Mille Lacs 6-12 Report

Spent last week at the cabin, unfortunately we worked every day putting in landscape stone planters, stripping and finishing the deck, etc. Looks really nice, but really put a cramp on the fishing.

We did drive over to Mille Lacs early Wednesday morning and fished till 3:30. Spent the first 4 hours on the north end but with the clear water, rigging only produced smallmouth. Moved out to a north end mud flat, started looking for fish on the points and inside turns, did not mark a thing.

Decided to try rigging leeches on a big outside turn anyway. Caught 18 walleyes in three hours, 17 1/2″ up to 27″, four within the slot. I realize this is no great accomplishment for this lake, but the moral of this story is sometimes the fish just do not show up on the locator. I imagine they were so tight to the bottom in the mud the Lowrance just did not pick them up.

I have caught allot of walleyes over the years on structure that did not show any fish and also when they were visible. The point I am trying to make is sometimes you just have to fish an area to know for sure. It sure turned our day around. Oh, I forgot to mention; many are really upset with the low quantity of “keeper” on Mille Lacs, but you have to admit, it is an awesome fishery for really nice fish.

I call that finding fish the way grandpa did. By tossing a line in there. Great report.

What water temps were you finding?

Water temp was 60 degrees.

I’ve noticed the same thing….we’re marking VERY few fish when we head out to the mud. After putzing around for a long while, we get sick of it and drop down some blades and/or rigs. Not long thereafter, fish on.

Do you think it’s possible that they’re swimming out from under the boat because of the clear water?? For what it’s worth, how big is the cone from the ‘ducer when fishing in 25+ ft of water?

Thanks Elk Addict for the report and congrats on your success! I too am catching suspended walleyes out in the open basin when trolling crankbaits and I’m not marking much on my sonar. Most of these are coming off of planer boards. I’m guessing my boat shadow is spooking fish due to the clear water clarity. I just wrote a report on this topic: Open Water Trolling Will Increase On Mille Lacs

Quote:

---

For what it’s worth, how big is the cone from the ‘ducer when fishing in 25+ ft of water?

---

I’ve heard between 1/2 to 2/3 depending on your sonar.

To answer your question – you’re covering a 12′ 6″ – 16′ 6″ diameter circle

Here is a sweet spreadsheet from humminbird that will do the coverage calculation for your:

Coverage Spreadsheet

I would assume that other manufacturers would be close enough to get a general idea of how much area you are looking at.

-Drew