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Wanna Give 7 Year Old A Smile

amateurfishing

By amateurfishing
in Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I wanna surprise my 7 year old that has not had a chance to go fishing since memorial day. wanna take him to mille lacs fri afternoon/evening and maybe stay till just after dusk. Hope to stay on south side if possible (father Hennepin area) but am willing to look else where if fishing is better. would like to spot some eyes but more importantly just looking to put a smile on his face. I did practice with cranks couple weeks ago on gull and basically caught one of everything (yes even panfish) except an eye. with warm weather this week is anything working better than others during day/night? area around father Hennepin that have been good? any info is greatly appreciated. I am not an expert by any means and would love to just see a smile on my sons face b4 school starts since out boat time has been very limited this year. and all 3 kids love fresh fish so anything we could keep would be definitely added bonus!!

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Redlineracer12 Enthusiast

Redlineracer12

Posted
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I love Mille Lacs, but if I were looking for fish to keep and/or guaranteed action this time of year, it would not be at the top of my list.

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jentz Rising Star

jentz

Posted
Posted

Put a smile on that youngsters face and go out for smallies,People tend to make the walleye the BIG prize.Its not when your a kid!! any fish on that stick will make memories!!

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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I love Mille Lacs, but if I were looking for fish to keep and/or guaranteed action this time of year, it would not be at the top of my list.

i'm all ears, would like to be within 1 hour of home

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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Put a smile on that youngsters face and go out for smallies,People tend to make the walleye the BIG prize.Its not when your a kid!! any fish on that stick will make memories!!

I can attest to smallies being fun, accidentally caught a bunch on gull and they are good fighters but he can get disappointed if nothing is kept for dinner, hoping for some to keep

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Stick in Mud Grand Master

Stick in Mud

Posted
Posted

I'd also try for smallies. Check out the MTT final standings to see how the fishing was for walleyes; even the good sticks really struggled to catch much of anything, much less keepers.

And I definitely DON'T want to start any arguments, but if you do catch some smallies, they're now fair game for the livewell. Let the big girls go and keep a few of the smallish ones...I have a meal or two of them every year in the BWCA, and they're pretty good. smile

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CaptainMusky Grand Master

CaptainMusky

Posted
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IMO a 7 year old would have an absolute blast fishing smallmouth out there. Give him a jitterbug and let him cast that out over some rock pile and have at it. It will be surface strikes and tons of misses most likely, but he will have an absolute riot. Assuming he is able to cast decent and retrieve. If not, put a slip bobber on with a jig and leech. Hit the same rock piles and he will catch smallies that way. You will not be able to wipe the smile off his face afterwards.

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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IMO a 7 year old would have an absolute blast fishing smallmouth out there. Give him a jitterbug and let him cast that out over some rock pile and have at it. It will be surface strikes and tons of misses most likely, but he will have an absolute riot. Assuming he is able to cast decent and retrieve. If not, put a slip bobber on with a jig and leech. Hit the same rock piles and he will catch smallies that way. You will not be able to wipe the smile off his face afterwards.

are you referring to Mille Lacs CM? he has no problem with a decent cast & retrieve, even with his kiddie rod, we have had LM Bass already & the kids enjoyed eating them all the same. its really not about eyes but getting him into some decent action of any kind but would like to find some larger pannies or sportfish for a little better thrill for him. thx so much

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Troy Smutka Proficient

Troy Smutka

Posted
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Smallies are the way to go for some reliable action right now. Any of the reefs marked in and outside of Isle Bay, over to Izaty's or east to Hawkbill will have smallies on or around them. Go topwater if it is calm enough late in the day, otherwise a spinnerbait, crankbait, or leech under a float will get them as well. Like others have said, release the beasts and keep a couple smaller ones to eat if you want. I fished the MTT tournament mentioned in an earlier response, and we caught more smallies than walleyes on the shallow rocks on two windy days. The deep trollers caught very few walleyes, and even fewer slots, so eyes might not make for consistent enough action right now. Good luck, and thanks for getting a kid out fishing--we all need to do as much of that as we can.

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Troy Smutka Proficient

Troy Smutka

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I was talking about Mille Lacs because that is where the original poster was talking about taking his 7 year old. I know there are some smallies in Gull, but don't know much about where to catch them.

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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extreme sw side on Gull, caught a few while after eyes & perch, caught smallies and crappie instead

will give a report on this weekend after boating

hope to get son out this afternoon for some trolling motor testing & practice then mille lacs tomorrow afternoon & will post (hopefully) some smiles and success/failure notes

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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I did take him out for nary a boat ride (supposed to be fishing trip) this afternoon and thought disappointed that his guide sucks (me), he never complained and enjoyed pushing 30mph couple of times

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amateurfishing Mentor

amateurfishing

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my son said he had a great time yesterday, unfortunately his guide (me) totally sucks, 1 smallie in 7 hours yesterday afternoon/evening but marked a lot of fish, caught on berkely crank full-37274-36321-img_66881.jpg

full-37274-36322-img_67051.jpg

full-37274-36323-img_66951.jpg

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