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2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports


Rick

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Was out Saturday, fished late morning on top of a mud flat and then moved off the edge as the day progressed. Caught a few small eyes, some perch, and a couple tulibees all on waxies. Didn't even get a bite on minnows. Not too bad of a day on the lake - steady action helps, even if the fish were smaller.

unfortunately, there was noone flashing me on the way off the water :-)

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Went out Friday afternoon-Sunday morning three of us... We had a real good bite. Walleyes-5 throwbacks, 13,14,(slot) 20,22,27,27 and broke off a huge one in the hole, made the dual 27's look moderate frown. Perch were many but, many smaller ones... two 10.5". Tullibee lots very fun! A great day on the pond! Thank goodness last weekend was on the slow side.

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&jag, can you share whereabouts you were? I was out all day sat from sun up to sundown out of appledoorns. Fished 5 different gravel spots and stayed deep mostly (30 to 35 fow) based on tips from tony roach. Had a really lousy day out there. Want to bring the wheelhouse out there next weekend but have had 2 really slow saturdays in a row. Are they out off the mud? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

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Fished the west side in a rock/silt transition area and did really good on the perch. Just watch your camera and you will learn fast what works

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W4W we were also out of appledorns sun.-mon. vey slow to say the least. Marked few fish the ones we did were small perch.

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Girlfriend and I were out last weekend late Friday night to Sunday mid day. Mostly just had the rattle reels down. Caught an 11", 11", 13" perch and some smaller ones. 15" and 22" walleyes. Missed about 15 more rattles. I'm sure a lot of the rattles were smaller perch messin with the minnow. All fish except one 11" perch were caught on rattles with rainbows and fatheads. 13" perch took the biggest rainbow I had, which was pretty big... Oh, and one smaller tullie.

Fished just above the base of a gravel reef. Base was 33ft and I was at about 29-30ft.

I may try just at the base this weekend if I get out.

Good luck guys!

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[email protected]

Hoping to find a couple eyes for all my efforts out there so far. I am not one to sit in one spot if the fish are not active so just looking for a few spots, depths to start with to narrow my search.

Thanks for any help you are willing to give!!

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Wishin4Walleyes,

Welcome to the forum! As you will notice, people don't tend to give out specific areas or spots because they want to be able to have that spot to go back to. It's been proven over and over again that if you give out too specific of information, the next time you go back, it may be overrun by fishermen. Everyone is looking for the good bite.

The good thing about this forum, on the other hand, is that fellow fishermen do give out information on how they are catching em such as type of structure, lake depths, and what rigs/colors and bait they are using. With these tips and a good map or GPS, you should be able to put yourself in types of places that will hopefully help you find a spot that works for you.

Good luck fishing!

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I had to improvise the other day. Saw many could not catch any. So put on blue 1/4 ounce jigging spoon 2 fathead minnows tail hooked and put over bucket top. In less than 20 minutes got 3 17 inch walleyes that put up a fight. So I guess it was the presentation for that time of day. 3:30 PM. Just try weird stuff at times and some times that works.

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Went out of Appledorns Thur-Sun. The biggest fish we saw/marked in the sleeper in over 3 days was a 4 inch perch. To say the least we were dissappointed. We drilled several hundred holes trolling for perch and walleye during the day and had limited success. Will probably just head to LOW or URL next year.

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I've been to both Lakes quite a bit this year and I can tell you this. It's good and bad on both lakes, or should I say hit and miss. Both lakes have good days and bad days. Usually it is the weather pattern your in. Last weekend was pretty much tough for everybody on either lake to all the people I have talked to. Even Tony Roach struggled from his post I read. So you just have to reach into your bag and try weird stuff sometimes. Like we had gone to a 1/4 ounce blue jig with 2 fathead minnows tail hooked to get 3 in the 17 inch range when all else failed. Like I said there is no rule book for fishing, you sometimes have to try the most bizarre technics.

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rcatcherman, Are you trying to sell this new tactic? I think i have seen you posted it on multiple sites like 10 times? It is a well known tactic, used alot in Wisc. I have even seen John Gillespie use it. It does work occasionally and i have used it on slab crappies but most of the time fish ignore it.

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Although it may be safe, I would stay on the roads and let the "pros" decide where it is safe to drive full size trucks. If they wont drive their plow trucks there, I will not be driving my truck there.

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The lake ice is in great shape. You should be able to drive anywhere you like. Just use some common sense and bring a shovel in case you do get yourself stuck.

As it has been for years, the resort owners plow to certain places every year. They plow what they can manage to maintain. The more they maintain, the more money they spend in fuel. That doesn't mean that the rest of the lake could potentially be unsafe. It just means they are not wasting their time and money plowing any further.

There are a lot of good places to fish that don't have roads to them. After the warm weather last weekend, there is even less snow than before which makes it even easier to drive around. Again, just use common sense. Good luck fishing!

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I'm pretty sure the melting effect would have helped the driving around but the snow and extreme wind last sunday drifted a bunch. I left Monday morning at 6 am and had a 1+foot drift in front of my truck where there was almost no snow the night before. It blew pretty good for another day at least. Should be OK to drive around just watch for the drifts or you'll be using the shovel.

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eyebjim,

Thanks for the update. I was out there until around 2pm on Sunday, but didn't know what happened after that. I'll probably had back out this weekend, if nothing else, to at least move the shack to another spot for my Dad and his buddies the next weekend. Maybe drop a line for a couple hours.

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it might look weird to others but if you drive backwards into a spot or off a road your odds of getting stuck are slim to none. Ive went through 2 feet of snow like that. if you can see behind you just giver He** and youll get there. lots easier to drive forward in your own tracks than try to back up.

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cpf, I have been using that tactic on ML and URL for some years. Great minds think alike...:) It works well especially when in doubt. A little foot scouting ensures your escape. Its a great stradegy when our venerable road operators tell you to get off the road to drill holes. Works great!

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What resort on the east/south side of the lake has roads leading to the best walleye spots? Ive been going out of sunset bay and just finding perch

Note: It's very possible its just me and not the water im fishing

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i think its more so the good walleye fishing is pretty much on the major downslide til open water! after 1st ice and early jan it only gets worse by the day. you might have the occasional day where you find them but overall its nothing like earlier in the season.

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Time spent pursing walleyes in pretty much wasted time this late in the season. Focus more so on the perch now and if you find a walleye or 2 its an added bonus..Or maybe even find thee all mighty elusive mille lacs crappies!

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