Fishing Report 5/23 to 5/30

[Guest]

Posting here for the first time, but thought since I read most everything on this site I would try and contribute something.

I had an opportunity to fish Mille Lacs everyday for 8 days in a row beginning the Friday before Memorial Day. Left the lake this past Saturday 5/31. As stated many times elsewhere, nothing thus far like last year. Won't attempt to say what caused the difference between years, but this is some of the things I observed. Fish are not as bunched-up as I had hoped. The fish seemed more scattered. When I did graph fish they were either feeding or it didn't matter what you threw at them. There were times I tried live bait rigs with leeches, crawlers, and rainbow minnows, then spinners with the same bait. Many times it didn't matter what bait was used, at varying speeds, with all presentations. It took a lot of moving around to find any fish willing to bite. I did not spend much time on the West side, but a lot of time on the east side South to North. I wish I would have spent more time on the mud flats, as later on in my visit I found a few hungier fish on the edges of the North and Central flats. The North sand produced a couple of times, but only when I bobbered up (even with slow wind).

The night bite wasn't good either. Fished many usual spots on the east side which included, Lake Side, Agate Bay and farther North. Saw many boats on the week end nights, but not many fish, and not many nets.

I spoke to a few guys that did find fish. Not an every day frenzy, but right place at the right time kind of thing. It used to be said 80% of the fish are in 20% of the lake. What now? I'm no pro, but I can sense this year is going to be different.

I will be going back in one week for another 8 days of fishing. Will try and continue to move around until I find fish feeding, and not waste much time standing over fish that won't feed. Let's all hope its better than what I think most anglers experienced last week.

[Eastwind]

Spinmister,

Eight days of fishing and you are going back again for another eight days in a couple of weeks. Is your place of employment hiring?
Great informative report. I would like to add my observations. I fished Mille Lacs Saturday the 17th and again saturday the 31st. On the 17th we got fish in one of the bays on the West side on and off during the day with leadhead jigs. Then we bobbered Garrison Reef for the last two hours of light and did well. It wasn't like last year but we boated 20 fish between three guys over 8 hours of fishing. Two were keepers and th rest were too big, up to 26". By my twenty year average on Mille Lacs thia was not a bad day. On the 31st we got nothing during the day jigging then headed to the reef around 7:00. We boated around a dozen with three of us, two being keepers. Again, I've done worst on Mille Lacs. The fish do look fatter this year, which can probably be attributed to the good perch hatch. with eight days to fish why would'nt you head up to Canada? The cabins are cheaper, you will catch more fish and there is some scenery? Have fun on your next trip.

[Scott Steil]

I have been doing some prefishing for the Wave Wacker this week and there area few spots that are holding a lot of fish. However, most of these spots are holding a lot of big fish. If I was out for enjoyment of guiding I would love to fish these kind of spots, but they don't win slot tournaments. The smaller fish are very scattered out and currently are feeding on the recent bug hatch. The small fish bite it tough, but there are lots of big fish to catch and release, which is still fun. Thanks for the report.

------------------
Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com