SE Corner – Big Point.

Tuff bite for my boat on the SE corner over the weekend. None of the spots or patterns held up from last weekend. Water temps still 54-57. The only decent bite was that last 30-40 minutes before 10pm deadline. Corking rocks in about 10 fow. (Night ban is now over effective today.) I’m hearing the bite was better on the north end. Typical for early season. Still not seeing smallies up on the beds. A week in the upper 70 to low 80 should finally get the bite going!!!???

My neck is kinda sore today. Spend a lot (maybe too much) time peering over the side of the boat looking at the aquarium underneath! The ultra clear water we have this year is something I have never seen. Bottom rock/sand transition areas are easily seen in 15+ foot of water. Cranks, anchors, rods/reels, ice scoops are scattered all over. You would occasionally see walleye scurry away from the boat shadow or big pike cruising along. Reminded me of the great lakes. Very cool!

-J.

It is real neat. When the ice first was creeping out the visibility was 18′ of so. I need to get out diving soon before the algae starts to bloom but 55 is still a bit cool for me. Maybe I just need to suck it up.

As for the bite, it was tough for me as well on the S. A bit humbling. I had friends guiding N and they did significantly better. I did finally graph fish in a strip of basin gravel surrounded by mud in 34′ the were willing to bite on blades. Deepest I have fished in a long time.

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A bit humbling.

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x2. Only fish I caught during the day were deep. 30+ fow.

-J.

It really is pretty cool when you can see the bottom like that, mesmorizing. Could do it for hours!

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It really is pretty cool when you can see the bottom like that, mesmorizing. Could do it for hours!

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…..yep, might be part of the reason I wasn’t catching much.

-J.

we can thank the zebra muscles for the crazy clear water!!!

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we can thank the zebra muscles for the crazy clear water!!!

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It’s going to change the way we all fish the lake!!

-J.

I agree, definately going to push it more to a night bite. Walleye action was extremely slow for me too. I did find some big fat smallies up on the shallow rocks casting swim baits though. Next weekend they should be on fire!

Thanks for the report Jon! You too Tim! I agree with you guys, the water clarity is very clear compared to other years. It will be interesting to see if and how it affects the day time bite.

I fished on Sat. and we had to work to get them. We covered a lot of water looking for walleyes in the open basin and eventually found some . We marked them deep so we placed our crankbaits down there as well and got a few to cooperate including this thick 29 incher. Here’s a detailed fishing report: Crankbait Versatility is Key on Mille Lacs Lake

Glad to hear someone caught some. We were on the north end and had very tough fishing and didn’t see any nets the whole weekend!
Between the netting and loose smallmouth regs the lake is in big trouble!

We fished Mille Lacs from Sunday the 2nd to the 5th mainly on SE corner. Did find some awesome smallies out front of State Park by buoys in 4-6 fow. Through tube jigs and caught 10 or so. Biggest was 21.5″. Nice fish. Pretty slow on walleyes. Did fish West side on weds morning on Betkers and caught about 10 walleye and a bunch of northern pike. Water still cold…

I was up there on Saturday and I agree, the bite was tough. Three boats went up and we were last on the water at 7:00am. A quick phone call found my buddies on 4-mile. I was surprised since I was planning on focusing on the 12-14 fow. They said they already caught one and are marking fish. I spent 15 min scanning and 10 min fishing and pulled the plug and left about a dozen boats there. Head to three mile, then two mile fished rocks, shallow (8-12fow) and didn’t get anything and only marked a few fish here and there…only hooked into one fish in 28fow. Come to find that another friend on the lake was getting into them in 5-7fow. One pic he sent me was a female still full of spawn! Another keeper when filleted, still had spawn in her and appeared to be trying to resorb the eggs into her…just simply a weird spring! You’re right, the water was super clear!

The brother and his girlfriend pounded the eyes on saturday night… in about 15 fow, bobbering. Had a few doubles also Kept 2 for the pan

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Glad to hear someone caught some. We were on the north end and had very tough fishing and didn’t see any nets the whole weekend!
Between the netting and loose smallmouth regs the lake is in big trouble!

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what does the “loose” smallmouth regs have to do with the lake being in big trouble??? There have been trophy smallmouth in the lake for over the 30 years I have fished the lake

Go back and read Brad Juaire’s article about night trolling on Mille Lacs! Brad really know’s what he is talking about! No, I am not related to Brad! In fact, I have never met the man! I sure would like to though. He sound’s like he would be great fun to fish with. Over 30 year’s ago, I used to fish Mille Lacs, using the method Brad recommended. The only difference was that we trolled much shallower. Usually 5′ or less! Our hot bait was a shallow running Rebel stickbait in any color. 100 fish night’s were fairly common. So were double’s! It is amazing how well you can actually see after dark. That’s after your eye’s have become adjusted to it. Which take’s about 15 minute’s or so. If you need to use a light after dark, use one with a red lens. That way you don’t destroy your night vision. Keep your tackle to a minimum. Less stuff to get in the way then. After you once try this method, you will become convinced. It is OMYGAWD a lot of fun! Good luck on the water! DIRTBALL2