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Mille Lacs Opening Week End


The Cranker

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Well for starters it was dry although very cool on Opening Night Friday night at 12:01am. The walleyes are biting just about everywhere on the lake. That's a good start!,

The north end was most popular as many caught walleyes on slip bobbers and lindy rigs. (Night Crawlers and Leeches were the most popular choices. The sand and the rock sand transition areas producing fish.

The west side of the lake also had a good report as the rock and gravel transition was yielding some very nice fish. The wind and waves were a battle opening weekend though with those southwest winds. Fish were biting though.

On the south end their was some reports of allot of eaters and some very nice pike being caught in the Waukon, Isle Bay areas also in Kings Cove area.

The east side of the lake was also very good. Hennepin Island, Doe Island Reef, Big Point, 3 Mile, Flamingo, Lake Side and Agate Reef all reported a very good amount of action on walleyes. Fish the windy side of these structures and you will catch fish.

Allot of big fish being caught. I heard of a 32 incher caught on the east side. I haven't seen the fish, but heard this from a very relieable source. A VERY Nice Fish!!!

Tony Roach reported to me that his boat did very well and Tony was fishing the north end.

Steve Fellegy hasn't fished a opener on Mille Lacs in over 20 years. But Steve sent me this report yesterday;

"As predicted, I sat and observed one of the biggest opening day crowds ever, from my perch 68 ft. above the north shore.

Saturday reports from the north end varied as usual. The better fishermen did well and the rest got a handful. I think everyone got some fish...

So this morning, I looked out at the big southeast wind crashing in on the shore and recalled an early season morning such as this, when I was about ten years old.

That morning....I caught the limit for several people scheduled to fish on my dads launch....while they ate breakfast. I stood on the shore casting a bobber into the mouth of our harbor. 2 ft. of dirty of water. I sold them their limit for 50 cents per fish! Those outlaws were filled out BEFORE they left the dock!

So today I just HAD to do it. I had some leeches left from the last tourney in WI. The bobber rods were already rigged.

With spray from the waves already running off my glasses...I made my first cast into Mille Lacs for the '07 season. And a fat 22"er ate the leech immediately! Game on boys. 20 minutes later....wet shoes and all, I walked back to the house with 4 nice 16-17.5" walleyes. And released another 21"er in the process. All this while 3 boats passed through the mouth of the harbor enroute for where the walleyes were. It was funny to see the look on their faces as I hoisted a nice fish over the rocks and the crashing waves. People sitting in the Myr Mar Marina bar watched the show...as they planned their days fishing from their boat."

That's MY report!lol

SF

I thought everyone would enjoy that! Thanx Steve for sharing that with all of us.

For a great Mille Lacs fishing experience please contact Paul Waldowski at Appeldoorn's Sunset Bay Resort for a guide trip with any of our top professional guides like Steve Fellegy, Tony Roach and Tim Andersen. www.sunsetbayml.com

Look for my fishing reports here every week on Monday mornings all open water season. I will have detailed fishing reports from all around the pond.

Fish On!!!

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I'm not a salesman, and I tend to be the most critical person in a crowd - but staying at Appeldoorn's this past weekend was one of the most enjoyable weekend outings I've ever had - even on opener!

The cabins looked very nice (especially the TV's), though we stayed in an RV. Paul went the extra mile to cart me around in the golf cart when I got there so I could check out all the RV sites before I made a decision - watch out, the guy is a NASCAR wanna-be! smile.gif

The service and friendliness from "The Cranker" and Paul Waldowski was outstanding, they were on afterburner all weekend, and still smiling Sunday, I don't know how many miles Paul logged on the tractor or what time he went to bed Friday night... speaking of which, if you haven't tried valet boat launching, do it! Talk about a painless experience! Its not just something you shouldn't let discourage you from using Appeldorns, its a reason to use them in the first place.

Rounding out the service kudos, was their eagerness to provide angling information, including walkthroughs on lake section maps and details of what to look for that you wouldn't know from generally available things, and that includes GPS maps...

Overall, I think what I like best about Appeldoorn's is that it is an angler's haven (thanks to the people who run it) but it is also a place you would proudly bring your family to. Clean & quiet with plenty of green space and shoreline, but under the calming exterior, there is a buzz of energy that you can't help but notice in the service.

Paul, Jim - please pass on "Thanks" to everyone at Appeldoorn's from Brad ("Blaze, the FM-aholic"), Greg ("Bonzai"), Jon, and Jim ("federline")!

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Jim,

Thank you so much for the kind words. I cannot even describe how much fun the opener was for us here at Appeldoorn's. I never got a chance to wet a line the whole weekend, but it was still my best opener ever.

The 17 groups that we had in here were so much fun to be around and to share the opener with them was a blast. We were able to give many tours of the resort and it seemed that many of them will definately be back for a second time.

It wasn't hard for Cranker and I to run all weekend long when we were having so much fun with all of the groups that we had. We look forward to seeing everone in the near future.

We will soon be posting the details of a fall tournament that we will be running out of the resort. Stay tuned!!!!

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Paul:

You guy's looked busy I have a cabin down the road and I drove by the resort a couple of times every time I went by you were putting a boat in or taking one out. Don't know if you saw me I was on a White and red 4-wheeler I drove through up to the point a couple of times.

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Alright will do, is that your truck with all the stickers on it?

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Yep... Maroon Durango with all of the stickers smile.gif

Stop in anytime, as I'm always here and love to talk fishing.

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Paul might swing by this evening depending on what time I get there. If it's much past six I will be hedding out onto the lake for the evening bite but will stop by sometime this weekend.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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