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Any opener reports?


Stick in Mud

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Just wondering how people did out there. We fished hard on Saturday and saw a few fish netted....but not that many.

Our fishing was the slowest of any opener I can remember. Saturday at midnight we started pulling cranks. Caught nothing. Threw out some bobbers and didn't get a bite. Fished all day Saturday for one fish.

Finally got a little pattern going Saturday evening and pulled in seven fish with one keeper. Jig and minnow fished SLOW and deep (17-22 ft).

But the weather sure was nice. smile

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The weather was perfect! I fished for Walleyes from about 6-10AM and didn't get any action, nor did I see any other boats having any luck. So we decided to chase those smallmouth after breakfast for a few hours. Caught one nice fat 18", my BIL also managed to land a nice 19" eye while we were up there shallow in the rocks on a minnow under float. Pretty slow but that was about what I expected.

IMG_2352copy.jpg

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Beautiful smallie. I can't believe I missed this openered (had to work). The weather was unbelievable! Anyway what did you guys have for water temps?

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Beautiful smallie. I can't believe I missed this openered (had to work). The weather was unbelievable! Anyway what did you guys have for water temps?

Low 40s Saturday morning.

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I think we saw 48 at some point on Saturday afternoon before a little wind picked up.

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Slow weekend from what I saw. A good friend of mine was up and they fished a good part of the day Saturday and didn't boat a fish (Malmo area). We tried bobber fishing Saturday evening and nothing. A launch in the area had similar results.

I managed to get out for about an hour on Saturday with my daughter, and it made my weekend!. She caught her first walleye, which measure 27"! Not bad for a 4 year old. I helped her hold the rod a bit, but I made her do most of the reeling. She almost beat my PB....I only have her by .5" LOL. I would not have it any other way!

full-3806-45632-millelacs_opener2014.jpg

We are heading up for a guys weekend this weekend, so we will have a lot more time to chase them.

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Awesome 311!!! Love seeing the daughter out there. I have a little girl that turns 2 this summer. Super excited to get her out on the boat when she is old enough.

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Worst opener I can remember. One fish for about 12 hours of fishing. Sounds like most had similar results around the resort.

Fewest people I've seen on Mille Lacs for opener ever (exception last year due to ice). The resorts and businesses are really going to feel it this year. Good luck to all.

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We had similar outing. First skunk in 10 years not even a bite for three guys on the water 6am-830pm. We jigs, riged, cranked and bobbered. We covered tons of area, had to gas up at 3pm because we tried all over. Marked fish just no takers besides the ocational zebra mussel. In total we only saw 4 fish caught and the best reports were 3 fish. Congrats to those who managed to get them to go!

Good luck on the water, we will be back in a few weeks to try again!

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Worst I've done out there still can't wrap my mind around on how well we did last year compared to this year. Fished just about every depth anywhere from 3 fow to 26 fow. Caught one in 5 fow though pretty cool. Seen about twenty though in the shallows. Was pretty neat seein them that shallow just didn't want anything we threw at them

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Saturday was slow. We caught one midnight-1:15a with 3 misses. We boated one during daylight hours with only a couple misses. Sunday was more of the same until the wind picked up in the evening. That turned on the action for 1.5 hours until the rain started; landed 6 with 3 misses, one keeper. The water was 43-45 degrees where I was fishing. Warmer water should get the post spawn bite going a little better. The fish were there.

I was surprised to see the few boats out there. I was expecting a drop in traffic but not as bad as it was. I estimate there was only a 1/3 of what would be a normal year.

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Fished the morning & evening on Saturday and caught 18 in our boat. 4 keepers 1 jumbo perch also. The majority of the morning was very very slow but started catching some casting plastic jigs in the sand 15' to 13' fow. Moved back to the rocks for the late afternoon where we caught nothing in the morning and started catching some in deeper water than we fished in the morning 16' to 20' fow dragging lindy rigs with leaches.

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Warmer water should get the post spawn bite going a little better. The fish were there.

Yes, they definitely were. We marked TONS and TONS of fish. Very few biters, though. Everything we caught was pretty healthy, too. Looks like there's plenty to eat out there.

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From midday Sunday through midday Monday caught 14 walleyes - three too short (good sign), 2 keepers and 9 too long. Two topics to discuss:

1:One of the walleyes, 27 inches, had two large "warts" - some kind of fungi, I suppose. But, another, 22 inches, was completely covered with "warts". Hundreds of them of all sizes. Does anyone know what this is and is it a concern for the fish population?

