ROCKY REEF

[BIG]

Fished Rocky Reef from 1pm to 5pm on Sat. 1-3-04, fished 20 feet of water about 7 blocks out where all the houses are.Ice not that great - about 12 inches, resort built bridge in the morning very near shore. Access fair. Only caught perch -all identical, 5 inches- there was a bite an hour or two before 1pm. Good Luck

[sledhead]

Are there any fish left in this lake? That are worth fishing for.

[BIG]

If you go by the results of saturday - no...but,then salmon only costs $5 a lb in the grocery store...........the wind chill out there was certainly worth the $10 I paid to drive on the ice,.................cool.

[Scott Steil]

The fish are still there but the bite is not great. One of our sleeper houses had a 20, 23 & 26 on Saturday plus a 17lb pike and two other smaller pike. Oh, and tons of pout.LOL

The other house had a couple 16 1/2's plus a bunch of nice pike. The 16 1/2's are the true trophies of the lake. I was explaining to them that we have caugh 13 fish over 28 inches this year and 7 of those were over 29, yet those are the first two 16 inch fish we have seen.

If you are looking for eater fish they can be tough to come by. There are a lot of walleye in that 10-12 inch range that should be eater size by summer.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
(320)293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Roosterslayer05]

Or you can just keep those 28 inch plus fish to eat, they are easier to catch then slot fish and im sure the population can handle it, maybe benifit, some harvest of these big fish.

[Iceman73]

Call me crazy, but I think I'd cry watching a 28" walleye get filleted to be eaten, if people want slot fish or to bring a walleye home, maybe they should consider another lake right now. I fish Mille Lacs to catch the big ones, and don't worry about taking home fish. Just my opinion.

[bigeyes]

Rooster-I would hope not very many people think like you do. Please put those 28+ back. Lots of lakes in MN to go fish and put a meal of fish on the table.

[Roosterslayer05]

Well I have a cabin on the lake so I dont really have a decision to fish other lakes too often. Last year I caught 68 walleyes, I know because I keep track. It was a horrible year for me out there since im up everyweekend from opener till early september. Me personally, I caught 4 slot fish all year. Between my whole family we caught 7 slot fish. During the year I caught 2 28-29 inch fish and my dad caught 1. I have released so many Big fish in my life. Before the slot I would throw back a fish bigger than 20 inches. I would even throw back a big fish my grandpa caught even though he wanted to keep it. Out of the 3 Big fish we caught I only kept 1 because I pulled it up from the deep nowhere area of the lake in mid-august trolling deep diving cranks and it was bleading. The year before I caught somewhere between 350-400( I caught so many I lost count) walleyes and between me and my family we got 20 slot fish, thats not even a personal limit apiece. There is way too many big fish in the lake and nobody keeps them, I believe once a walleye grows past 24 inches its past its prime anyhow, and with the extremely large number of 26-27 inch fish ( I caught 11 last year) The very few 28 inch plus fish that do get harvested for eating will be replaced in a couple years. The DNR underestimates the walleye pop. in Mille Lacs. The pop. can handle the harvest, and if I start catching enough slot fish for a meal every once in awhile I probly wont keep the big fish. But as long as the average size of the walleye caught on the lake is 21 inches and on a average day you catch a 26 incher im not too worried about the affects of keeping big fish and whoever says big fish doesent taste good is a liar, or they dont know how to fillet it correctly. My dad wanted fish so bad last year he wanted to go muskie fishing so we could have a muskie fry, I dident really like the idea. There are certain situations when keeping big fish is O.K. I think some people get carried away with C&R. Just my opinion.

[Riverratpete]

Roosterslayer, Have to agree with your comment about the C&R getting out of hand. The thing about Mille Lacs and the walleyes is that it is a political issue more than a biological issue at this point and I don't think there is a whole lot of middle ground from what I can tell. Just my 2 cents.

[Mayfly]

As hard as everyone says the fishing was last summer, I had no problem getting a few limits of slot fish. A couple times it took only an hour. My biggest was 27 1/2 that was a nice suprise. The times I didn't claim a limit I had a couple to show for at least.

