Mille Lacs Tullibees,

[aanderud]

Chris, were you able to get to 9 mile out of the west side or the east side? I have been as far as 7 mile this year from the west, but there was a large pressure ridge and I didn't explore further North to see if it was passable.

[Paul Waldowski]

DD,

I'm officially disowning you

[woodsmanmn]

What do you do with tullibees? Smoke em? Any special preparation to smoke em? With the regular season ending, and these reports, makes me think about giving them a try.

[Paul Waldowski]

9 mile is was not accessable from the west as of a couple of days ago as that ridge is still there and runs a long way to both the north and the south from 7 mile.

[Shack]

DD,

I'm officially disowning you

LOL. Tullibee are a one hit wonder. Especially when you smell the stink and, for some, experience the allergic reaction. Seen it happen to a non-germ-a-phobe. I know Dtro was their and maybe BA and Dennis could bare witness also. DD will be covered in hives and sneezing in no time.

Now the sand and gravel perch to come will get a dedicated eastside guy back up and more than the one trip "Ok did it again for the first time in 10+ years, now what?". How is the official Mille Lacs Tullibee location doing for jumbos?

[DTro]

I'll take those Tullies over dead weight bladder imploding perch any day Shack. They are all yours.

[chrisonice]

I went in from hunters and Yeah I seen that ridge by 7 miles and guess what, there was a mid size suv stuck in the middle of it, the suv was actually frozen on to the ice, anyone else seen it.

[Deitz Dittrich]

DD,

I'm officially disowning you

P-Dub you know you cant do that.. We may not be blood brothers, but were brothers of another sort. THough it has been too long since my last Doorns Visit!!!! WAY TO LONG!!! Dont hate me brother!

[aanderud]

9 mile is was not accessable from the west as of a couple of days ago as that ridge is still there and runs a long way to both the north and the south from 7 mile.

[Shack]

Darren you think those tullies are fun? You gotta get up with Paul when we are sitting around the same as we were (jaw jacking distance) the other day but in T-shirts, catching as many, well close to as many as the tullies were being caught. We had I would say one of the best years I recall back in 2007 when (Pre-Paul) Appeldoorns had an HSO GT and and everyone walked away with a limit or very close and big ones too boot. I think DD had been or came up just after that year. Tullies are fun but perch is where it is at because if the temps and I live perch. Did not get any smoked tullibee yet. Missed out on an OG GT last Saturday (called it fishing but without the fishing due to the storm) where I heard some smoked tullibee was broke out. Every one survived so it had of been a good batch. That heave was a heaving out west of 7. No place for a truck even if taken at full throttle, Duke's-of-Jordan style. Never got close enough though. Weirdest thing about the west side. Those huge heaves. Took one at night with a sled seveal years back and getting out the other side (no studs) up a shear ice wall was enough for me. Worse thing though is it never looks as bad as it "really is" until you are in the point of no return. Just curb the panic & keep the thought of having to just let go if you ain't out the other side after the 15-20 second mark. Leave your helmet as a marker, I would guess, and call Paul.

[aanderud]

Shack, I would probably agree with you that the perch are fun if I got into them big time and they were big enough to put up a fight. Unfortunately this is not the norm, at least not the last few years. Lots of jumbo fishing on the pond seems to be people fishing memories, but I'll just take whatever is biting on any given day.

On this day, that was tullies -- LOTS of them, and some that pushed 17 inches. I think the smallest tulibee I caught today probably fought as hard as the largest perch in the lake. It's not a catfish-strong fight, but it's better than metro potato chip panfish!

Fairly deep water, off a mud flat break. Anywhere from 31 o 35 f.o.w. using spoons with hooks on droppers. Hook style didn't seem to matter, I saw them caught on small jigs and plain hooks. Spoon style didn't seem to matter, we used pimples, lindy flyers, both gold and silver produced. Euros and waxworms were both productive. Biggest thing that seemed to make a difference between fish staring at your hook and biting was a dropper. Having at least a couple inches of chain or mono between the spoon and the hook seemed to help a lot.

The bite was totally ON this morning, then slower midday, and then a good flurry to end the day. If I had only 1/2 a day to fish, I would make sure I was there from 8 a.m. until noon.

[lispeej]

It was my first time on Mille Lacs yesterday by myself. I started off of Hunters point, and eventually found my way across the lake exiting out the public access by Garrison.

