeReD
  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fished both Friday and Saturday for a tournament... Tough fishing a flat calm sunny lake for 2 days, but the fish were biting!

Seemed like Friday it was a live rigging day. My dad ran a 6ft snell red hook with a leech which seemed to work well for him. I was using slow death and that work fine as well. It was the first time I had used it and I am hooked.  In the morning the fish were running the top edge of the flats. speed was SLOOOWWW! .3MPH would work fine.

 

Saturday was tourney time and we managed 2 nice fish right away on long snells again with a leech in 24ft of water.  Picked up another off the edge of the flat that was 22.5" but we were fishing more like .08-1 mph.

Judging by the weight in though, DEEP was the ticket with live bait rigs. 30-34ft of water off a flat all day put up a 28lb 5 fish bag which was awesome!

LOTS of little dink walleyes that will keep you busy out there. Didn't matter how you fished you will catch them. Heck even pulled leadcore on Friday for a little while and the little guys still would go after the bigger stick baits.

 

Smallmouth action is still hot! I have read that they have moved out to deeper water. Seemed like all fish caught were up along shore in rocks with tops waters and shallow running cranks and drop shot rigs.

 

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the report, elusivecrappiecacher.  I think we would have had more luck later in the day further off the flats, when that water flattened out and the sun was out.  They slowed down bigtime on top and near the edges.  I might give those slow death hooks a try too.  And there's some wobbly floaters (Lindy 'Lil Guy) that a guy can get that are supposed to be all the rage too.  Might try them next time.

I really prefer fishing for flathead catfish better than walleyes, but for enough action to keep the 7 year old interested, I'll compromise on Mille Lacs walleyes!  :) I might be back in 2 weeks, we'll see.

Edited by aanderud
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually tried the Lindy Lil' Guy with no luck on Saturday during the tournament. No luck with it. I won't give up on it though as I never had a chance to give it a real shot. I just had to drop it down and see. The live bait had turned off for a bit so I was throwing the tackle box at them trying to get something going again. I needed more fish for the card! haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

The weather threw us a curveball yesterday, left cloquet after work at 2 with no wind and drove right into a T-storm when we got to Mille lacs....Ended up holed up in the bar until 7pm (crazy how windy it got at the end of the front) we fished from 730 till dark and got 9 eyes all on jig n leech

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hit the pond again yesterday got 20 some eyes and 8 smallies...Got the majority of the eyes on slip bobbers and leaches, they were stacked on the bottom edge of a hump....23ft was our best depth...They were sure off on the wind forecast...

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sitting on the shore currently in father Hennepin state park and their are clouds of mayflies......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Picked up around 20 eyes this morning, all relatively small 12-17 inches. All on the mud and on lindys and leeches. Tried different baits and different areas to try and get a bigger fish but I just ended up picking up smallmouth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Me and a buddy were out for 9 hours , we got 37 eyes from 14-24"...Most came pulling spinners and dragging jigs w/leeches in 22-32ft....

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hit the pond yesterday, from 10-7 ended up with 32 eyes, biggest was a fat 25"er....pulling spinners was the ticket, purple blade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Good walleye fishing in the north-end flats a few days ago when the lake was like glass. Pulling spinners at 1.3-1.5 mph, hammered-metal #3-4 blades, 22-32 FOW, crawlers during the day and leeches in the evening.

Probably 50 walleyes total, with the smallest 10" and the biggest a 9-lb 29" beauty of a fish. Most were 13-15", which would be 2012-2013 class. Handful of fish 6 lbs and up.

Most striking was the fact that NOT ONE walleye was an "eater"-class fish. Not a single fish in the 17-21" range that I ordinarily would keep on a lake that allows harvest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

went out to 30 fow on gravel yesterday and caught 7 or 8 between noon and 4:30 pm.  A few 7 inchers, 12, 14, 17.5 and a 25.5.  Probably would of hammered them on top of the gravel after that but had to work last night.  They were hitting hard on a spoon at 3:30.  No pictures as I was by myself and just wanted to get good releases on them.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was out Saturday too on the deep gravel and the bite was way better than the previous week/weekend as one could imagine.

I hit -22F on the way up from the south and when I go to the lake it was -12F.

Hit Sloppy Joe's for a bit, lots of traffic and stayed in 30ft to keep away and found a few fish and they were actually a bit aggressive. Moved to 4 mile and found some more, again away from the communities, saw quite a few nice fish on the camera but they would not bite.

I caught all mine jigging and a buddy who stayed overnight caught all theirs on plain hook/shiner.

I saw 14"+ of ice everywhere I went.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Any updates on lake travel, particularly on the north end? Am heading up tomorrow, and am hoping to drive to my destination spot(s).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
1 hour ago, JBMasterAngler said:

Any updates on lake travel, particularly on the north end? Am heading up tomorrow, and am hoping to drive to my destination spot(s).

Bring chains and a shovel there is huge drifts and no plowed roads out to the flats that I have heard of. A snowmobile is the best option

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not much going on out there. It does not appear anyone is even maintaining resort access points.  Barnacle's is closed until April, nothing going on at Garrison Sports, or Red Door, or Myr Mar.

Lyback's may still have roads on the South side. Or perhaps Hunters Point..

Call ahead

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I decided to skip Mille Lacs today. With the poor fishing reports and even poorer travel options out there, I’m hoping next week might be better. So bring on the sun for the next 7 days!

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • The title was changed to 2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Similar Content

  • 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      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.