[bigeyes]

Rooster- sound like you are up there a heck of a lot! That is good, I would encourage you to post results a little more for people like myself who don't get up that way as much as we would like. We could definitely use more unbiased reports. What rig do you run in the open water, I will look to say hi as I am in your area sometimes. I agree we probably should be taking a fish from 20-25" for the overall stainability of the fishery. Just because we can't, I still can't take those 28+ fish though. If they made it that far I gotta give them a chance. Drop me an email at [email protected]

[bapperpimp]

For those of us that haven't caught any fish over 28 inches, please leave them in the lake. I can understand keeping the ones that are dead, but the ones that look like they are going to make it - throw them back. Go fish for perch if you want to eat fish. I think we know there are plenty of those in the lake.

[Fishing_Fool]

Hey pimp,

If you haven't caught a 28" plus fish on Mille Lacs you either don't fish it very often, or you need some lessons! (LOL) Last year I caught 10 plus 28" fish on the flats... My 13 year old nephew caught 3 in one evening fishing with me.... And although all were released with some great photos, I have no problem with the people who keep one. I too agree that the slot should be more liberal.. But my take is a little different. In the summer when the fish move to the flats you have a lot of eyes pulled from deep water that are put back to die from deep hook sets and from the depth in which they are pulled. Obviously there is no clear cut solution that will satisfy everyone but there has to be some common ground that will allow everyone who wants to bring home a meal that opportunity and still maintain the fishery. I too had one successful outing this year with a limit of keepers however those days are coming far and few between.... It's a great fishery no doubt about it but I like to include fish in my diet more than once a year so I choose to fish other lakes more often than not... Kind of a shame being that I grew up on that lake every summer. That being said I can also remember when we use to refer to it as the dead sea, when you couldn't catch a walleye if you wanted too... So I know that the management is working... Another thing that concerns, or should concern, fishermen is the size and quality of the perch population? Where are they going? I know we had a good year class a few years ago but I can remember catching perch like they were going out of style on that lake? Any chance they will close perch off to late ice fishing? I know that would really piss off a lot of people but I'm starting to worry about the forage for those eyes.

By the way pimp I was kidding about the lessons, don't get all bent out of shape!

By the way another nice thing to see on Mille Lacs is the quality of the Pike, Musky, and Smallmouth coming back!!

Good Fishing Everyone!

Fishing_Fool

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[LOOMI]

I have heard that most walleyes of 26" or better are not fertile.I realize they are the trophies of tomorrow but not that important to the the reproduction of the lake.Is this true or just a justification to harvest some pigs?

[Fishing_Fool]

Good question, I've always been told that they are the best producers but it always helps to question what you think to be true... I'll look forward to hearing some responses.

Fishing Fool

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[bapperpimp]

Fishing Fool, thanks for the post. I won't get all bent up - Don't worry about that. This site is for constructive criticism and everyones own opinion - that is why this site is so great. I only fish Mille Lcas about 3 times per year. I don't get up nearly often enough and when I do, my sled usually breaks down and I have to walk in 2 miles to the bar at Mac's Twin Bay(that happened to me this weekend). I have caught a lot of walleyes on Mille Lacs between 25 and 27 in the summer, but that one over 28 out there hasn't bit me yet. In time it will happen.

I wish the dnr had as much passion as us fisherman. I think all the lakes in MN would be in better shape. Maybe we would be able to catch a keeper on a city lake.

[bapperpimp]

Fishing Fool, thanks for the post. I won't get all bent up - Don't worry about that. This site is for constructive criticism and everyones own opinion - that is why this site is so great. I only fish Mille Lcas about 3 times per year. I don't get up nearly often enough and when I do, my sled usually breaks down and I have to walk in 2 miles to the bar at Mac's Twin Bay(that happened to me this weekend). I have caught a lot of walleyes on Mille Lacs between 25 and 27 in the summer, but that one over 28 out there hasn't bit me yet. In time it will happen.

