OutdoorMN News - Mille Lacs Lake winter anglers allowed 1 walleye starting Dec. 1 (published November 2, 2020)

[Rick]

Population trends support limited harvest during ice fishing season

Discuss below - to view set the hook here.

[Better Than Working!]

Don't know if I have technical inadequacies or if no one is posting about Mille Lacs, so I will give a brief report here. Went to the south side for 3 hours yesterday afternoon. Fished 19 fow on shoreline reef. Lots of small perch all afternoon. Caught 5 of them and 2 walleye. First walleye I have kept from the pond since I can't remember when! Marked several fish that wouldn't accept my offering or presentation. All and all it was a great way to kill the afternoon! Sorry about the quality of the picture!

[gim]

Although I can't comment on how the bite is from personal experience, I can relay information from others that I know.

 

The fishing is very slow out there this winter.  The ice is also very sketchy, especially the further you go out.  The bays on the south end are probably the only place I'd even consider driving a car on.  Like he mentioned in the previous post, there are tons of bait fish right now.  There must have been a very good hatch of perch and/or tulibee this past year because the fish are gorged on those, which is why they aren't as hungry.  This was found to be the same in the fall before ice up.

 

Anglers may see a slow season as a bad thing, but in reality it is a very good thing.  This lake has lacked adequate forage for years and the fish were very skinny, and therefore, hungry.  An abundance of food will only help it at this point.  If it continues to be like this all winter (which it probably will), you can expect tougher fishing in May when the open water season opens.

Edited January 14, 2021 by gimruis