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Walleyes


Mayfly

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anything biting at night beside mosquitoes around the garrison area? thanks

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Try fishing the rocks.Did pretty good last weekend up until 9:00 pm.(slip bobbers)
The fishing this time of the year is not the best,but there is some still biting.There's alway's smallmouth to try for.
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"FISH TO LIVE"
"LIVE TO FISH MILLE LACS"

[This message has been edited by hwalleye18 (edited 08-12-2003).]

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I fished Mille Lacs on Saturday. Two walleyes were all I had to show for the day. One was actually a slot fish. To say it was SLOW is an understatement. I saw a few boats here and there and I didn't see one other fish landed. That included a launch with 20 guys on board. They reported catching only 1 little perch despite being on their third location of their trip. I visited two flats and a rock reef, as well as a long trolling run through no-man's land.

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Fishing was very slow. Was up on Saturday and Sunday. Cought 2 pearch, 1 small mouth, 1 cray fish wink.gif

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As Derek said, it has been slow. I had a 2 hour walleye guide trip on Saturday and we boated one fish and missed two others.

We spent the rest of the time chasing Pike and had good luck with fish up to 34 inches. The pike population is in great shape right now. We are really looking forward to the upcoming fall bite!

The walleye that we did get to go were suspended. If we would have stuck with the pattern that was working, we could have probably managed an 8 fish day, which has been common over the last 2 1/2 weeks.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

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Scott, maybe you should qualify that statment. I don't doubt an 8 fish day may be common for you as a talented guide and one of the better fisherman on the lake on any given day, but for the rest of us 8 fish day have not been common lately. I think it is fair to let most average fisherman know they are probably only going to get a couple of fish in a day right now.

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Wake up, if you fished The pond before, you know this lake is very slow in Aug.If you are a deer hunter, this is a good time to get ready for the season.Aug.was good last year, but that was an exception. Wait till after labor day, and I expect to see alot of happy fisherman with the weather change.Then you have October to look forward to, weather permiting around the full moon phase fishing with a number 11 floating Rapala, early in the morning an after dark, along the shorelines,rocks.Now is a good time for muskie,nothern,bass and a few crappie. This lake always has something to offer.Good Luck

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Wake up, if you fished The pond before, you know this lake is very slow in Aug.If you are a deer hunter, this is a good time to get ready for the season.Aug.was good last year, but that was an exception. Wait till after labor day, and I expect to see alot of happy fisherman with the weather change.Then you have October to look forward to, weather permiting around the full moon phase fishing with a number 11 floating Rapala, early in the morning an after dark, along the shorelines,rocks.Now is a good time for muskie,nothern,bass and a few crappie. This lake always has something to offer.Good Luck

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Bigeyes, I am not intending to mislead anyone. We had 3 good hook-ups in 2 hours of trolling. Our full day is 10 hours, I consider less then one fish an hour slow.

Yes, it is slow right now. Thank you for the compliment, I try hard.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

I'd like to add,
anyone who knows Scott Steil or Derek Johnston KNOWS they are dynamite anglers.

Slow to them is likely to be good for the average guy on the water. Those two flat out can find the fish and get them to bite...if anyone can.

That being said, if they say it's slow, you can bet the bite is a bit tough.

Of course, The fishing usually picks up very nicely from this point through early ice at the very least.

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Thanks Rick and good point about the bite picking up. The last time out I was trolling spinners, suspended. This bite should really pick up over the next couple weeks. If you are used to fishing the bottom, this is a good time of the year to experiment with suspended fish. Spinners is just one of the many ways to get them to go. Lately, it has replaced the crankbait bite. Atleast for me.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

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Hey Scott sounds like you are the man. So I have a question for you. How do you pull spinners and suspend them? I am getting pretty good at pulling cranks and getting them to run at certain depths but I have no clue on how to run a spinner off the bottom. Thanks

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The easy answer to that is to practice. The tough answer is to explain this.

I try to keep several variables constant. First, my weight, I like 2 ounces, inline. The second is my speed. I try to keep it at 1 MPH, but anywhere between .8 to 1.3 is typical for a spinner bite. The third is my line diameter. Keep as many variables constant and then practice at certain depths and see what it takes to get to the bottom.

