Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Opening Night Tactics


eye

Recommended Posts

All right, you did it this time! I don't think I will be able to sleep now, and if I do, I'll dream of a white/pearl bead sitting right above a chartruse hook that's holding a nice fat leech! Thanks for the sleepless nights!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s opening night on Mille Lacs, you have the motor tuned, the boat is ready, new line on the reels, lot’s of live bait and the adrenaline is pumping. The boats in the water and you talk strategy over with your fishing companion. Do we troll? Do we bobber fish? Do we drift? Do we find the biggest group of boats and see what they are doing? Having a few options is always best and it’s always best to venture out and find a group of fish all to your own. Many times, anglers will want to run to the biggest group of boats they can find and assume that’s were the hot bite is. When areas of fish are pressured heavily, it can turn them off and push them off the structure they were relating to. You then find yourself thinking they must not be biting and you have wasted valuable fishing time.

There are some basic tips that you can use for opening night success. A lot of anglers have “proven areas” they like to fish every opening night. Sometimes they produce, sometimes they don’t. Weather and baitfish will play a big factor on fish location. Many anglers firmly believe they have to fish the north end sand to catch any fish. The north end sand can be a great producer on opening weekend, but can also be very crowded. A hot bite can take place anywhere on the big lake at anytime. Having a good lake map and a variety of tactics will increase your odds in contacting fish.

Generally the bite will be close to shore and can be shallow depending on weather. I like to start my opening night presentation by trolling crank baits along the shallow shorelines or shallow rock points if the wind allows me to do so. I like to start with a #11 Original Rapala in the Perch or Vampire pattern or the Millennium Stick minnow in the Clown pattern. I will troll these baits along the shorelines in 10 feet of water or less. These baits will be long-lined with the aid of the Precision Troller book to see how much line is need to get out to get the bait where I want it. Sometimes I only want the bait to run a foot to two feet under the surface if I see fish riding high on my finder. Other times if I’m marking fish hugging bottom, I want to run the bait 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. A good line-counter reel let’s me make accurate changes that I need to make to make it as easy as possible to get the bait in front of the fish. The key to trolling these baits on opening night is to start very slow. I work these baits along at 1mph or less and then snap my rod tip forward in short bursts every 10 feet or so. Trolling cranks can be very effective on opening night regardless of water temps. Some of my best bites on crank baits have come when water temps were 43 degrees or less.

If the wind is gusting or sweeping across any shallow rock piles on Mille Lacs on opening night, I want to make sure I have a few bobber rods ready to go. I look for rock piles that are getting banged on by wind that are next to shore. Rocky points are also a good place to bobber fish. I like to anchor up on the wind side of the reef and let my bait move up the edge or drift across the reef. Bobbers rigged with a 1/32 oz jig head or a plain #8 or #6 hook tipped with a spot tail shiner minnow or leech will produce. Always use caution if the lake gets too windy.

These are some basic tips to follow if your one of the many anglers what will be heading to Mille Lacs for opening night. Good luck and see ya at the access.


------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
651-271-5459
www.millelacsguideservice.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice article Derek(but lets not let the cat out of the bag on the vampire color!) Been doing much fishing? I have been doing some at pool 4, but have been busy. I will be back on Sunday for more and then it is off to the western basin all next week chasing some sumo pigs. See Ya

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up on Sat moving my RV and deck. Lake looked sloppy. Everything is wet. I have alot of work to do from now til opener. I'm hoping to get it all done so I can get a crack at some spring Perch.

------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
651-271-5459
www.millelacsguideservice.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Derek, do you think that the bite will come around this spring/summer, or will it remain somewhat slow? Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we should still see a decent bite even with all the bait in the water. Looking at past data that I have kept,even in high bait fish years, we always see a good spring bite. We may not catch 50-70 fish in a day, but catching 10-15 nice fish should still be the norm.We have to remember we got spoiled last year. One good thing this year is we will probably see the regular nice fat walleye.

------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
651-271-5459
www.millelacsguideservice.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Derek
Where do you have your camper at. I am sticking mine at Millacs Island near Wahkon. I have always fished the east and north sides. Looking for some new areas closer to the campground. I dont think it will be anything like last year. But still worth the trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Derek,

Enjoyed reading your opening day tactics. I am new to this forum and am looking forward to reading more posts. I was curious as to the depth you would fish with your bobbers on opening night. I read 10 feet with the cranks but was curious about your bobber depth. Appreciate any feedback

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome STILLNOFISH: I fish the edges of the rocks and gravel. Where ever that may be is the depth I will place my corks. Sometimes it may be the tip of the point. Other times right on top of the reef. For instance, on opening night starting out that late in the evening, if there is some wind, I will fish the tops of the reef which could be 6-12 feet depending on what reef i'm fishing.
Hope this helps

------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
651-271-5459
www.millelacsguideservice.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.