Fishing Mille lacs

[jigginjim]

I fished to south side for first time this past weekend. No fish, was wondering how others may have done? I fished near popes reef. but was in 15ft of water. Knew i should have moved deeper but wife just wanted to get set-up. Was thinking next time going out to Banana reef. any thouths would be great.

[Weathertite]

Tough to judge the bite off of this last weekend as we had a major front come through which I witnessed first hand as a pretty good lock jaw event. You probably were doing everything correct just that the fish weren't cooperating.

Mike

[anchor man]

We fished out of Appledorns in about 16ft. In the same spot from Sat evening to Monday morn. It was pretty slow, but we did end up with a 40" pike and a 24" eye. 3 other real small eye and a couple smaller perch.

[Sculpin]

The weather system made it a tough bite, no question. 15 feet of water may have been part of the problem, not knowing how close you were to deeper water, a break, an edge, sand, or boulders  Typically if you set up, and there is no forage, you are not likely to have walleyes, pike, or jumbo perch around. Night bite may be a different story.

The water clarity on Mille Lacs has improved so much the last few years that 15 feet may simply be a starting point in many areas. It has become evident in many areas that the rule of thumb depth wise is now 25 feet, with perhaps a quick transition to 30 +.

In many cases fishing 15 feet is fishing old memories. Next time you're in that area get out closer to the Graveyard, and try some of that deep water.

Good luck next time, drill, drill, drill.  

[Stick in Mud]

As far as I've heard, the bite has been good everywhere, so I'm guessing the slow bite this weekend had more to do with the weather than anything else. I didn't fish, but my friend fished out of our house both Saturday and Sunday primetime, and he got 12 total. 

Our house is always in shallow water (it's in 7 ft at the moment), and one of my favorite parts of fishing Mille Lacs is watching everybody drive out deep, right past our house, as we whack them in shallow water--even through February. At least that's true on the rocks on the west and northwest end; it could certainly be different elsewhere on the lake.  And the shallow bite does slow down as the winter goes on, too.

[Sculpin]

I like your reports Stick, and as you say, it can be good anywhere, and yes, overall it has been good all over. Is it safe to assume you are near a break, or transition of some kind, or even weeds ?. I know some guys who go out at night, especially during the full moon, to specifically target weed walleyes, in the reeds no less, in five to six feet of water. As long as there is forage, there will be fish. Glad to hear you are doing well, it speaks well for the lake.

[jigginjim]

Thanks guys I don't fish Mille Lacs very much. Living in Buffalo, there are several lakes here to beat up, plus going to the New London / Spicer area is another area with out having the deal with slots and who for what were. Simple, keep what ever you would like, I need to get the wife out in the new ice castle before she go to Hawaii.  I'm staying here to fish,  

[Stick in Mud]

No weeds this year, but we've done very well near them in the past.  I pay more attention to the weeds when fishing other parts of the lake, like the south end; up here I focus mostly on rocks, breaks, and mud/sand or mud/rock transitions. There are some weeds up here, but not like down there, unfortunately. And the weeds up here don't seem to hold the forage that I've seen farther south.  Or at least I haven't found it yet.  

This year we're fishing shallow rocks, right on top of a breakline.  Nothing at all special, and there are a hundreds of spots just like it all over the west side.   If our bite really slows down this year, we'll move deeper, but hopefully we can stay shallow all year round.  It'll slow down a bit as the winter goes on, but over the years the journal I've kept shows that the shallow house (we usually put two out each year) will catch more big walleyes, though the deeper house (if we put the other one out deep, which we don't always do) might catch more fish.  Size vs. numbers....Take your pic. 

 

[Weathertite]

It seems to me that everyone here has a preference and both systems work very well. I am most impressed with the fact that everyone posting here is willing to share details of what they are doing so that others can try these techniques. Great Job Guys !!!!

Stay safe and fish well my Friends.

Mike

[Sculpin]

Some years back, before he finally got disgusted and left the area for South Dakota,  Mille Lacs Guide Ivan Burandt had a couple houses set up with big holes cut for "sight" fishing, on the west side.  There was of course no spearing then, so it was all jigging for the most part, in relatively shallow water.  I knew of a couple groups who tried it, one morning one group had two eyes over 28" and a monster pike, and those were just the fish they got to bite.

I have sight fished, and seen some monster muskies, and pike, but could not get them to commit.

Lacking in patience is my problem. 

 

[Stick in Mud]

I knew Ivan, though I was pretty young when he left.  *Amazing* fisherman.  I was once sitting in the restaurant/bar, trying to get him to explain why/how he always caught fish, and he said I should fish in one particular spot instead of where our permanent house was.   Stick in Mud the Elder stayed in the comfy shack, I moved the portable to exactly where he said I should, and I killed them, which was especially rewarding cuz the old man did poorly.  Very generous guy, obviously. 

We sight fish all the time, though some years are better than others due to the water clarity.  Even if I'm not in a "viewing shack," I find myself blocking off all the windows and looking down the hole.  I've missed more than my share of fish doing that (frequently, because when I set the hook, the rod hits me directly in the face), but it sure is crazy fun watching them bite.  I learn a lot watching them, too. 

[Sculpin]

I hired Ivan twice to take myself and some clients winter perch fishing in the middle 80's. He had a couple shacks set up on small flats off the West side, and when we got to the houses, there was no on else in sight. We had around 50/75 jumbo's on both trips, nothing under 10", an some nice bonus walleyes. We always caught a ton of fish, and walleye catch and release was strongly encouraged. Ivan understood the importance of structure as well as anyone I ever saw, and he had his houses set so there was depth variation from one side to other. He encouraged big baits vs. small baits, and always took the time to share information, teach, and coach, and he was very patient, just a great guy. 

I believe he still guides in Dakota, in that Waubay area.  

[cruel2]

When you say sight fish , How deep are we talking about, the lake has become so clear. Thank you

[Sculpin]

I have not been on the lake in a couple weeks, but the water clarity on the south end was very good at that time, and as a general rule will continue to improve as the season goes on.

I have sight fished on break lines, and along rock piles where the depth may break from eight or ten feet down to 15. In my experience, boulders and rock ruble seem to light things up in terms of bottom contrast, whereas sand or mud is pretty lifeless. Like spearing, folks have their preferences as far as depth, and bottom composition.  

My preference would be a break line of some sort, ten feet or deeper, with rocks or rock rubble. Weeds would be my second choice, but its somewhat more difficult to find good weed breaks on the main lake. 

Give it a shot, you never know what you'll see. Kids love it, watching crayfish, baitfish, etc.

[cruel2]

Sounds like fun, always wondered if the fish were in relatively shallow and everyone is passing them by heading to the deep water. Do the perch come in shallow also?

[BigPondDan]

Heading out this weekend around the south end of the lake (Whakon is where the cabin is). Anyone hearing reports from the area? 

[fish_hunt_guy]

Check out Eddie Lyback's website. He posts reports from that area daily.

[BigPondDan]

Awesome! thank you! I'll make sure to stop by with an update of my own tomorrow night when I get off the ice.