mille lacs 2020 Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports

[iFishStu]

Usually the deep gravel is found around the reefs on the East side of the lake, generally 25-30+ FOW. On a lake map some areas are even identified as gravel bars, i.e Gravel Bars East and West, 4 and 5 Mile Gravel. etc.

[fishgutz77]

Was up Sunday and they are still snappin.

Pulled spinners and crawlers behind lead core for the morning and then switched to cranks midday to 5:00

best color spinners for us was chartreuse with full crawler.

best crank was #5 shad rap fire tiger.

started on 8 mile ended on center bar.

36 fish total 3 under the slot, 4 in the slot, and 29 over fish, largest was 27"

got fish on top, on the break, and the bottom. we doubled up 3 times when we slowed up just a bit to fight fish. great day. most fish looked good but still a few thin ones. pretty good day for two guys.

[Handsonthepole]

What a great fishery. Spent 6 hours on Sunday looking for some walleyes and didn't have to go far. Picked out the first flat without boats on it and never left. Over two dozen fish bigger than 22in with the largest being 27in. Wasn't hard to catch a few to take home as well. Used 8ft leads moving slow with leeches. All the fish seemed a little chunkier than last year. Almost everyone at the ramp said they caught fish but most complained about the slot. I guess I don't understand what there is to complain about. Not many places you can go and catch multiple quality fish in a half day of fishing.

[firefish_12]

Fished the west side mud flats Sunday was a great day we caught plenty of big fish a couple keepers and a few short fish

My lil boy (9 yrs.) caught 3 all by himself using a crawler and revolve hook and the lil girl (6yrs.) got a couple hauled in as well and had a fun time netting fish

Had a double going with them each reeling in fish at the same time must have looked like a complete Zoo

Leeches and lindy rigs caught most if the fish

Can't wait for next time

Kettle thanks for the info maybe next time I will make it to the easy side

[BrdHunter01]

I guess I don't understand what there is to complain about. Not many places you can go and catch multiple quality fish in a half day of fishing.

For 1: people want fish to take home and eat.

For 2: those 22+ inchers wont live forever! Where's the future of Mille Lacs? Where's the perch and baitfish?

If you don't think people want fish to take home, just ask the resorts and business owners how they're doing this year

Last weekend we spent about 6 hours fishing about 9am-3pm. Not exactly prime time but we managed over 15 eyes with 5 of them over 26" and not a single one for the box! Fun... Sure. Getting old and frustrating... YES!

[Stick in Mud]

I have been doing too much fishing to spend any time sitting inside writing fishing reports.

As others have reported, the bite has been excellent recently. The wind last week from Thursday to Saturday kept me pretty close to shore on the northwest side. No matter: fish are everywhere and anywhere you can find a transition from mud to rock and/or sand to mud.

Since Sunday I've been fishing pretty much everywhere on the lake helping a buddy prefish for the Red Door event next weekend. The bite is pretty incredible out on the mud....we've caught fish just about everywhere we went, and we've been pretty much everywhere. Fish have been preferring rigs to spinners, though the spinners work, too. As does leadcore. Or a jig and leech. Or a slip bobber. Heck, we even caught one on a jigging spoon. Get out now and enjoy the lake....I don't think this bite will last.

At night, we've also been out doing a little trolling....apparently, the walleyes don't stop biting after dark, either.

[northender]

Please keep this thread for Mille lacs lake fishing reports.

[guyonacouch]

Took the in-laws out this morning who don't fish much so decided to only bobber fish and not deal with running a boat and trying to bait 5 hooks at the same time. Launched at Terry's and they said the spinner bite is on fire right now. Figuring we wouldn't catch much bobber fishing and hoping the weather would at least make for a nice morning on the water, we went to a 22 foot hump and caught 15 with a range from 14"-25" in 4 hours of fishing. Ended up with 3 in the box and two others that were 1/4 inch out of the slot. Everyone caught fish and we had enough action throughout the morning to keep everyone interested in watching bobbers. Fish are hungry and were smashing and swallowing jigs and leeches down deep.

[Handsonthepole]

Resorts owners on almost all lakes are having financial difficulty. They are for sale everywhere not because of lacking fishing opportunities but because people just dont take the family vacations anymore. Not to mention that the younger generation these days would rather spend time on the internet, xbox and face planted on their cell phone. I agree with wanting to take fish home but there is so much pressure on the resources that they need to be protected accordingly. With all the new equipment available it is pretty easy for even the basic fisherman/woman to find a spot and catch fish. I am older now so filling my livewell is not the priority anymore but I still think a two fish limit per person is plenty for a shore lunch or a meal at home. I don't know what the solution is except get our kids out there and enjoy what nature has to offer! The DNR has less funds to work with because the common outdoorsman isn't so common anymore. I may be way off and unfortunately I have my own kids that would skip a day on the lake for a movie or eating a bag of Doritios and playing xbox! : (

[BlackArrow1]

What a great fishery comments all over. I've fished it a couple times as well. Last week we pounded em on the flats. Saw most other boats doing the same. We easily got our legals. Along with many 22-27 inch. It's real good fishing. Seems every year over the past decade on the forum that the end of good angling is coming. Yet, it persists and maintains. Amidst the tribal take. Every year. They've taken so many in the past decade in nets that these fish should not be here now to bite?? Netting hasn't changed for % take in the last decade much. How do ya explain it? It ain't the tribe. It's amazing to see, wow it's so great fishing on here, then people saying this fishery is gonna die every year. Mn regs say you can keep only 1 over 20 inch a day anyhow. I can see how many would want to mount a 29 inch from Mille Lacs. But they are so skinny, maybe not:)).

