good opening day location

[jayson]

I would appreciate any opening day recomenadations, I want to take my father out an we have had poor luck the past years.
Ant locations and techniques would be appreciated.

Thanks

[hwalleye18]

Slip bobber and leeches on the rocks south and east end or drag leeches on the sand break (malmo)

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"FISH TO LIVE"
"LIVE TO FISH MILLE LACS"

[jayson]

Thanks, I tried malmo last year only caught 3 all day,what kind of depth, any specific area in malmo? specific colors etc.

Thanks

[hwalleye18]

Depth depends on water temp,could be anywhere from 16-24 ft.Colors blue,chartruse work well(bead only).As for a location get in with boats anywhere you'll see how they are drifting,how far up and down they are going.Change youre depth and watch youre graph.Can't miss the group of boats in this area on opener.

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"FISH TO LIVE"
"LIVE TO FISH MILLE LACS"

[jayson]

Thanks,

so regular hook with only a colored bead, how far out from the launch are these boats? I dont remember seeing hardly any boats last year I was out 1 1.5 miles??

I really appreciate the info

[Guest]

If you try Malmo again, depending on the wind, drifting the first 8-12 foot sand break right out in front of the creek has worked for me in the past.

[Navigator]

Quick tip....The north end sand is a place that you want to move alot and cover water til you find a concentration of fish, THEN I switch to more precise methods of popping fish. I usually troll shallow to deep and back shallow again. Pay attention to previous and present day's wind direction, water temp & water clarity, I do. Nav

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Jon Navratil
Navigator Guide Service
www.naviguides.com
Central MN rivers & lakes

[jayson]

Thank you for the tips, When you say troll are you trolling with rapala's or drifting with live bait rigs(lindy rigs)? If trolling what size crank baits and colors do you recomend? How fast 1 mph??

[jayson]

You also mention pay attention to wind & temp. My understanding is, you want to fish wind swept shore and temp; warmer go deeper?? Any other Lake location better/easier to fish. Once you locate fish what techniques anchor and use a bobber or drift??

Thanks

[hanson]

jayson,
I'm not much of a Mille Lacs expert at all. Fished it for the first time last year the weekend after opener. We stayed at Barnacles (I think thats what it was called) on the north end. Depending on what the wind was doing, we either trolled or drifted. It was coming hard from the South one day so we'd motor out to 20+ feet and start drifting in until you hit the break, it comes up in a hurry to about 9-10 feet and levels off again. Otherwise we just trolled up on top, down on the bottom, or up the break to see what would work the best. We just dragged spinners or lindy rigs. We managed to catch a bunch of slot fish and a bunch of 24-26 inchers. It was a pretty good experience for me, first time being on Mille Lacs. As to where to fish, up and down the north end were clusters of boats. There were probably 40-50 boats doing the same thing we were in that area. You can't miss it.

[jayson]

Thanks for the advice...
Anybody do any trolling with crank baits like shad raps etc. Looking for any tips.

Thanks

[jayson]

When going out of malmo landing are you guys going straight out (west) toward the flats or south toward the rocks etc.

Thanks

[Jeff S]

Malmo public access can be pretty tough in any wind from the south to north west. It's very shallow and rocky. You can go out of Fishers and fish right in front. Some gravely areas with some rock closer to shore. Can be a very good location for drifting. Launching out of Barnacles is good for the north shore area. Plenty of realestate in either direction. Trolling cranks does work but it may be tough with all the boat traffic on opener.

Jeff S

[jayson]

Jeff,
Thanks for all the feedback; I appreciate it.
So you would not launch out the malmo public access? Its sounds like I want to fish farther south and not too far out and look for rocks not the sand? is this correct? I agree trolling may be tough with traffic.

[Jeff S]

I rarley launch out of any public access anymore. When I do it's only the protected ones like in Cove Bay on by the casino. I've learned the hard way. If you should ever get caught in a storm it's no fun.

I would try each area and see what works best for you. A lot of it depends on the boat you have and what the lake is like that day. I get bored easily and like to experiment doing different things. Some days it pays off big and some days you go home with your tail between your legs but thats what makes it fun. Try to learn a little about an area one day then move to a different area the next and see what you can figure out there.

Have fun!
Jeff S

[jayson]

Thanks, thats good advice.

[Jeff S]

The north end is a great location, plus it's east to fish. It's better when it's cloudy or windy and best when it's both. If it's sunny and flat calm you will have to move out to 20 to 24 feet of water. My best days are when it's cloudy with 4 to 5 footers rolling in. When you find a concentration of fish work the them slowly. I prefer to backtroll but you can drift through them too. I'd make sure you have a drift sock out to slow your speed. Always practice saftey in water like that though. Only fish it if your boat is worthy of water like that. Bobber fishing on the rocks can be a hoot too! Bobbers will be best in the evenings or all day if you have a good wind. Be safe and have fun!

