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Best bait?

Creek Kid

By Creek Kid
in Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports

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Creek Kid

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I'm gonna be on the big pond Friday night/Saturday morning on the S or SW end. What's the best bait to be using right now? Seems like leeches start losing their effectiveness this time of year. I realize the bite is slowing down. Are they still all over or are they starting to concentrate on certain areas? How's the night bite? Any info is appreciated.

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walleyewizard Collaborator

walleyewizard

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Just got back from a great trip with my daughter. She'd never caught a BIG walleye before so I thought we'd give it a shot. She used crawlers on a harness and I used leeches and she out fished me 2 to 1. And the look on her face when she landed a 28"er was something I will never forget. Seemed like wherever we went we (or she) caught fish. 7-mile, the boot, and 8-mile seemed like favorites. Good luck!

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Creek Kid

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Thanks WalleyeWizard! Were you using a floater or just a plain harness/hooks? Spinner? This will be my second time there this year. Last time was my first time aside from a launch trip. Would really like to improve our success rate as we didn't do well when everyone else was murdering them. Right now the plan is drifting a crawler harness w/floater, 6' leader, no spinner. Or, slip bobbers, with minnows or leaches and a red bead. Right, wrong? Close? Sorry for all of the questions. I'm pretty much a beginner here so any replies are appreciated. Just want to put few in the boat to get my picture taken with :-)

[This message has been edited by Creek Kid (edited 07-31-2002).]

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walleyewizard

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Creek Kid, most of our(her) fish were caught on a standard crawler harness with red beads and a brass spinner. I tried everything from a long line (6') Lindy rig to a single hook spinner with a leech. Saw a lot of fish caught on long lines. I think my problem was my line was out of the water so much while I netted her fish that I didn't stand a chance. I still loved every minute of it though. Seemed like most of the fish were on the downwind side of the flats. Best of luck and let us know how you do.

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Creek Kid

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This post is mostly just to say thanks for the info. My overnighter was hampered by gremlins in my boat's electrical system and mother nature. We did bobber fish from 10-2 a.m. Friday night. Marked a lot of fish but nothing was biting. We tried leaches and crawlers. The fish were in 24 feet +. Saturday we threw for muskies and had a follow and saw a tail. Then the weather chased us away. I think I'm done with Mille Lacs for awhile. Everyone we talked to seemed to think the bite was pretty much gone. Maybe I'll be back in Sept.

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