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Talked to the DNR at the malmo access yesterday after we were done fishing. They did say fishing pressure is down. But reports have been good as of late.

The way I see it is I can go to the lake I live a block off and catch walleyes for the dinner table. I love fishing mille lacs. I grew up fishing it with my dad and grandpa all the time. I can honestly say yesterday was the best day I have had on the big pond. I have never caught the numbers we got yesterday. Not to mention with the fishing pressure down it was nice not to be bothered to much.

Biggest was 27" 5.8lbs. We both could care less if we take fish home as we would rather have a chance at the bigger ones. If we get slot fish great whatever....consider it a bonus. In tHe past I have still thrown them back.

We did bring back 3 slot fish and the DNA said lots have limits have been coming in.

I just don't see where the problem is here.....if you want slot fish for dinner I am sure there are many other lakes around where you live that will provide it if you know what you're doing. And don't say oh well there are no fish in the lake I live by. I had that feeling till I put in a serious effort to learn the lake. Now I can go out and catch some dinner fish pretty quick...

So in my opinion if you're gonna complain about not catching slot fish and catching all bigger ones....stay home....you're one less boat I have to deal with while trying to catch that fish of a lifetime.

The problem is you won't find to many bigger fish around the home lake...

Just my .2 cents.

My Soon to be 1 year old is going to love walleye cheeks for lunch today!

[jay83196]

Fishing is really good this spring and getting fish to take home seems easier with new slot. I dont get the complaints but im glad people are whining and not going to the lake, more fish and less pressure for me when I go.

[pikerliker]

I fished it for the 1st time in a boat last summer and had good success. I have been taking an annual summer camping/fishing trip with my oldest son and at least one of his friends since he was about 12 or 13 (always at a different lake). He was 19 last summer and we did better here for the eye's than any lake we had fished in the summer. Some of those other lakes we fished in past years included Leech, Winnie, and Devils Lake ND. I wish I lived closer I'd fish it all the time.

[2122ike]

My family and I came up on Sunday night and it’s been a great trip.

Went out Sunday night to test the water. Landed a 23” within 5 minutes!

We fished out of Isle and fished the south end of the lake the entire four days. I believe the area we fished was called the Gravel Bar?? Fished this area most of the time.

All we did each day was lindy rig, spinners and bobbers. We landed about 35 eyes in basically two days of fishing. Not bad for a couple of armatures. The lindy was with leeches and a red hook. Spinners were hammer gold with leaches. With bobbers the best bet was about 1 to 2 feet off the bottom with a white jig and leach. The best time of the day was early morning and at night between 7 to 9 pm.

Most fish were between 18 to 23 inches. We did land a 26 and 27 incher. We basically kept about 2 fish each day that were in the slot.

Out fished my mom and dad last night and this morning. Last night I landed 5 in two hours and this morning landed 6 with one keep in about 3 hours.

We probably could have landed some more with some better help! Ha!

Mille Lacs is a great lake and everyone should do what they can to help it stay that way!

[MattL]

Got up there for a day trip on Saturday with a few buddies. Spent about 12 hours on the water with a break for lunch and a couple beers. Between 2 boats and 4 guys we caught about 30 walleyes. The majority were in the 21-23" range with 6 keepers and 1 short fish. Biggest was a tagged 25" caught by one of my buddies in the other boat. Most were caught on gravel, but we did make a trip to mud when the wind laid down and the lake turned to glass.

My boat did best on leadcore on top and off the side of the gravel. The other boat did ok rigging leeches both on top and away from the gravel.

[Stick in Mud]

We spent about six hours on the lake today....got out about 7 am and made it in around 1 pm. Fish were very tight to the top edge of the flats; we caught a few on leadcore, a few on spinners, but most preferred rigs and leeches. Fourteen or fifteen total, with a few misses.

Yesterday I sucked it up. Got four fish in seven hours.

[Stick in Mud]

The Pond has been humbling for your...humble...correspondent. I haven't spent a whole lot of time out there, but what time I have spent hasn't been very productive. I've probably spent five hours in the last two days, and I've only caught one fish.

All my time has been spent trolling--either with leadcore or longlining deep-divers on planer boards. I've been out alone, which hasn't helped, because the fish seem to be just about everywhere in the water column, so it's been hard to narrow down a pattern with only one rod out. I'll mark some fish 15 ft down, move my lure there, and then the next ten I see are right on bottom. Move the lure down there, and sure enough the next ten I see are 10 ft off bottom. Rinse and repeat.

