Any recent reports?

[Ole #1]

Has anyone had any luck since yesterday? Just wondering if the warmer weather is making any difference?

I haven't been up since last weekend, but I have been getting my butt kicked since the opener.

Ole

[Navigator]

Some spots producing a few fish are the deep gravel areas. I would chase smallies, if you are so inclined. Nav

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

[rich4walleyes]

Was out last night until 10 pm and we did fairly good in the shallows right in front of Dickie's Resort. We were fishing in 7 ft of water using leeches under slip bobbers. Fish started hitting around 830 and went until about 930. Ended up bringing home a 19 and 17.

[Ole #1]

Thanks for the report, is dickies on the west side of the lake? I was thinking of going to indian point tonight.

Thanks again.

Ole

[Willy]

Dickies is on the Southeast side of the lake.

[Guest]

I am headed up ths wed. need to know if there is a night ban?

[ducktrapper]

Two of us fished all day Thursday with no fish and only one nibble. This was slip bobbering with leeches at various depths and trolling crankbaits on and around Lakeside Reef (east side). We have traditionally done very well with that daytime slip bobbering in late May/early June. It is a relaxing, easy way to fish. A nice break from the rigors of nightime crankbaiting! Granted, conditions were tough (sunny and calm), but usually at this time of year that doesn't hurt too bad. We've killed 'em under similar conditions many times. This is the first time in 25 years that we have been completely skunked on this lake. Even so, it was still a fun day!

Upon returning to the Eastside Marina harbor, we noticed thousands of 1" - 3" perch in the shallows. If this holds true all over the lake, there is plenty of food out there. It could be a tough bite until at least this winter!

[Roosterslayer05]

I fished friday and saturday and ended up with 9 walleyes, Kept 7 between 13.5 and 19.5 inches. Fishing was slow, caught most fish in 16 feet of gravel drifting leaches, got 2 bobbering on a sand break and 2 bobbering the top of the Garrison Reef. All fish caught on the west side. I also saw a 18-20 inch walleye siting under my dock this morning but by the time I got a rod and put on a leach it was gone.

[Beef46]

Was out Friday and Saturday. Caught 3 freakin' fish. Two of them keepers, one too big. Tried everything. Cranks, sand, rocks, transitions, slip bobbers on the reefs at nite, mud flats. Fished anywhere from 6 to 28 ft of water. This is the worst I have seen Mille Lacs in a long time.

Between all of the perch and the mayfly's, the fish won't be eating our baits for at least 6 months. I was sitting in 26 feet of water at 7 pm waiting for them to start moving into shallow rocks and I saw 3 eyes come to the surface within 5 feet of my boat to eat mayflys. If I had my net in hand I could have got them.

It's unbelievable out there. I can do much better close to home on city lakes and rivers. Think I'll be staying away from that lake until early Sept. for muskies.

[Fathead]

Hello all,

Well...I spent the past 4 days out on the lake. TOUGH bite is an understatement! My buddy and I managed 13 fish in that time. We jumped around quite a bit and did not find any consistent bite whatsoever.

The best area we found (that held fish and put a reasonable amount out) was a smaller sized rock pile just south of 3 mile reef. If you have a reel bottom map you will see it approximately .5 miles south of 3 mile. We graphed a significant amount of fish here on the east side of the structure.

The best bite was between 6-9pm. "Best bite" meaning...we caught some and other boats around us did as well. Other than that, the lake is stone cold, and you will have to put some significant time in to limit out each day.

My suggestion...find another lake if you want to fish eyes right now. This lake is currently loaded with millions upon millions of 1 to 2" perch right now. If you don't believe me, just run into the shallow bays and you can see them.

Some people have been suggesting cold water temps have/had slowed the bite. After being up here, I can tell you that it is the enormous numbers of small perch that are causing the lousy bite. Over half of the fish we did catch were spitting up 1 to 3 perch out their mouths.

Good luck out there.

[Ole1855]

Fished Fri. evening, most of Sat. and Sun. morning for 1 hour. Fri. evening was slow we put 5 in the boat, 2 slots, Sat. was very slow we put 3 in the boat all over 20, Sun. morning in the "pea soup fog" was great, we fished for 1 hour from 6:30-7:30 am and we boated 8, 2 slots the others were 21-24.

Sun. morning was plain red hook, jumbo leech under a body.

Ole

[Sportfish1850]

Gotta report the same thing. Fished off the rocks near Twin Bays Sunday evening June 6th. Found lots of fish on the electronics in 14ft of water but they didn't want my leeches or shiners. Moved in a little shallower as the sun dropped but never did a thing. 10 or 15 boats in the area and I never saw a net come out once. We fished from 5pm to 9pm and never even felt a nibble. Near the dock in the shallow water areas it was alive with 1000's upon 1000's of little 1.5 inch Perch minnows. They eyes have easy forage right now and bait is just not of much interest. Hope they chew through these little guys in a hurry or its going to be a long summer.

[Ole1855]

One other thing I forgot to mention of the ones we kept to eat, when we cleaned them we check their stomaches and they were full of the flies that were hatching, I don't remember the name of the fly but I think it's Cadis?