I wish the dnr had as much passion as us fisherman. I think all the lakes in MN would be in better shape. Maybe we would be able to catch a keeper on a city lake.

[Fishing_Fool]

Pimp,

That really sucks when the sled strands you out there... I've been there both in the winter (ATV Wouldn't start) and in the summer (a 2 mile row back to shore, thank god I had the paddles in the boat). If you ever fish it in the summer let me know I have a couple of spots marked on my GPS that hardly anyone fishes, in fact last summer I never had another boat withing 1 mile of me... I would be willing to give you some GPS points to perhaps increase your chance at one over 28" however I normally don't start fishing until 8:30 pm and usually stay out till around 1:30-2:00 am... I've tried the spots in the winter but they haven't produced very well.... Anyhow, boats in storage so I won't be able to help you until Mid March when I pull her out.

Thanks for not taking offense, cause I know it sounded kinda rude when I wrote it but not the way I intended.

Fishing_Fool

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[Jeremy Donabauer]

I think people don't know how to truly measure walleyes. Check out the weights in the Wave Wacker tourney very few over 28 and you have 400 of the best walleye fisherpeople in the world. I fished the lake almost everyday last summer and rarely seen the 28's. If someone thinks they can catch these fish over 28 easily fish the tourney but give me your boat number so I can look at the zero on the leaderboard.

As far as the slot whoever doesn't like catching mid 20's all day go somewhere else because we don't need whiners on the pond.

[Fishing_Fool]

Dunns,

I'll tell you what, that sounds like a direct challenge and I'd gladly take your *** on any day man to man. I don't need to wish with a bunch of people in a tournament to know what I catch but I would gladly take you on on any given day in any kinda condition on the big pond.... Or maybe we should pick a lake that only has a few walleyes in it to see how good of fisherman you really are.... Anybody can catch a 20 incher Mille Lacs. If your not seeing many 28 inchers that's not my fault. Also, the last time I check the wave wacker tourny isn't in the middle of the night.... hence not many big fish caught! While your on shore boozing it up... I'm out catching the trophies.

[Roosterslayer05]

Hey Dunn- You ever heard of the golden Rule?? Its a measureing stick that is very acurate, its like the one the dnr uses. There is a back end to the ruler where you put the fished head on, you cant really measure a fish wrong with that. If you dident catch many 28 inchers or havent seen many 28 inchers caught on the lake you havent been fishing the right spots, I probly havent been fishing the right spots for slot fish, no matter where I went I caught pigs, Everyone wants to catch 20 inch walleyes but when you keep about 1 out of every 30 fish you catch it gets old. Its nice to have a fish meal every once in awhile. Bigeyes- I have a pair of riggers I got last year that I run on the flats and no-where areas of the lake. I only caught 4 fish with them last year but I dident use them much and when I did the bite wasent good. I also like to run deep diving shad raps in the perch color, I have even used Bill Dance deep diving "fat free" shad and caught some eyes on it. Deep diving husky jerks seem to work decent also. I like to troll fast, anywere between 2-3.4 mph. I have a blue Lund Tyee with a white Johnson 90 hp motor. My cabin is on the North shore of Wig-Wam bay, the only mobile home on the bay. Last year I switched from walleyes to mainly smallmouth/largemouth/sunfish/northerns. I even tried for crappies with no luck. Mainly smallmouth though, maybe we can fish for some next summer, If I work hard I can catch at least 20 a day and I have got around 50 when I fish for them all day. Its really fun but I havent been able to hook into a fish bigger then 18-19. I even got a 32" northern on a topwater useing 6 pound test last year bass fishing.

[Guest]

It takes a real angler to catch trophy fish during the day. Mr.Birch you have been banned from FM before because of your 20 year old mouth. I suggest you grow up or go back to the teen chat on yahoo. You got any pics of all those pigs you caught?

[dhunter743]

I'm no expert,and thats why I'm on here for your tips and advise.I suppose thats why we all are right??

