Mille Lacs Sunday NIght

Went up last night with my brother for what could have been the last trip of the season. It was a bit chilly out there (24 degrees) and things froze on us so you have to use good judgment and error on the side of caution this time of year, but we did manage a few fish.
Started in Casino Bay and right away got bit on a blue/chrome HJ12 only to find out it was a pike…they fight so much different than a nice walleye. We worked our up and then back down with nothing to show for our efforts so we moved south down the bay. Just past the landing as there is a steep break that we found some fish on. Firetiger HJ12’s ended up being the ticket last night with the cloud free sky. Every walleye we boated was on this bait. We worked the shoreline break between north of Indian Point and south of the landing for most of the night. We did head over to Indian to see if we could find a fat mama and my brother pounded a couple over there later in the evening. Definitely stretches of fishless time followed by frenzy’s were we would catch 2-4 fish in a row. Unfortunately we had the big motor working for us so it was hard to keep speeds down. Tried the old 5 gallon bucket trick off the front end and that helped a little but not quite enough I think. All in all, we ended up with 10 walleye (23, 24, and 25 being our biggest.) Not the best night ever, but we caught some fish. Here are some pics.

brothers 24

my 25

jake’s 23

Way to go on the nice eyes. I do think slower will get you some more bites with the water cooling. If one bucket is not quite enough, use two buckets. It might be the time to get a drift sock. I have a small one that I got free when I bought my last boats elect trolling motor. I only have my 115hp, and in idle, I can get down to 1.4 w/o going unto neutral. but again 2 buckets will be just fine, or troll backwards and still use your bucket.
Jack..

Nice fish congratulations

Fat and Sassy Thats all I can say. Casting … The same Blue and Chrome Rogues in

3 to 4 FOW letting them sit and they nail it

The bite continues just awesome



Way to go guys

Awesome fish as always John! You had one heck of the year with those big girls up there! Great Job! Maybe next year, we can swap some stories and do some open water stuff together! Keep ’em.

john was that you guys south of the landing on that break i was talking about? i saw someone over ther somewhat stationery for a while and wondered what they were doing. were you guys actually casting instead of trolling? i have always wondered why that wouldn’t work if you found a spot holding a lot of fish. that would elimate the motor problem. nice fish.

Yep … That was us . Actually I have about 10 spots I bounce back and forth on. I never know which one is going to hit and what time . I will spend time always looking for schools of bait fish ….. looking for funnel down areas because these schools of big walleyes will push them shallow. Until this year I had the same motor problem – Just couldnt get that 2 stroke to troll down like a 4 stroke. So I started casting late in the year – there is a time and place of coarse but can be a very good presentation. Rock Area’s such as Izatys, The Tundra, Father Hennipen State park (by the access), Doe Island, Northeast Hennipen Island, 3 mile, Flamingo, Pikes point, Shermans and Andersons reef all have exceptional Big fish potential. Some other keys on calmer nights – These fish are skidish !!!!! – No fireline (go green mono), No snaps (tie direct), and get rid of the manufactures split ring that comes attached. When the wind is up – all that doesnt seem to matter as much as they usually anything that moves.

All The Best

Big_Guppy
John Vaught
Champlin Mn