First Fish of 2019 on Mille Lacs

Hit Mille Lacs this weekend starting in Isle Bay where we had about 6-8 inches of ice and just as much snow. Was a bear getting out there. Especially for no fish. Saturday and This morning we fished out of Macs Twin Bay with a much shorter and less snow covered walk. 5 inches most places in the bay. Got on a few fish with this 26.5 incher being the nicest. My first fish of the 2019 ice season.

Attachments:

1. 

   67C6B6F7-FF17-4FB6-9B9A-7306CB485352.jpeg
   

2. 

   3FEB7F1E-17BF-437C-83E8-CAF6235B4954.jpeg
   

3. 

   F1E97AB5-EDD0-4853-BFD5-D8BD27532B87.jpeg
   

Sweet. Jealous.

I’m guessing the migration to Mille Lacs starts on Thursday or Friday.

Nice work! Fortunately/unfortunately, I’ll be part of that migration taking place on Wed or Thur this week for a day trip pending weather. Hoping maybe even ATV traffic possible??

I’ll be there this weekend as well. Was planning on hiking my own path out of a public landing on the west side. Bad idea? Stick to plowed resort roads? They’re predicting another 6-10″ of snow up there Monday with more possible Thurs, Fri, and Sat.

Jamin wrote:

Nice work! Fortunately/unfortunately, I’ll be part of that migration taking place on Wed or Thur this week for a day trip pending weather. Hoping maybe even ATV traffic possible??

I’d plan on a snowmobile if at all possible.. Calling for another 6-8″ of snow today on top of whats already out there..

Nice fish, thanks for the report.
Did you get out of the bay at all? Im curious how the ice on the lake is looking. Last I heard it wasn’t good.

Fished out of rocky reef Saturday 3-5pm. Found a 24” and 18” walleye, and about 4-6” of ice.

tbro16 wrote:

Stick to plowed resort roads?

That’s a problem now as the ice isn’t thick enough for resorts to get out and start plowing with the exception being Eddy Lyback and his dad’s little lightweight jeep.

I think the expectations of some folks is overly optimistic since they’re seeing the initial wave a foot traffic out now. They think they’ll be able to pull their tandem Ice Castles out by Christmas.

We still have yet to see what effects the snow will impact the ice conditions later. My opinion is that the lake and the main basin will have sketchy ice and limited access for quite some time.

It could get interesting because you have so many in the “wheelhouse community” now and there could be less areas available for them to set their strobe lights.

BTW, nice fish Mr Fire and even better pics. That green shirt matching the IFish Pro could be great for their advertisements.

Nice fish, Pete. Were you filming? Why’s it still got its cheeks?

Friends went out of Lyback’s yesterday and said 5″ ice with 7″ slush underneath was causing havoc at the hole. Could be a tough early season on ML.

I hope the snow predictions are off and the slush starts freezing up soon. I wanted to get up there this week, but even if that’s not possible, I have a guided trip booked for the 18th. Was hoping we’d have some access to the mud by then but the way things are going, not counting on it.

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tbro16 wrote:</div>
Stick to plowed resort roads?

That’s a problem now as the ice isn’t thick enough for resorts to get out and start plowing with the exception being Eddy Lyback and his dad’s little lightweight jeep.

I think the expectations of some folks is overly optimistic since they’re seeing the initial wave a foot traffic out now. They think they’ll be able to pull their tandem Ice Castles out by Christmas.

We still have yet to see what effects the snow will impact the ice conditions later. My opinion is that the lake and the main basin will have sketchy ice and limited access for quite some time.

Good to know. I guess I just had assumed there would be some sort of plowed roads out of resorts after four consecutive days with highs hovering around 0. Sounds like I’m dead wrong with that assessment.

With that said, all I’m looking for is to get a plowed trail somewhere near the first break for me to drag my portable shack on w/o pulling it through 2 ft of snow.

I’ll be there this weekend. $10 a ride.

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20191206-154525_Gmail.jpg
   

tbro16 wrote:

Good to know. I guess I just had assumed there would be some sort of plowed roads out of resorts after four consecutive days with highs hovering around 0. Sounds like I’m dead wrong with that assessment.

With that said, all I’m looking for is to get a plowed trail somewhere near the first break for me to drag my portable shack on w/o pulling it through 2 ft of snow.

I don’t think you’re dead wrong on the possibility of some resorts being able to begin plowing soon. They might and they might not. If they do, all I’m saying is that they won’t be able to go very far yet.

