Mille Lacs Flats Re-post

Thanks for the responses yesterday, Jon J. moved the post over to the Mille Lacs forum. Tuck if you are checking here was my response to your questions:

1)I am running 6lb. Stren MagnaThin on St.Croix 7ft Legend Walleye tournament rods. I am heavy on the snell or leaders with mostly 10pd. test. This could be a problem, although after fishing Lake Winni alot with these rods I don’t feel I’m missing the pick-up of the bait. Anyone think this could be a major problem running this heavy on the snell?

2)I was backtrolling with my Yamaha 8-4 stroke running what I call s-curves on the ledges and off the flat in a North-South pattern (wind was terrible yesterday)

3)I went back and forth between 1/2 ounce and 3/4 ounce to keep as vertical as possible in a tough wind

4)I marked alot of fish and tried to hold position as good as I could. With such long leaders, what do you think is happening at the bottom with the leader when the wind pushes you forward and you move backward slowly? I always feel as if I need to sustain movement to keep the leader extended.

Like I said above, I spend alot of time on Winni, but the long drive moves me to Mille Lacs in July. The bite and approach is just different enough that I need help.

Thanks Everyone, any other tips appreciated!

Saw your questions in your post and thought I’d toss out a few ideas. First, I’d lighten up on the leaders. I typically use 6lb Berkley XL or Vanish Flourcarbon. At times I have dropped to 4lb if the bite is tough. In either case, check your leader after each fish and consider retying if the leader is frayed. Since there aren’t any obstructions to speak of out on the flats and nowhere for the fish to go to wrap you up in weeds this lighter option should be all you’ll need, and you may see the number of bites you gets goes up.

As far a leader length goes I know a lot of people run the long ones, but as you’ve seen they have a downside. I learned a while back from a truly talented Mille Lacs backtroller that you don’t always need the long leader, especially when the wind is blowing, or if you need more control to keep the bait into the fish your sitting on. Since that leasson I rarely use a leader over 5-6 feet, and this year I’ve been catching more fish than the boats around me.

Hope this improves your results.

I’d be curious too hear a little more about vanish. I’ve been thinking about trying it on my lindy snells. Does it really seem too make a difference in the amount of bites you guys get using it? Normally i go with Berkely 6lb tournament.

I really like the abrasion resistance of Vanish, and the “Clearness” of it. I think it really makes a defference. Thicker line in finesse situations (To me) seems counter productive. The reason I use a finesse rig is because the fish are biting light. I kind of thought by the post that this is where you were going. If the bite is hot, I shorten snells considerably! When I run blades on a three way at Mille Lacs, I run less than 4′ snells. If the winds were as you said, and you knew there were fish there, ever think of corking them? It has proven to be a valuable tool this year on some of the mid-lake flats this summer.
Tuck

So if i pick up some Vanish say for fishing Winnie where im going in a couple weeks i should also go too 4 lb test? I would guess for fishing the mainlake bars theres no reason not too?

4lb or 6lb is really a matter of confidence and the situation your faced with. My first choice is 6lb. Howver, if I’m faced with a tough bite and very clear water I’ll drop to 4lb.

Winni is typically a little off color so you may not need to go down to the 4lb to get bit. The 6lb will likely produce fewer lost fish, too.

Good luck.

Kind of the reason I run Fireline most of the time. I will run Vanish also. I like to run Fireline for the no stretch, but also it gives me a thin diameter on my snells and the smoke is farily hard to see. I run either 4lb or 6lb snells fiving me like 1 or 2 lb diameter in a hard to see color. I really think that 6lb Firleine is a ton harder to break than 6 lb mono, but that is my opinion. I know when I jump to 8 lb Fireline, I straighten hooks out before I break that stuff. I know some people do not like the fact that Fireline has no stretch. You just need to have your drags set proprely and you need to tame down your hook sets compared to Mono. Ask Putz, he had this problem of not Muskie hook setting !

Otherwise I do like to use vanish at times. Just started testing it out this Summer and have not had a lot of time on the water with it, through different kinds of bites, to have a lot of input on it! Good Luck!

My 2 cents!

If you are going to run standard medium action, fast tipped rods, maybe you should stick to 6#. I personally like to use 4#. I have a high confidence factor in it. I have used it on all my rigs this year, and slip bobber set-ups as well. I have landed fish over 28″, and have not had a break-off.
Tuck

I dont have a lack of confidence in using 4 lb test. I’ve caught 27-28″ eyes on my ultra light while crappie fishing with no problem. Im not worried about breakoffs. I use medium light fast action tip St. Croix’s for rigging if that makes a difference. I’m thinking it might get the best results too go with the 4 lb. I know my friend will have basic 6 lb trilene right next too me so i’ll see if it makes a difference too use 4 lb vanish.

Just an FYI, my 4 pound statement was not universal, just for the conditions you had spoke of…