Ole

[Beef46]

Not sure of the exact name but the resort kept calling them Mayflys.

PS. Sunday where you West or East side?

[This message has been edited by Beef46 (edited 06-07-2004).]

[Ole1855]

Beef,
Those weren't mayflies, at least not the ones on the SW area of the lake, there were 2 kinds that were driving us nuts, one was small and kinda green the others were a little larger, I think someone told me they are Cadis, but I'm not positive.

On Sunday we were in the Vineland area, exactly where I can't tell you since the fog was so thick we couldn't see more than about 50 ft., we motored out really slow and followed the GPS to a spot my buddy has plugged in, we were in about 14 ft. of water. That's about as good as I can do for where.

Ole

[Ole1855]

Ben,

I'm no expert but I've logged alot of hour on Mille Lacs over the last 30 years, so here's what I think, take it for what you will.

The bugs that hatch on Mille Lacs come out of the lake bottom, as they float/swim to the surface of the water the fish eat them, some species of fish may eat them as they get closer to the suface but I believe the walleyes eat them as they emerge from the bottom.

As for the state of Mille Lacs as a fishery, you will get alot of answers to that question. I have seen cycles on ML over 30 years, there are peaks and valley's I believe this has to do with year classes of walleyes as well as year classes of bait fish. This past weekend we graphed alot of fish in the areas we fished, getting them to bite was another thing, I spoke with a couple of my friends that are tournament fisherman that put tons of hours on the lake. One comment they made was, they graphed alot of fish and they had a heck of a time getting them to bite too.

I don't know that this answers your questions but I thought I'd throw my $0.02 in.

Ole

[Beef46]

Ole,

Yeah that fog was thick. We were packing up Sunday morning after two days of frusterating nothingness. I guess maybe we should have went out that morning even if for only a couple of hours. We were on the West side Friday and Saturday in Wigwam, Shermans Point, south of Sherman Point (can't remember the name of the bay). I was a tough weekend and I had to swallow my pride. They got me this time. Only left with 2 eaters.

[Squid]

My report is a little more on the positive side. Went up Suday afternoon and fished by myself from 3PM until just before 10PM on the south end. Ended up catching 3 fish, a 24", 19 1/2" and a 15". The 24 was a little unexpected, caught her on a red craw jointed crankbait in 8' of water. I was really thinking more on the lines of a smallie when it hit. The other 2 I caught late in 8' over sand with a slip bobber around 9:30PM. I counted 24 other boats in the area, and only saw one other net.

In my opinion with such a tough bite it's the little things that make a difference. I downsized my line to 6 lb and used a plain #6 red hook with a light bobber. True, not everyone on the lake was an expert fisherman out there but I couldn't help but notice that many of these people were using bobbers the size of beer cans and heavy lines. The fish are there but they will only hit if they see something that is really appetizing.

[Ben1022]

Ole and Squid, and anyone else for that matter...let me know if my reply belongs on it's own thread.
I just don't get it...is this normal FOR Mille Lacs? I understand there's a reason it's called fishing but w/SO many above the bar fishermen out there, it seems Mille Lacs is a little off the norm for lakes. If someone said this was going to be a tough two weeks on the pond, I'd dismiss it as a timing issue or weather issue. But if we're really going to have to look to the fall and have a $40,000 rig to catch the noteable walleye of Mille Lacs, I'd have to pass judgement and say something should change if Mille Lacs is to be in the same realm as the other notable walleye waters.
I'd like to note, I grew up on the Missouri River in SD and had some experience fishing walleyes and find Mille Lacs very frustrating. I'm getting to the point it isn't what they "advertise in the brochure". I spent some time on the frozen pond and hooked zilch. Actually, three perch under 6". I'm going to say that the perch have something to do w/it and probably should be asking if the perch explosion is normal or if it is something we typically see every so many years and just deal w/it.
It just seems that a guy should have a little better catch rate, given the fishing in Mille Lacs, or the "brochure" should be changed to reflect a different scenario.
Please don't take any of my thoughts to be negative as I admit I'm a hack of a fisherman, I'm beyond surprised Mille Lacs is not treating great fishermen better.

[Ben1022]

So after reading the last posts, I have some questions and don't intend to take this off topic, but...
1) If walleyes are sensitive to light, are they eating the flies below the surface or at the surface at night?
2) Would the DNR surmize or agree there are possibly too many baitfish (perch) and perhaps see a need to net some to stock other lakes that could use perch?
3) Is this current situation normal for Mille Lacs or is the situation something Mille Lacs needs to "recover".
I guess I just wonder why this is a tough situation. I don't think that other lakes are as tough to fish and I'm leaning toward the idea that Mille Lacs is out of some sort of balance for this to be the case. Maybe I'm wrong but I was looking for some suggestions.

[This message has been edited by Ben1022 (edited 06-07-2004).]

[bigeyes]

Hi Ben, yes boom and bust cycles are typical on Mille Lacs. Despite what you might have been told it is typically a fairly tough lake to fish in the summer particularly after the middle of June. Opener through now is usually a good bite, but as you can see that does not always happen either. If you are serious about trying to become better on Milly I would look at getting a guide for a trip or two, they can show you some spots and techniques and answer a lot of questions. Just me careful there are a lot of guides that don't get on the lake much. I would look to the Mquoids, Griz, Fellegy as these guys really know the lake.