My point was more that going forward everything will be delayed as far as having plowed roads out to the offshore reefs and mud flats.

Obviously the first break or other fishable areas are accessible now. Randy’s on the west side was able to stake a path out and marked areas of good and bad ice. I would always recommend going out of a resort where they’ve checked the ice. I’d rather not be the “maverick”…

Good reminder that the south end bays are a whole different deal than the rest of the lake. I’ll be waiting until Red Door or Hunters starts getting/letting ATV’s and such out, then I will walk out. Or the Walleye Student gives me the go ahead!

Mahto were you up there with the LineCutterz crew? Vance is a great guy, and from what I saw on IG it looked like a blast!

BigWerm wrote:

Good reminder that the south end bays are a whole different deal than the rest of the lake. I’ll be waiting until Red Door or Hunters starts getting/letting ATV’s and such out, then I will walk out. Or the Walleye Student gives me the go ahead!

Mahto were you up there with the LineCutterz crew? Vance is a great guy, and from what I saw on IG it looked like a blast!

BigJerm is completely correct here. Anything outside of the bays was not safe to even walk on and the resorts made sure you knew that. I would think after the cold this week that walking traffic and possibly snowmobiles and atv traffic MAY be allowed. I have less confidence that they will have plowed roads. Just make sure you talk to the resorts so you know where not to go.

Jerm I was up there with the Line Cutterz Crew. We go up early ice to Mille lacs for our yearly get together and it’s a blast. Tough getting up early with a hangover but it’s still tons of fun. Fishing was tough this year but I was happy to get a nice one. And yes, they are great people! I snagged this shot of Vance after he caught a double tagged eye also. He was pretty pumped about that.

Attachments:

1. 

   6F5C9B4A-AAA2-4030-B050-749C85763AE4.jpeg
   

moustachesteve wrote:

Nice fish, Pete. Were you filming? Why’s it still got its cheeks?

Friends went out of Lyback’s yesterday and said 5″ ice with 7″ slush underneath was causing havoc at the hole. Could be a tough early season on ML.

I was filming Steve but being the amateur I am my GoPro was on time lapse instead of straight filming when I caught that fish, so I got a very nice 10 second time lapse of the catch. I pulled these stills from it though.

We didn’t have much slush in Isle bay or twin bay. A couple spots here and there but mostly snow in Isle and hardly any snow out from Macs. This weeks freeze is going to make some interesting ice.

@BigWerm How do you know Vance?

mahtofire14 wrote:

@bigwerm How do you know Vance?

Sent you a PM, but basically he was very generous with some fishing charity stuff.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
@bigwerm How do you know Vance?

Sent you a PM, but basically he was very generous with some fishing charity stuff.

Thanks for the PM. Definitely sound like something that company would do. It’s a great team to be a part of and they have made a lot of noise in the industry this year. I’m happy for them.

double.

BigWerm wrote:

Good reminder that the south end bays are a whole different deal than the rest of the lake.

Any reminder is a good reminder for someone just learning to tackle mille lacs like myself. So thank you. I’ve fished mille lacs just once this time of the year and that was a west side bay- shah bush kung. I’ve checked several ice reports and it sounds like most on the north and east sides of the lake are closed to foot traffic yet. Sounds like I should be sticking the bays of the SW and SE sides this weekend? Any recommendations or places to avoid?

I was out there today on the west side. I’d be cautious this weekend. The ice was 4-6″ and soft and stacked like saltine crackers in places: 2″ ice, 1″ slush, 1″ ice, 2″ slush, etc. Other places it was rock hard and would likely tolerate a wheeler. Bring a spud and some spikes around your neck. Buddy system.

There was also a lot of busted ice floating around under the main sheet. Shards of ice like busted dinner plates. It took a while to clean out holes, and some holes were unfishable because it just kept coming up, or else the stuff was too deep to reach with the scoop. Kind of a PITA.

Bite was below average. 4 fish in 4 hours. I didn’t mark many on the first break, but the ones I did mark were red hot.

tbro16 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BigWerm wrote:</div>
Good reminder that the south end bays are a whole different deal than the rest of the lake.

Any reminder is a good reminder for someone just learning to tackle mille lacs like myself. So thank you. I’ve fished mille lacs just once this time of the year and that was a west side bay- shah bush kung. I’ve checked several ice reports and it sounds like most on the north and east sides of the lake are closed to foot traffic yet. Sounds like I should be sticking the bays of the SW and SE sides this weekend? Any recommendations or places to avoid?

PM sent Tbro