Why not bottombouncers on the opener?

[Otts]

Why is the lake known for lindy rigging? It is such a slow presentation and there is a lot of ground to cover to find active fish. Why don't people go with a bottombouncer to find active fish and then vertical jig for them once they are found?

[redhooks]

Try 3 way rigging w/ crankbaits early in the year and you may be pleasantly surprised, I have also seen success with 3ways w/ spinners. good luck and tight lines!
redhooks

[bigeyes]

Bottom bouncer and spinner are an excellent choice any time during the open water season at Mille Lacs. Very few people jig for eyes on Mille Lacs, but it will work too.

[ackotz]

What are you talking about!?
We bottom-bounce, we long-line troll, we troll the shallow shoreline (at night), we jig, we use Lindy rigs, we even bobber-fish...anyone who wants to be successful at Mille Lacs (or anywhere for that matter) must be open to a variety of techniques. You must have heard somewhere about a "particular presentation" that's used at Mille Lacs, but by no means, is one technique "the best"...ever heard of Dick Grwyzinski, aka "The Griz" (snap-jigging custom-made feather jigs)...check out his style...and that's just one of many.

[This message has been edited by ackotz (edited 02-13-2003).]

[Guest]

I think what Otts was getting at,is why its so popular to just rig on opening weekend. Rig meaning snells and plain hooks.
Tradition states to start slow in cold water thus you see alot of people preaching the slow rig. It's all going to depend on the weather,the bait factor,post spawn conditions,and the mood of the fish. I go through this every opening night with my partner. Do we troll cranks? Do we bobber fish? We start out doing one thing and switch to another. Some guys use the same style of fishing for years on opening weekend. Last year on opening night we started trolling cranks at 12:05am. 30 minutes went by and no takers. The water temp was in the low 40's. I started pleading with my partner to get the bobber rods ready.Then it was like a light switch. We banged 15 fish in three hours on cranks. We just don't know whats going to happen on opening weekend until we let the fish tell us. You give them what ever works.
And that snapping jigging thing, works great on Winni in shallow water,but never tested on Mille Lacs.

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[Fathead]

Hey Otts,

I tend to agree with a few of the responses to this post. Opening day on Mille Lacs seems to vary somewhat, but slow presentations tend to rule because of the colder water temps.

I think that most people who fish this lake tend to live bait rig all year long. This probably stems from the fact that this is an easy presentation, as well as a time-tested "family tradition". For many years, I fell into this category.

I have found that the 25+ openers that I have fished this lake, that live bait rigs and leeches tend to boat the most fish on average. But...I am a big proponent of covering territory, looking for active fish concentrations. This seems to be best accomplished with smaller #7 or #9 minnow cranks. Once found, then I move to the LBRs.

But come, mid-June and on, there are no better rigs (in my opinion) than spinners (#4 gld or slvr hatchett) and crawlers or cranks tipped with a chunk of crawler behind a 3way or BB. This will put more fish in your boat than LBRs on most days.

Early in the season, when fishing shallow water, longlining cranks is the obvious choice. But there have been many times where the fish seem to be active in the 15-22' range. This is where your question on Bottom bouncers applies. I used to be a big Bottom bouncer fan, and I still use them when appropriate (rocky areas). I however prefer using 3-way rigs because they tend to have less resistance when pulling cranks (especially when using Rudder Cutter sinkers) I think you will have good success with either method, but I truly believe that 3-ways tend to boat more fish (More vertical, less line, more sensitivity).

There is obviously more to this when you add in refinements to the presentation, but this is my general view on the subject.

Good luck fishing

[ackotz]

Derek Johnston:

and I re-iterate..."anyone who wants to be
successful at Mille Lacs (or anywhere for that matter) must be open to a
variety of techniques."