[Guest]

I'd have to add to the fairly positive reports.Spent last Thurs thru Sun , basically fishing from 7:00am until 3:00 - 4:00pm with what I guess are fairly decent results based on what I've been hearing from others.Fished mud almost exclusively and was managing 8 to 11 eyes each day with 3 or 4 slots per day ,none over 28 though.The key for me was big leeches and a small (#8) hook and fishing the upper edges of the flats and NOT dragging the sinker on the bottom.The other thing was that once others arrived and started driving over the fish they'd scatter and dissappear and be really hard to make bite. It was fairly obvious that the fish were very easily spooked off the bite by too much overhead commotion and too many sinkers dragging on the bottom. Overall the season has been on the tough side but like any other lake ,Mille Lacs goes thru boom or bust prey cycles.Right now with an early bug hatch and a ton of little perch the fishing is going to be a little tough compared to some of the last couple of years when there was an obviuos lack for forage. Is this a bad thing that the DNR needs to do something about? I persoanblly don't think so ,its just one of natures cycles that fishermen need to be aware of and adjust for.

My two cents.

[black max]

I personally believe the dnr has allready done something about this last year by dumping perch into the lake. I have heard this from many people and am inclined to believe it. The dnr maintains it was a good spawn.

How did we go from a great year in the summer of 2002(no perch for them to eat), to am explosion of small perch the next year? How come none of the other fish have had the population explosion the perch have had?

Every one said the perch bite last winter was going to be great, and it was lousy at best. Then this summers bite was going to be great, well the best fishing of the year is turning out to be a bust. How bad is the rest of the year going to be if this is the best fishing of the year? Last winter I caught what many of you did ( 4-6in perch). How did we get such a good spawn if the perch numbers were so far down?

It doesn't seem the dnr wants to have us harvest fish, they just want to sell lic. to everyone and tell us how many fish there are out there. If we are catching fish and eating them the state is loosing resources and that could translate into less money from lic. sales right? So if they dump a bunch of tiny perch into select lakes the fish won't give us a second look as they swim by with a full belly, meanwhile the state gets a nice fat wallet and who looses again, the sportsmen.

[bigeyes]

Black Max- there has never been any perch put in Milly by the dnr or any other legitimate organization. They are very careful not to alter the biology of the lake by any means other that slot size and limit quantity. Mille lacs reporduction and forage are left for mother nature to handle as it has always been. BTW most everybody knew going into last winter it was going to be another poor perch winter, also this winter they will not be quite the jumbo size we are after.

[legendelite]

Braved the wind yesterday in an attempt to try the flats. Fished from 6:00 a.m. until Noon and have nothing to show for our efforts. Tons and tons of bait fish clouds on the flats. Had one hit on a leech/plain hook and one on a crawler/spinner. Surface water temp at 57.

[Borch]

The Mille Lacs bite has it's ups and down based on the forage available. There's lots of eyes there now but even more baitfish. Be patient as theese walleyes. pike, muskie and bass(Bigger perch too) will thin them out.

They don't call it the "Dead Sea" for no reason. Sometimes the bite is very tough. Last summer and so far this summer it falls into the tough category.

Borch

[black max]

Well for whatever reason the lake is just plumb full of bait fish and the catch this year is going to be not good. The people who own resorts and bait shops are going to suffer the most again this year, because I llike many people am going to skip the big pond the rest of the year. I don't care how many fish are "IN" the lake, if you can't catch any whats the sense in going?

The last couple years the dnr wouldn't let us keep fish except what fell in thier small slot. Now because they know that there is a ton of baitfish in the lake they loosen up the slot to try and make themselves look good and boost visitors up there but the fact remains that you go up there and come home with nothing to show for it.

I used to love fishing on mille lacs, but it seems that the lake is not worth the effort you put in any more.

[eye]

So, the only time this lake is any good is when the fish are starving!!?? If you adjust to the conditions, the fish will come. Forget about '02, that will never happen again (hopefully!).

[This message has been edited by eye (edited 06-09-2004).]

[GEO]

Here's my 2 cents..

ML has a very healthy population of catchable walleyes. Yes there is an abundance of forage and a huge bug hatch, but this is one of the reasons ML is such a phenominal fishery.

One day this season we had 6 walleyes in this livewell and noticed a handful of reguritated perch. The point being-yes, these walleyes had an abundance of perch that they were eating..but they were ACTIVE and we were able to catch them.

BTW, walleyes are not light sensetive. I've seen and caught walleyes in water less than 5ft on bright, calm days - even in July. They tend to feed actively in low light conditions because that is were they have a predatory advantage. We also have a predatory advantage - we can read about them and they can't read about us

[keyks42]

No disrespect Black max you need to calm down, every time you go fishing you shouldn't except fish to jump in the boat. The less people on the lake the better for me, walleye fishing is a challenge I enjoy. I don't always aggree with the DNR but I dont think they purposely open up the slot because of the baitfish.
Keyks42