Man, what a big lake!!!

I marked a lot of fish, but no takers. I missed one, but it must've been a small one.

At times, I fished away from the crowds hoping to find my own holes, and at others,,,I even fished within 20+ yards from the crowds. I must've been using the wrong jigs/hooks. I had euro larve, waxies, and crappie minnows.

I would like to go back before the season ends, but need to do more homework before going out.

Are the big cracks on the lakes any dangerous? I saw a big one, but just drove right over it. If my memory serves me correct, it was maybe a 4 inch crack or so....and I asked myself why did I drive over the crack after the fact.

How do you tell if there are thin ice on the lake or is that nothing to worry about?

Thanks.

[DTro]

What a fun day!

I will just say that well over a hundred fish came through the hole today. We even got to mess around with the underwater camera.

Good times!

[tonkapat]

What do you guys use to get rid of the stink from those things. Almost bad enough to make a guy puke. I try not to touch them at all if possible.

[Gordie]

It was a good day fishing with yu guys Dtro thanks for the invite and it was great to see Deitz again. It was also nice metting a few new guys as well. I glad to see you guys got some vid of those tullies.

Tonkapat the smell is nothing to us devowed cat guys

[DTro]

Tonkapat the smell is nothing to us cat guys

Ditto

[tonkapat]

I fish cats as much as the next guy and no bullheads or cats smell that bad. The tullies are my bait of choice for winter trout fishing and the smell is like no other. Just really hard to get rid of it.

[DTro]

I fish cats as much as the next guy and no bullheads or cats smell that bad.

Have you ever experienced Bullhead soup, creekchub casserole or maybe sucker surprise?

Spend enough time in a cat boat and you become immune to fishy smells. Kind of a like a cow farmer with a little "mud" stuck to the bottom of his boot.

Ain't nothing but a thang.

[Gordie]

I fish cats as much as the next guy and no bullheads or cats smell that bad. The tullies are my bait of choice for winter trout fishing and the smell is like no other. Just really hard to get rid of it.

You never fished with herekittykitty before

I still smell his ripe bullie stew on my boat..

Dtro dont forget the occasional rancid smelling dead animal that always seams to end up on shore in one of your favorite cat spots.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Here is my take on the whole perch/tuli/fishing thing.. I fish for a couple reasons.. for the battle, for eats, for spending time with friends...

Tuli put up a great battle, and in the numbers we got them in, was steady action much of the day. Really hard to beat that!

[chengx90]

can anyone help me where to fish for walleyes and tul at the same spot?..im heading up tommorow morning..thanks

[Eye_Hammer]

Did you need an extension for your auger?

Thanks

[TRZ II]

NO! I wasted the time putting one on sat. and had 6 extra inches on my strikemaster. I drilled about 100 holes all over the South end.

[MJ1657]

can anyone help me where to fish for walleyes and tul at the same spot?..im heading up tommorow morning..thanks

Walleye season ended yesterday. (Feb. 27)

[Eye_Hammer]

Olden, I should be fine with my Jiffy then?

Thanks for the help.

[Gordie]

I used my Strike master w/o a extention and a ice hogger and made it thru but I would say I was at my limits for the hogger but the SM was fine

[NewtotheNorth]

dtro,

nice video and fish. Around what area/flat were you guys fishing? Not looking for any specific location but more of a hint on where the tullies might be at. Was out last Friday, fished all day and only managed 15 between 3 guys (was very slow).

Would hope to the the tullies once more before the season ends but it seem tullies are gone from the location i fished.

[Paul Waldowski]

They were fishing one of the mud flats

[DTro]

dtro,

nice video and fish. Around what area/flat were you guys fishing? Not looking for any specific location but more of a hint on where the tullies might be at. Was out last Friday, fished all day and only managed 15 between 3 guys (was very slow).

Would hope to the the tullies once more before the season ends but it seem tullies are gone from the location i fished.

In leiu of just posting a specific spot/flat. I would suggest just rereading this entire thread and pay close attention to the posts made by myself and Aanderud. Put 2 and 2 together and you can probably figure out where we are fishing. Once you figure that out, just find the edge of the flat and fish the bottom side. 35FOW

[DTro]

Or just read Pauls post. LOL

He has a road plowed there from Appeldoorns, just go and see him!