I should add I am using linecounter reels so I can reproduce these depths. For instance, I know if I want to fish the bottom on Mille Lacs, with my typical set-up, it is going to be 52ft on my line counter. I have similar go to points as you climb the water column. For me I have put together my own system that I have fine tuned over time. It would be very difficult to do without the linecounter reels.

The precision trolling book has a nice little piece on using snap weights, which I don't use but you could use in a similar fashion.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

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Using spinners with planner boards and three-way rigs is another way to target suspended Mille Lacs Walleyes. Like Scott mentioned, line counter reels and lots of trial and error are a must. Once you have mastered that, you will start producing fish like you have never before.

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

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When you talk about suspended walleyes, are you looking for them on your electronics and only fishing what you mark or based on experience you know that they are "x" feet above the bottom in specific spots such as the mudflats or the gravel.

I have the linecounter reel with leadcore, planer boards and some inline weights so I would like to give this a try. That and I would like to catch a personal best walleye.

Also, what triggers the beginning of fall bite on Mille Lacs. Is it a specific water temp, baitfish movement or what?

Thanks

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WH/ Generally marking bait fish pods with your locator or fishing the depth at which the tops of the flats top out in the basin will hold suspended fish. A good locator with a properly mounted transducer is a must.

The fall bite will depend on weather and seasonal changes. The fall patterns can start in Aug but will peak with the moon phases and tullibee spawn in late Oct and into Nov. Like bigeyes said, temps will be a factor. The tullibee spawn will start when water temps drop to around 45-43 degrees. Some of the biggest fish in the system are active at this time.

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

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Derek---I've heard so much about this fall bite that i'm going to have to split time between bowhunting and fishing this fall. Any suggestion fo what types of structure, depth, and times to hit it hard? I fish out of Macs Twin Bay so I spend most of my time in the south. I had some success earlier this year, do you think those early season into june spots will fire up again in the fall?? Any info greatly appreciated! Thanks

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Walleyehawk, when I am looking for fish I look for baitfish. This time of year it is easy to get caught up in fishing for "fish" that you mark on your graph, but most of the time those fish aren't going. Find the fish that are chasing baitfish, those are the fish that are biting.

A perfect example was this weekend Adam was running a trip and I saw him trolling in an area that we hadn't fished all year. He was heading to his first spot and marked some new baitfish in that area. He stopped and within the first hour had a 26 & 24 in the boat. He was fishing the baitfish.

We try to cover several depths but we like to run just above the baitfish and they move up and down in the water column. I should add that if you are marking lots of baitfish near the surface or see them surfacing, this is a perfect time to get out the shallow runnners and boards. Works great on those nice calm mornings before the sun is high in the sky.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
www.millelacsguideservice.com

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I'm going out on Mille Lacs for the first time on Saturday and am wondering if anybody can give me 3 peices of info. I'm looking for the best place to land the boat and best place to try fishing on the southern end of the lake (since i'm coming up from plymouth). I'm looking for walleyes, but pike and smallies are great too.
Secondly, I'm wondering what exactly the slot is for keeping walleyes?
Thanks guys

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You are allowed 4 fish per person, you cannot keep any between 17"-28". If you catch any over 28" you may only keep one per person. Try the access off 169 just north of the casino. You can hit good smallie, pike and walleye territory from there.

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Mayfly/ Yes, those spring spots will heat up again. Try Flamingo Reef, the bouy's out from Doe,Shaws Reef and Big Point. Start with Shad Raps or Orginal Floaters in the black/sliver pattern or Firetiger. The sand breaks in 15 feet of water south of Fishers can hold a hot day bite using long plain snells and leeches.

Good Luck

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

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Thanks to all for the information.

Yesterday, while cleaning through a stack of magazines, I found the April 2003 Walleye Insider (page 42) open to an article on inline trolling weights for open water trolling by Dave Scroppo. Apparently wanted to read the article and never got around to it.

It gives some tips and is OK. More toward the anglers that can use multiple lines and stack them. May be a good read if you keep the magazines and may be available at In Fisherman's web site.

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