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2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports


Rick

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I am heading up to Mille Lacs on Sunday to take my son and his buddy fishing for the day.

Has the fishing been better on the flats or in the rocks? Is the mayfly hatch over yet? I've fished the lake before and I'm looking for some feedback on what has been successful so far this year.

I'd like to get the two kids a good chance at catching something, especially since one of them has never caught a walleye before. If the walleyes are slow what would be the suggestions for smallmouth?

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flys only bothered at night.

you anchor or slip fishing?? fish are moving around, but flats might be a place to start..

Red Gama hooks work, leech, and a slip bob...

if drifting a 1/2 -3/4 oz sinker , a 7- 10 ft leader , and a leech or maybe a minnow...

if that don't work try a spinner rig with a little flash... or a crawler and harness..

Follow the reports for the weekend, and if the reports are slow, or old Mille is too choppy.. maybe have a backup plan for a smaller lake....

Remember .. at their age... it's not about anything but catching something.. also when on the big lake.. make sure the kids understand a nice 24" walleye goes back... Teach them about the Slot.

my $0.02

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Mille Lacs has been putting out the nice eyes! We've caught them on a variety of structure and on a variety of presentations. We've been catching them in the weeds on suspending crankbaits and swimbaits. Also getting them on the flats with rigs and leeches. I understand they are going on the gravel as well, and perhaps that is your best bet if you are looking for some eaters. All of the fish we have been catching have been released. I am glad for this warm weather as the water temp is going up fast...it will make for much more aggressive fish. Walleyes will be going better yet, and the muskies won't be far behind. Here's a few pics from the last week.

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Tim pretty much said it, fish have been going on just about every type of structure Mille Lacs has to offer and on a number of presentations. With that said the fish are far from everywhere. You have to put on quite a few miles watching your graph to find em, but they're plenty out there. You just need to locate em first or go with someone that already knows where they are... whistle I've been on the rocks, gravel and mud with very good results on all of them, at certain times of the day. I'm getting my eaters on the gravel and rocks, and quite a few of my bigger fish are coming from the mud.

The last two days have been very calm and yet the bite has remained strong. I was guiding part of another large group of guys out of McQuoids the last two days. We’ve been catching a good mixed bag of fish ranging from small to over 28 inches. Yesterday morning we had over 40 walleye in my boat before noon, so with both a large number of eater fish (15"-18") and bigger fish, the bite has been almost picture perfect! We had 15 guys in this group and everyone caught their limit of eaters along with a number of super fat big fish that came up for some quick pictures grin. I’m not sure how much longer the lake can keep this up so if you’re interested in some fantastic fishing now would be a great time to come up. Good luck to everyone headed out this weekend!

Here’s a few pics from my boat.

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Oh ya, here's a couple photos of Tuesday nights cloud system that moved through.

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Great pics EyeGuide!!!

Having the same luck...on every structure.

Right now there seems to be no specific pattern other than locate the fish...and fish!!!

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Was up Thurs. afternoon and Friday. Probably boated 20-25. Not too bad considering the hot calm weather. Fish on all structure, just not overly aggressive. Leeches outfished crawlers 5-1.

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Went up out of the garrison public access last night. It was really windy. Went out to Curly's and got only one. Went out to Seguchie Flat and got none. At both spots tried spinners w/bouncers and rigs with leeches and crawlers. Just before dark settled down on the Garrison reef and picked up 3 box fish on rigs. At least there wasn't any bugs with the 20+ mph winds.

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How has the night fishing been lately? Any presentation better than others at night lately? Appreciate it!

Fish on!

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The edges and tight corners of the flats are good that way you can cover the different depths while staying stationary

I like to use just a plain red gomakatsu and a red glow bead with a leech under a bobber anywhere from 6in to 2 feet off the bottom

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Fished Fri and Sat.

Stayed at Appeldoorns' , awesome like always.