[BlackArrow1]

I see and hear about the lead core bite and main basin "no mans land" reports. Got some rods set up now and wondering. How far into the basin do people look and troll off structure to find pods of fish? It's pretty vast. Not looking for any special regions, just distances from structure that are effective. Cuz I see reports trolling the void and then working the structure. How far are the fish venturing from structure in the basin to effectively cover these zones?

[Huntin&Fishin]

Let your sonar decide how far to get off, or not off at all. This past weekend it was cloudy, rainy, and BIG waves Saturday, (I swear we were the only ones out in the middle) and we found fish on the top of the flat and none in the "basin" and they were hitting on a purple flash taildancer, while Sunday it was sunny and smaller waves, we found the fish about a 1/4 mile off the flat, and finally found a hot perch color they were hitting on. This by no means may be the pattern when you go, but just showing how it can change day to day. If you have a couple people, try different depths. Use your sonar and find the pattern. It was quite easy to find the fish. We looked closer to shore and marked NOTHING, we headed out to the flats and started marking fish.

[Stick in Mud]

The Stick in Mud boat was nothing but consistent the last two nights. Four fish each night, two on lindy rigs and two on leadcore. I saw lots and lots and lots of fish, but getting them to bite was the fun part. All fish on lindy rigs came off big pods of fish right on the edge of flats; leadcore fish came from well off any structure, right near the bottom.

Is September here yet?!?

[Stick in Mud]

This thread sure has slowed down...I'm guess that it's due to 1) people not fishing the lake because 2) the bite has been slowish. I hadn't been out on the lake since my last report 11 days ago; that's about as long a span as I can remember in which I haven't fished Mille Lacs during the open water season.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon was a beautiful day on the water...the fishing wasn't so nice. Pulled lead everywhere with little to show for it (zero fish). After dark, we figured we'd try something different so we tossed on some Shad Raps, sent 'em back 125 feet, and trolled pretty quickly, bouncing the lures off the bottom once in a while when we got too shallow. Popped a fish right away, and then ended up catching six more in two hours.

WE ended up moving even shallower yet; the last five fish came out of 7 feet of water on SSR #7, doing more or less the exact same thing I'll be doing as September and October get here. Sure was fun to get some fish longlining in shallow water again.

[311Hemi]

Sounds like fun. Heading up again this weekend and might have to give this a try.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon was a beautiful day on the water...the fishing wasn't so nice. Pulled lead everywhere with little to show for it (zero fish). After dark, we figured we'd try something different so we tossed on some Shad Raps, sent 'em back 125 feet, and trolled pretty quickly, bouncing the lures off the bottom once in a while when we got too shallow. Popped a fish right away, and then ended up catching six more in two hours.

[Stick in Mud]

We were fishing the windy side of the lake, pulling #7 raps--both the shallow and the deep ones, depending on water depth, which was anywhere between 15 and 5 (we caught more fish shallow than deep, fwiw). Speed was between 2.0 and 2.3, though we didn't try anything faster or slower than that, so I don't know how important those particular speeds were--or if we would've done better had we changed it up a bit more.

[Stick in Mud]

I didn't make it up to the lake until pretty late last night, so I only had about an hour of leadcore trolling before dark. Didn't catch anything, but didn't even make it to the mud (I just putzed around on deep rocks).

Came in for dinner and then went out about 12:30 a.m. Ended up with five in about an hour and a half, all trolling 7-10 ft deep over a variety of sand, rocks,and weeds. This has been a nice, consistent pattern for me for a few trips now; I hope the warm up next week doesn't ruin it.

[Stick in Mud]

Well my nice little pattern didn't work out tonight. Went up to the northwest end to fish the windy side, fished three of my honey holes, and caught nothing. So yeah. Skunked.

[BlackArrow1]

Maybe my report is not good now. But I was there last week. I pulled the lead core around a bit off mid basin mud. Nothing. Graphed some fish but not tons. The bigger marks were 8 ft down. ?? Struck out on the rap bite. So I folded. Pulled long lindy leeches. On top of flat or the bottom. Got some fish but not tons. Blue Jug, outer edge of fishers, and the Boot. All close to main basin. Funny thing is I didn't mark em on the graph being there. If your sonar isn't top notch maybe you can't see em? Anyhow, I found if ya just drift those key mud regions with bait you can get fish to bite. But not like June. I did have some eyes hit a crawler just dragging on bottom in mud. Even on some of my better trips this year, I don't graph em. Find a bite region, and fish it. You may not see em. But they are around.

[MedBoy]

anybody know the biggest walleye caught on mille lacs? biggest walleye swimming in the lake right now?

[jay83196]

27.5 with a red, orange and plain hook in its mouth....

[Redlineracer12]

27.5 with a red, orange and plain hook in its mouth....

Pretty much, since once they hit 28 they usually go home with somebody...

Guy on another forum posted a picture of his daughter with a 30" back in July that was released, so they get at least that big if released when they're over 28.

[Kettle]

I let go a 30 inch this year that was healthy, caught on the flats in 31 feet of water on a spinner. Didn't weigh it but 10 lbs was possible

Kettle