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Posted

I am looking at ice fishing Mille Lacs. It will be in a wheel house. A few questions I have are,

Does jigging work or is it more of a dead stick/ rattle reel lake?

 

If jigging what colors seem to be the best? Does this change at different locations on the lake?

 

shiner, fatheads, or suckers? I understand shiners are hard to find right now.

 

With the water being so clear, does an under water camera spook the fish?

 

How far off the bottom do you set your bait?

 

Thanks for the help!

Posted

OK, to start it has been 2 years since I fished this lake.  Used to fish it a lot.  My experience was I always did well with lively minnows--fatheads or shiners.  Small hook with a tiny bobber. I like the red wire hooks.  Can't say about that are, but has been no shortage of shiners in Brainerd, but a few places ran out of bait on weekends.  Last Saturday Fleet Farm and Wild Rice Depot had plenty.

I always did well with gold or orange jigs.  Even small swedish pimples with minnow head.  Mix it up.  

I start 6-10 inches off the bottom but watch your flasher.

I usually fished Wigwam Bay or over toward Malmo.

Old info, but hope it helps.  I am sure there are many better informed than I.

Good luck.

Posted

Shiners are hard to find right now. If you can get smaller suckers those worked good.  I fished 32ft off edge of mud flat last weekend. Everything we caught was on Bobber or rattle reel. Tried everything from tinglers to rippin raps last weekend for jigging, no luck.  The extreme cold did not help.  I usually do good jigging. I usually fish 3ft off bottom that deep.  Every fish we did catch was over 25 inches. 4 total the whole weekend. Missed a few others. Rattle reels worked well. Orange glow seemed to be a good glow Jig. 

Posted

Fished last weekend and got 6 total - ranging from 12" - 24.5".

I got one hard strike while jigging, but missed.  All fish came off rattle reels.

5 of the 6 came off suckers - small to medium size.  The other came off a fathead.

Plain yellow hook worked well - as did glow red. #4 size.

I was in 27" - set my minnows about 1.5 - 2" off the bottom.

Hope this helps.

Posted

Did you make it to the big pond yet fishing tech? We were up 2 weeks ago , sitting on a 23' hump, not much for a day time bite besides a few small ones but the evening and night was good. We had 2 slot fish which I dont understand cuz they were plump full of eggs. Several big pigs and lots of 19" were released.  Anything gold seemed to trigger fish on set lines where jigging they wanted it moving slow. The little suckers caught the bigger fish but the fatheads caught more. Good luck!

Posted

Thanks for the info, I don't like crowds and with fear of getting stuck I didn't Ben her to far. I picked a spot on the gps that looked promising but couldn't get to the exact spot due to snow depth. Was looking at a 17-18ft flat, could only get to the 15ft depth just above where I wanted to be. Fishing was slow. I did manage a personal best 25 and then topped that with a 27. Caught on rattle reels. 25 on a sucker and the 27 on a fathead. Ended up catching 9 over the 4 days. Did manage 3 perch. 1-11 and 2-10.5. I think I will try it again in a week or so. Thanks for the info. I was really surprised that nothing was caught or even brought anything in while jigging.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

I always use a dead stick next to a jigging hole.  The water is clear so you can get pretty high off the bottom to bring them in and then lower it to them.  Red hook on the dead stick during the day and anything glow after dark if you want but I use pink.  I usually use fat heads or rainbow with good success.  My go to is a pink and blue rattle spoon or red.  Just off of structure during the day with a nice easy move of 15 feet or so to the top of the structure morning or night.  

 

Posted (edited)

As expected, the bite is about as slow as its going to be all winter right now based on these reports.  Minnows are getting hard to find, the water is bitterly cold, fish metabolism has slowed way down, and there's peak activity/noise on the ice above.  With the season ending in 6 days, its time to pack it up and start preparing for open water season in May.

Edited by gimruis
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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      You mean to tell us, that you live in a state where folks sit on a frozen lake ice fishing on a bucket all day. And you don't know what numb nuts are? 🥶 🤣🤣
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  There is still some good ice fishing taking place in a few areas of the lake along the south shore but many resorts and outfitters have pulled their fish houses and called it a year.  Make sure to call ahead or check social media pages for current conditions.     For those still fishing, some are still targeting walleyes.  There has been a good morning / evening bite along the south shore just prior to sunset.  Some very quality fish are being caught.  Some good walleye fishing along Pine Island as they make their way into the Rainy River and various spots along the south shore for those who spawn in the lake.   It was another great week of pike fishing for most.  Fish are starting to transition closer to spawning areas as the days get longer.  A number of big fish tipping that 40 inch mark coming topside.  Suckers, frozen alewife and smelt set about a foot under the ice or just off of the bottom have proven effective.  Most pike anglers are fishing in depths, 9 - 15 feet. On the Rainy River...  The Rain River is still frozen from Nelson Park at Birchdale, MN (30 miles east of Baudette), which is the first full sized boat ramp that opens up, but there is open water appearing and progress has been made.  Things are happening, stay tuned as with the warmer weather, the river should open quickly. A good reminder, as of March 1st, walleyes and saugers are catch and release only on Four Mile Bay and the Rainy River.   Sturgeon fishing.  Once the open water appears, sturgeon are active.  Here are the seasons...   -Catch and Release Season: May 8th – May 15th and October 1 – April 23rd. -Harvest Season: April 24th – May 7th and July 1 – September 30. -Closed Season: May 16th – June 30th. Up at the Northwest Angle...  There is a bit of ice fishing still happening at the Angle, but most resorts have pulled off their fish houses and called it a year.  Call ahead if you plan on getting on that last ice fishing trip as some areas with current are opening up and ice guides will keep you safe.     Fishing remains very good up at the Angle.  The evening bite for walleyes has been super solid.  The pike are active and big, ready to spawn.  Still big numbers of jumbo perch throughout the area.  Very good fishing reports for late ice.  Safety first, please work through a resort or outfitter if you plan on getting out. Plan for the MN Fishing Opener which is Saturday, May 10, 2025! The walleye and sauger season is open through April 14th. Pike fishing never closes, and perch and crappie remain open year-round as well.  You can fish for sturgeon through May 15th.    
    • smurfy
      😂 oh now you hurt my feelers!!!!!!!!🤭 not!!!!!!!🙃
    • SkunkedAgain
      It's tough to find the etymology of numb nuts. Lots of guesses that it came from the military and/or cycling communities, but nothing definitive. It's meaning has no doubt though... 
    • leech~~
      Goodness. I feel like I'm on some kind of site for the mentally ill sometimes.  🤨 I know he said this but look at the last board printout!  He meant smurfy on April 29th!   8 hours ago, JerkinLips said: Because I temporarily changed the rules, and smurfy was the 2nd person to wager a guess, I changed his prediction to April 25th.   I changed it to just a date numb nuts!  April 25th! DH'O  🤭
    • smurfy
      😖🙃 pretty certain everyone else here isnt guessing Edwards lake...........goofball!!!!!!!🤣
    • Wanderer
      Up until April 24th? 😉
    • leech~~
      April 25th! DH'O
    • smurfy
      🤣 WELL.......LEECH...... since its free where's your name????????🙄
    • leech~~
      Dang, this is like a free meal on Lakestreet in Mpls.  I didn't know this many folks were still on the site until someone said "Free raffle drawing"  🤣 🤣 
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