Nice weather. Caught 6 Eyes Sat on the mud. Ran the trolling motor all day. One slot. 25" the biggest. Fished the mud. We fished the edges, and out in "no mans land". nothing. All 6 on Sat came on top of the flats in 24-26 ft. Leeches red hook. Tried spinners, and crawlers, nothing. Tried crawlers single bead, nothing. leech and a single bead nothing. Plain was the way to go.

Fished for 4 hrs Sat. 8:30-12:30, 2 Eyes. Biggest 25 1/2". This one was caught on 32 ft. The other caught on top again in 25 ft. Leech, plain red hook again.

Anyone else had the same luck as far as just a plain hook??. We also tried a chart., orange, blue, pink, purple hook as well. nothing on those colors.

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We fished Thursday on the south end off the rocks in 20' We got a 26 1/2", 23 1/2" and a 23". Nothing for the box. All on orange hook and leech. Spent the rest of the weekend working on the honey-do list.

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What mud flats were you fishing on? Does anyone no if you can camp for free on the north east corner where Carlsona Beach is? Just past the bar where all the sand beach is.... Thanks for the info good luck to all the fisherman...

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Eyewarrior,

Sounds like a good weekend!! I was on the lake Sat/Sun also. It was my first time this year. I fished mostly the south end and by the time I worked my way up to the north end I was close to suffering sun stroke!

Anyway, I didn't do near as well as your crew.

Do you run a long snell on the spinners?

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Was out Sunday all day, and fishing was slow. Started on flats with spinners (Red/White, chartruessGreen, Blue (blue???)) Nothing with leeches or crawlers. Switched to 9' with white hook, nothing. Moved over south of Big point and caught 25" on white hook, bead and leech. Back to flats, ton of fish marked, trolled with reef runners, Perch and Crayfish, nothng. Moved to sloppy joes, nothing. moved to 26' break gravel plain hook, crawler with gas (inflated) 3 walleyes 2 perch 6:00-7:30pm. Aggressive hits. Moved shallower 19-22' and nothing. Plain hook seemed to be the key.

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Does anyone no a good spot to camp right on the lake, trying to stay somewhere on the north side.... trying to stay close to the mud.. Thanks for the info..

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Rigging with the plain hook was the ticket for me on Leech Lake Thursday and Friday so I kept it on when I got to Mille lacs on Sunday and it didnt fail me,got 6 during the day.The best bite was Sunday night for us on the SW corner near Spirit,boated 20-25 on corks from 7-11:30.

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Today between 11am and 7pm, tried 7 mile, nothing. Went to deep gravel and did great. Two of us kept 7 between 13" and 17.75", threw back 5 over 18" and 3 under 13". Biggest was 25". Great day! Corks with orange 1/16th oz. jigheads and leeches.

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Eyewarrior,

When you have a minute can send me a PM?

Thanks

when I try to PM its says PM disabled

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Fished out of McQuoids in Isle Monday and Tuesday mornings. Found fish all over around the deep gravel bars. Found one spot on soft bottom about 20 yards from the gravel-to-soft transition. Still some mayflies coming up as well as bloodworms coming out of the soft bottom. Saw small fish (perch and tulibees) on the graph along with the insects and worms, and saw plenty of big fish. Anchored in the busiest looking area with big fish visible at all depth ranges and slip-bobbered. Best rig was a blue, white, and pink Creep Worm (ice fishing jig) tipped with a big leech. Set the three floats to work the leeches at 2, 3, and 4 feet up from the bottom. Watched the graph constantly, and when we saw shallower marks, we reeled our floats up to the boat and reeled up to vertical jig the leech at the depth fish were moving through at. We caught over fifty walleyes and a few perch in the two mornings, even with high skies and little wind. Caught fish from 14 to 27 inches, with most of them over twenty. We did keep eight from 14 to 17 inches for a fish-fry. Caught most of the fish within five feet of the bottom, but did catch several, including the largest one, ten to fifteen feet below the boat in 31 feet of water. Check the deep gravel areas, and watch your locator for activity of all sizes. Drop icons on your GPS in these spots, and then fish them slowly with a livebait rig, or anchor and bobber if there is some wind, or "power-bob" with your electric if there is not much wind. Good luck!

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