2: After a beautiful, warm day on Saturday (which I missed) we had a water temp Sunday afternoon in the low 50's and caught 14 walleyes into Monday morning. Then, the wind picked up and the water temps dropped to the low 40's and we had no more bites. My theory is that the warm weather Saturday created a localized warm spot which turned on the fish; the wind Monday re-mixed the warm water with the cold, dropping the water temp and turning off the fish. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

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Fished 2 hours Sunday afternoon. one 26 one 14.5 missed 3. 14 feet on rocks jumbo under a bobber.

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The majority of the morning was very very slow but started catching some casting plastic jigs in the sand 15' to 13' fow.

Curious, when you do this do you bait the jig with a minnow or something? Or are you just using something like a fireball jig head and a plastic/rubber body?

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The weather was perfect! I fished for Walleyes from about 6-10AM and didn't get any action, nor did I see any other boats having any luck. So we decided to chase those smallmouth after breakfast for a few hours. Caught one nice fat 18", my BIL also managed to land a nice 19" eye while we were up there shallow in the rocks on a minnow under float. Pretty slow but that was about what I expected.

IMG_2352copy.jpg

Ummm did I miss something? When did smallie season open?

Never mind.... I see it's open! I like!!!

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Ummm did I miss something? When did smallie season open?

Never mind.... I see it's open! I like!!!

cool

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From midday Sunday through midday Monday caught 14 walleyes - three too short (good sign), 2 keepers and 9 too long. Two topics to discuss:

1:One of the walleyes, 27 inches, had two large "warts" - some kind of fungi, I suppose. But, another, 22 inches, was completely covered with "warts". Hundreds of them of all sizes. Does anyone know what this is and is it a concern for the fish population?

2: After a beautiful, warm day on Saturday (which I missed) we had a water temp Sunday afternoon in the low 50's and caught 14 walleyes into Monday morning. Then, the wind picked up and the water temps dropped to the low 40's and we had no more bites. My theory is that the warm weather Saturday created a localized warm spot which turned on the fish; the wind Monday re-mixed the warm water with the cold, dropping the water temp and turning off the fish. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Did you ever find anything out about the "wart" things on the walleye?

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On my way up with my mom (Mother's Day present). Going to start out rigging in the sand but if we don't get into them we will switch gears and try for some smallies. Having never targeted them on Mille lacs... Best to pull cranks over rocks? Bobbers? Thanks in advance for any advice!

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Best to pull cranks over rocks? Bobbers? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I think cranks or minnows under bobbers would both be good approaches. I like a jig and plastic myself just to keep myself entertained.

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Do you use anything different under cork for smallies? Circle hook or jig?

I am heading up soon for the same thing and haven't fished ML much.

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The warts are called dermal sarcoma. They grow on young and older females. Most prevalent Spring and fall. Supposed to be harmless to humans. They think its a virus. I always threw them back.

Mwal

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Do you use anything different under cork for smallies? Circle hook or jig?

I am heading up soon for the same thing and haven't fished ML much.

They will hit just about anything. Circle hook, jig head, minnow, leech, raps, spinners, ect, ect. Contrary to some who believe they don't eat young walleye. grin

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Hit the pond yesterday and today for smallies and did a little eye fishing as well. Caught 12 smallies with biggest being. 5lbs. Went to one of my eye spots yesterday. Ended up with 7 and missed a few others. All were outside the slot...biggest was a little over 26".

132E2412-448E-4DD5-9632-B406ED67F39B_zps

5D20DCE9-4BAD-4671-963E-E34B9FADD1DA_zps

AAFF8638-CE20-4F98-B154-1C247817F4AF_zps

29AC5098-458F-4F46-9095-36708A08F3CF_zps

FFDA2641-276B-4ABD-B588-3265183AA8F2_zps

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Cool ...nice fish! I'm headed up tomorrow for smallies. What did you find for water temps? Were the smallies relating to deeper structure? Jerkbaits/plastics? Sorry for all the questions.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
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    • mbeyer
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    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
      👍. What was the water temp in Black Bay? Thanks....
    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
    • Brianf.
      Early bird gets the worm some say...   I have it on good authority that this very special angler caught no walleyes or muskies and that any panfish caught were released unharmed.        
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