mille lacs 2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports

[gimruis]

I caught some smallmouth out there on Friday.  Its getting tougher every time I go.  I think the fishing pressure is getting to them after the #1 ranking in the country.  Water temp was only 51 degrees because it got into 40's a couple of nights late last week.  Had to fish soft plastics very slow to get a bite.

[Wanderer]

I heard from a friend out there Friday that things went well for the bite.  The wind made the process tough but numbers of walleyes were boated, topped off with a pair of 28’s and 1 21 inch smallie.

Dragging snelled bait rigs.

I almost went Sunday but we opted out due to wind.  Maybe this weekend.  Mille Lacs, Gull or Leech are the options.

[ANYFISH2]

Fished the big lake on Thursday afternoon.  Hit up the mud flats, searching for fish and tryimg turn them using jigging raps.  

Fish were scattered and seemed less than aggressive.  Only boating 4 a 24",23",16"& a 13".  A couple fish missed along the way.

We caught fish on the top edge in 23 ft and as deep as 33ft.  Most fish marked were tight to the bottom edge.

This is a relatively new tactic for me in open water so it was a learning trip for me.

A couple my fishing partner caught.

[DLD24]

Went out the last couple days on Mille lacs, we had no problem finding fish, but the big fish eluded us... We got all sorts of year classes from 11" eyes on up to 24", which is a good sign... That big storm they got must have dirtied the water up, all the fish we found were on the top edge of the flats no matter how bright it was... Rigging leeches and crawlers were the best until we got some waves then the jigging rap was taking all the fish. The fish were stacked up on points of flats and narrow ridges on the flats... We tried pulling lead for a little while, but I've never done it so I had zero confidence in it haha. 

[mnvikes32]

Thanks for the report.  We also managed just 4 fish, biggest being 27" and lost a 30" plus eye.

[gimruis]

My parent's friend caught this 2 days ago.  Measured 54 inches and estimated weight over 50 pounds.  They're in the shallows chasing the cisco spawn.

[IceHawk]

Wow Slaubasauras!!

[eyeguy 54]

congrats!

 

[Wdwrkrgirl]

Ice fishing on the East side, 11" ice about a .5 mile out. Saw a car out of Isle today already. 

[gimruis]

A car?!  C'mon.  What a bonehead

[Wdwrkrgirl]

Right?! I was surprised. Snowmobiles and side by sides everywhere but a car?! So far no bites on minnows. Hoping and praying but no bites yet. Bit cold but going strong!

[Parmer]

Are they letting ice castles out there yet with an atv? 

[Kettle]

Fished the SW corner today about 2 miles out. Lowest amount of ice I found was 10" and a few spots well over 20". Before anyone gets too excited I'm pretty sure these spots were where the ice push up on itself or below itself. Rough ice in general. Marked a lot of fish, tried everything and eventually got a few at dusk on a dead stick and a spoon. No big cracks but a few about half a foot and completely open. Nice to get out but was a long walk out and back.

[BrianF]

Saw a car and truck out on the ice yesterday. West side.  We walked out.  Our fishing was decent on spoons and Rippin Raps.  Nice average size to them.  Lots of lookers. 

[Walleychaser]

Got out this afternoon from the Red Door and set up in 19'. Lots of lookers until about 4:30 when they turned on for a bit. Ended up with some really healthy walleyes and a bonus eelpout but no keepers.  Got off before the snow started so  a really nice day. Had about 12" of ice where I was at.

[gimruis]

I drove past the west side of the lake on Monday (north) and Tuesday (south).  There was quite a few houses out there from what I could see but most were not very far out and there was very few cars/trucks out there.  Most people seemed to still be exercising caution and parking on shore and walking or using an ATV.  There must still be some cautious, sane people on this earth.

[DoubleLiver]

How much snow?

[waterfowl101]

Sounds like they got at least 12”

[gimruis]

And potentially more coming tonight (Sun 12/30)

[Wanderer]

The actual snow cover on the lake yesterday wasn’t bad.  I’m sure the wind helped.  The resort did a lot of plowing into the evening.  We left last night around 9.  This morning my buddy that’s still out there said he was blown in pretty good this morning after the overnight snow.

 

My wife and I were thinking about heading back this afternoon but the negative degree temps and expected wind chills aren’t getting trumped by the bite - in that house anyway.  Sticking around home instead.

[brrrr]

Anybody got roads good enough for wheel houses yet,  pulled by atv?  

[Dave S]

a coworker was looking today and many are saying no to wheelhouses. He ended up going out through Barnacles.

[Wanderer]

Macs Twin Bay had houses pulled by trucks yesterday.  Not much past the break though.

[brrrr]

After a few phone calls,  found out Randy's road is going good, full size trucks pulling houses.   

Suggest you call first though .  

[Parmer]

Buddy from my work is out of Randy's with truck and ice castle. Not sure how far you can get out though. 

[Wanderer]

Bite was good yesterday afternoon.  Mostly 19’s and 20’s.  The best action for us was on tip ups with pike suckers; not nearly as many in the house with shiners and jigging.  One keeper @ 22 inches.

 

The wind switched and the morning bite has been slower.  2 missed and 2 caught; 17 and 19 inches.  Equal action in the house as the tip ups.  We’re covering 25-28 fow.  Fishing out of Barnacles.

[Flash]

What can you keep now?

Length

How many

etc

Thanks,

Flash

"Set the Hook"

[Wanderer]

One walleye between 21-23 inches

 

OR

 

One over 28 inches.

 

FYI the slot is tough to hit by design so we don’t hit our quota too fast.  Don’t expect to see many legal keepers.  

[FowlSki]

2 hours ago, Wanderer said:

One walleye between 21-23 inches

 

OR

 

One over 28 inches.

 

FYI the slot is tough to hit by design so we don’t hit our quota too fast.  Don’t expect to see many legal keepers.  

 

I released two slots the one day I fished Mille lacs this winter.  Maybe I got lucky.  I have no desire to keep a walleye that big. 

[walros]

I was up last weekend and did okay,15 fish one slot that we released. Anyone else noticing that there seem to be lots of 10-14" fish?  Nice to see another year class coming in.