Mille Lacs Weekend

This past weekend, I made my first trip to Mille Lacs and all I can say is that it was interesting at best. I rented a sleeper shack for myself and three buddies, which none of us had ever done before and we were all very excited. Before we headed up, I talked with the resort and they assured us that fishing had been good during prime time hours and we should see some nice fish. So, we arrived at our shack promtly at 1pm friday and got set up. Two rattle wheels inside, two tip ups outside and all four of us actively jigging. Come sundown, we switched to four rattle wheels and four tip ups outside. Long story short, at the end of our 48 hour stay, we never got so much as a bite. Never saw a fish on the camera and none of their other shacks around us seemed to be doing any good either. Now, I’m not typically one to complain, but heres my issue. Even though, I have never been to Mille Lacs before, I pretty much knew we were in trouble the moment i set my first line. We were sitting in 18fow and from everything I had heard, we needed to be closer to 30. I called the resort concerned, but they reassured me that the shack would be in the right spot come sundown…… Now, Im a fisherman and I realize fishing can be tough, but by saturday afternoon, I had had enough and went off on my own. Took my gps, auger, and locater and drove out to a spot that looked promising. In the three hours before dark, I managed to ice four walleyes (one keeper) and 6 of the nicest perch ive seen in a long time. So, my question is, Is it worth calling the resort now that ive cooled down and complain? Or is this just the way it is with sleepers and I shouldve known better?

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I managed to ice four walleyes (one keeper) and 6 of the nicest perch ive seen in a long time.

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Well done! One of the better perch reports I have heard in a while.

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Is it worth calling the resort now that ive cooled down and complain? Or is this just the way it is with sleepers and I shouldve known better?

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Just the way it typically is in a rental. But you never really know! Definately not worth the time/effort to complain at this point.

-J.

Thanks Jon, pretty much figured it wasnt worth calling them but wanted to get some insight since I had never done one of these things before. I guess in the future, I would plan on using the sleeper strictly as a base camp and a place to “fish while I sleep”. I just thought that not getting one bite in 48 hours was exceptionally bad, especially when the bite didn’t seem all that tough to me.

BTW: I caught my fish in 29-32 fow off of a main lake rock bar. Just punched a dozen holes off the break and went to work with an 1/8oz silver and red slender spoon. Eyes were marked 2-3 feet of bottom and pretty much smoked the bait instantly. Perch would show up as blips on the bottom. Then if you pounded bottom with your spoon and started raising it up, they would fly off the bottom and commit pretty easily as well. Perch were all 12+ and heavy! Puking up lots of bugs at the top of the hole. Needless to say, I left Mille Lacs with a sour taste in my mouth and want another shot at her. Seems like you guys have quite the fishery up there.

Yep. It’s a hit or MISS with the rental shacks on Mille Lacs. Some resorts are way better than others at staying on the fish. Most of the time the resort roads have houses right off the highway. My experience on Mille Lacs is get outta dodge when the people come. You were smart to do some scouting… It pays on the big pond more times than not

I’d say chalk it up to a learning experience and since you weren’t happy with the service they provided just don’t go back to that resort again.

I would be happy if the rental was in decent shape, the heater worked all weekend and the outside didnt look like a used toilet from the last month of fishing. You want results from a rental house go to lake of the woods. Think you got the right idea of using the house as a base and getting out on your own.

For future reference, if the Resort has Guide shacks, ask for one of them May be smaller, but they typically are one the most recent bite

I also agree it is not worth complaining. Some resorts are better than others, so try another one next time. From the reports online this season, it looks like Red Door is doing a good job keeping people on fish. During different times of the year one end of the lake may be better than another, so try to factor that into your decision. I have a permanent on the lake that stays put the whole season and then we take portables out when we really want to catch fish. Even with never moving the house, we have never gone more than 12 hours without a bite. On a bad night, we might get one bite at sundown and then have a flurry in the morning or vice versa. You definitely have a right to be unhappy with 48 hours and no bite especially if you had tip ups out and were actively fishing the whole time.

I tried this last year for the first time for 24 hours at Red Door and between the 6 of us caught 1 fish. Ice was not good for venturing out on my own so was pretty much at the mercy of the sleeper. I don’t think I will ever do the sleeper again. Next time will just stay totally mobile on my own.

I think Will is right with just chalking this up to “learning experience”. Ive done lots of fishing trips over the years and most times, the first trip somewhere is just learning the ins and outs of that particular place. Although the fishing was horrible, we still had a good time, and in the resorts defense, the shack was nice enough and plenty warm. Next time, I will either look to a different resort, or just stay somewhere on shore. Good luck the rest of the season up there guys!

I had a perm for 15 years parked it deep and used portable unless weather dictated otherwise. Most rentals on the lake should be thought of as a home base. LOTW rentals are day house that are moved all the time and you stay on shore.

Mwal

To me a sleeper is for sleeping and maybe bonus fish in the middle of the night (not a pout) During the day its a place to eat breakfast & dinner… between that, be mobile and go where the hot bite is After a long day on the ice, it’s nice to have a nice warm comfortable shack to have a few cocktails and tell the lies for the day If your expecting to limit out, it would be extremely rare for Mille Lacs, although I have done it with a more liberal slot

I had a trip like that last year on mille lacs. We were in 16FOW when we should of been deeper. We only caught 7″ perch. I could stay home and catch that size . It was a bad trip and I won’t be going back there any time soon!!!

This isn’t what I wanted to read before heading up to a rental for the weekend!

I’ve had this happen before as well. Usually the group we took up there could have cared less about fishing. So that was ok.

If you told them you were very interested in catching and had guys working to catch fish, I would take the stance of calling and making a complaint.

Be factual and tell them how that made you feel. I would also ask for a partial refund or credit toward a rental next season. Remind them that you knew from reading reports that this house was not in a current spot. They should have known the same and sounds to me like this was a lazy resort just trying to rent a party house on the ice.

I don’t think there is any reason why you should not call.

Eric

Just got back from a weekend in a sleeper in about 18 ft. Only caught one (a keeper at least) with no other bites. Nearby shack said they had some bites but didn’t get any up. It was too damn cold to try anywhere else but if you are heading up there I would say stay out of the shallow water!