[Adam Adler]

Where you fish and when you fish will make all the difference in the world on the size of fish you catch. There are plenty of fish 27-29" in the lake, but being in the right spot at the right time with the right presention will affect if you catch them or not. Depending on the time of the year the odds for catching slot fish are better, so tournament fishermen key in on them. Not all tournament fisherman go after big fish on a slot lake.

The perch population will be back to normal, especially if we have a good hatch this spring. There are millions of last years perch (5"-7") and this years perch (1.5"-3") in the lake right now. This tells us a few things. One, there is still a large enough population of spawning perch to result in a good hatch. Two, the 27"-29" walleyes have good potential in the next few years to be true hogs. (It would be nice if the tullibee population would bounce back also.) Three, in two years the perch fishing for bigger perch will be back to normal.

The 9"-12" walleyes that people are reporting catching are last year's hatch. The walleyes had a good spawn this year as well........all good news.

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www.millelacsguideservice.com
Minnesota, the land of 10,000 fishing trips....

[Jeremy Donabauer]

Just to let you all know my favorite pastime is getting totally wasted after a good day of fishing because I heard that is what tournament anglers do.

It is obvious that if you target the big fish your chances go up. I understand not all tourny anglers in the wacker went after big fish but a lot of them did and came up short. I personally caught 5 within the span of about 45 minutes that were over 27.5 but legally didn't crack 28.

Fishin Fool- No need for vulgarity. Where did I imply a challenge? I'm really not into that...you'd probably win I'm just adding my opinion to the post.

I know what the golden rule is. It is a board not a stick and its a knockoff of "The Judge" that is used in tournaments.

[mr marbles]

It's time to open up the slot a little more! This lake could handle some bigger fish taken out.

[bigeyes]

Wow, this thing certainly has gotten lively. No need for personal attacks or to get your undies in a bunch! It is true the vast majority of tournament anglers went for big fish at least part of the day, to be honest you could not/will not win without at least one big fish. I beleive that was proven every tournament last year and also the year before I believe. Dunns fish over 28 are a little tough but not rare. I would suggest looking to new spots and I would fish the spot were you got all the 27.5" VERY hard because I promise there was at least a few there. To fish it nearly every day as you stated and not get a 28 tells me something is wrong. I might suggest hiring a guide for a few day. Derek really knows his stuff and I would be he can put you on a 28 plus in a relatively short time. It might be money well spent to learn the presentation and locations needed to pull these big fish. BTW if you read the results of the mortality study you will see that those fish hooked in the deep yes even gut hooked almost always survive. Water temp, was the key factor driving servival. I helped with these studies twice so I did get learn some fun things. Also 26" are good spawners, and putting the 30" back although not a great spawner does spawn and allows some of the "Super genetics" of this big fish to carry on.

[bapperpimp]

Fishing Fool, I appreciate the generosity of some gps coordinates - I am sure that will help me get to that 28 or 29 or maybe even 30 this summer. I am going to hold you to it - I will remember once summer comes along. Maybe we can even hook up sometime.

-Pimp

[Scott Steil]

Bigeyes, I would argue with that statement that you can not/would not win a tournament with all slot fish. I always target slots first in a tournament. I took second in the Wave Wacker last year by doing just this. It all depends how many slots they allow you to weigh. In the Wave Wacker it was 8 each day, it took two big fish and 5 slots to beat us. Two big fish only and they would have been over 3 lbs short.

Big fish on Mille Lacs weigh less then on a typical lake in June.

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Mille Lacs Guide Service
(320)293-3287
www.millelacsguideservice.com

[Fishing_Fool]

Pimp, not going to broadcast across the board here. Shoot me an email at [email protected] I'll shoot you a couple off my handheld that will put you on a few spots and real close to the structure on others.

Yeh, I love fishing with new people to share and exchange info maybe we could hook up this summer. If you see a guy going out in a boat that you wouldn't be caught alive in on Mille Lacs, that's me! 14ft, not very deep but sure have caught a ton of fish out of that thing! Dunn, sorry for getting heated, sounded like you were calling us liars for the posts and I was running late. Nothing mean by it...

Fishing_Fool

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[This message has been edited by Fishing_Fool (edited 01-08-2004).]