Jeff S

[Guest]

i fish out of malmo all the time and the best place to get them is on the sand, but the trick is to have a 8 foot snell. If you start out the day shallow then move deeper as the day goes along you'll catch them all day. then at night get into 8-12 FOW with a plain hook and a leech on the rocks.

[jayson]

Powman37,
Thanks for the advice can you give me a little better location details where do you launch, where abouts in malmo do you recommend; out straight from the public launch ? how far out? I have not had much luck in this area. last year I was out from the launch 1-2 mi. on all sand and only got 3 little ones all day. I used 4-5' snells with colored or regular hooks with leeches worms minnows no luck. I didnt see a lot of boats around there; some south by fishers and some more north west toward wealthwood. Thanks for any further help you can provide. Do you troll cranks ever?? What kind of hook set up do you recommend?
Thanks
jayson

[Roosterslayer05]

YOu definatly need longer snells, I prefer 8 foot but my dad will use 10 and sometimes even 12 foot snells, 4-5 feet is too short in mille lacs. Its not as difficult as your makeing it out to be, theres really no "hotspots" you can preaty much drift the shoreline break anywere on the lake and catch fish on opener, I personally like to fish garrison sand in front of the pumphouse to the goose in 8-19 feet. Just start in about 9 feet and drift/troll with a lindy rig up and down the shoreline break, if your not catching anything move down the break till you mark fish and drop your line.

[jayson]

Roosterslayer05,

Thanks, when you say a snell that is the line from sinker to hook correct? How heavy a sinker do you usually use and how are you attaching it? (I know this will vary on conditions) Any specific hook color, do you use a plain hook? In fishing the break the break is where the depth changes fairly drastically typically not that far from shore? I am just learning a lot of this stuff I appreciate the info.

Thanks

[hanson]

Jayson,
You're asking good questions and getting lots of good answers. I've actually learned a thing or too from this thread also. Guess I'm not fishing with long enough snells. When I got mine out to 6-7' I thought I was getting somewhere, especially when the store bought spinner rigs are about 3'.

[catchin'whopper]

Stay Out of Waukon Bay, there are no fish there to be caught. Same with anywhere on teh south end.

Just find some shallow rocks, fish in the dawn and evening with a slip bobber and leech.

[jayson]

Yes I agree these guys are very helpful I appreciate all the info? I would still love more feedback suggestions from people that fish the lake a lot. I want to get some fish this year tired of struggling..

Thansks Guys..

[Roosterslayer05]

yep when I say snell I meen the length between the swivel/weight and the hook, anywhere from 8-12 feet is good. The shoreline break is the first break on the lake, it slowly breaks to 8 feet then will more sharply break from 9 down to usually about 22 feet and then real slowly get to 25 and deeper. the shoreline break is that steeper break from 9-19 feet. I use all color hooks, a red hook with a red bead seems to work good, I dont think the color of the hook matters much, I use anywere from 1/8 ounce to 1 ounce clip on bell sinkers for drifting/trolling lindy rigs. Just troll/drift a section of break and if you dont catch fish move down and drop your line, eventually you will catch a few. I have a cabin in Wig-Wam so I havent fished the north end in a long time, I usually hit the west side, YOu can get some nice fish on the shoreline break from Terry's boat harbor all the way to garrison Marina, that whole stretch produces lots of fish early.

[jayson]

Thanks for the advice.

[jayson]

Perchman,

Thanks for the advice, I think I am going to go out of malmo (thats where my father wants to go??) but I will give that area a try in the future. ever try the N.E shore? Any suggestions there?

Thanks,
jayson

[perchman]

I fish off spider island (SE side of lake) every opener and always do well. 8' max on the reef that goes off the NE side. I dont bother fishen till dark, come sundown the walleye move in.. anchored, bait: leachs with lighted bobber. (maybe a beer or two)
On the SW Andersons reef does just as well.. once again 8' max

[perchman]

Jayson,
cant help you much there, i fished it way back in mid summer, but never around opener.
good luck,
perchman

[Ole1855]

jayson,
I always let the wind direct where I'm going to fish. If it's too wind in the south I trailer to the Malmo public access, I motor out of the shallows and head towards Fishers and pick the best drift direction, if it's good conditions in the south I work the south shore from Rocky Reef all the way west into Vineland. I usually try to start shallow and work my way deep, if the fish are biting you usually find them somewhere between 6 and 19'.

Ole