Mille Lacs help – 9/21-9/24

Hello everyone – looking for some help here….

The old man and I are thinking about trying to get away for a quick fishing trip from 9/21-9/24 and have heard some great things from Mille Lacs this year. Neither of us have ever fished this huge water and I have no clue where to start. Can anyone offer any advise on what we can expect? What side of the lake would be best, where to stay, launch, etc.? What do you think the bite will be like at this time? I have read several reports of some big girls coming off cranks, but not sure if that will continue as the fall patterns start to emerge.

I am hoping our rig will be okay for this big lake, although it will be much different than we are used to (we are from Iowa!) We have an Alumacraft Tournament Pro 175 with a 150 Opti and a 9.9 Pro Kicker. We do have planer boards and one leadcore setup (and am thinking of getting another…I’m a fan so far!) but am still pretty new to both.

Basically I have no clue where to start and what to expect. Any help is greatly appreciated regarding where to stay, what the bite will be like, GPS points?, basically anything. I’ve heard such great things about Mille Lacs and have been itching to give it a try.

THANK YOU!!!

-Mark Krakau

Hey Mark welcome to IDA!

You’ll find we have an enormous resource when it come to Mille Lacs Lake. Guys here are never short for answers and you should be able to find everything you need.

Welcome Mark. You should find the info you need here to get you pointed in the right dirrection for a good trip. The dates you picked should be perfect for some good action. As far as technic long lineing crankbaits at night is what seems to be most popular on the site here. There should still be some guys out bobber fishing at that time also.
Your boat should be fine. Make sure the kicker motor is running good. If your trolling it will most likely run far more than the main motor.
Linecounter reels work great for longlineing. I like one of the power braids on mine. Mono will work also but it is a little harder to feel if your lure gets fouled.
As far as lures go bring a good selection of shallow runners. 12# husky jerks, shad raps and shallow running shad raps, suspending rouges are just a few that work. Look at liprippers post from last night he has a photo of what worked last night.
Also try doing a search of reports from last year or the year before on this site. Tons and tons of good info there.
There are plenty of good places to stay on the lake. Check out hunters advertizing at the top of the page for starters. Where you stay and where you fish might not be the same. The wind dirrection may dictate where you fish. It can get pretty ugly fishing on the windy side of the lake at night. The night bite happens all around the lake.

If you dont have a lake map chip for your GPS pick up a good map when you get up here. LakeMaster makes a good one with top notch detail.

You should not have much use for lead core or planner boards unless you want to use them. The trolling and bobber bite are not the only thing going. Simple longlineing crankbaits on the shoreline should produce well for you.

I just want to add to Mike W’s post about GPS. If you plan on coming up to the ‘big pond’ (or anywhere in MN) again, the LakeMaster chip in your GPS is an invaluable tool (about $100). 1 foot contours with more info than a paper map has for Mille Lacs (IMO).

Also one other thing some “first timers” do is hire a guide for the first night to kinda get a feel of night fishing…Its completly different…..Its always better to be safe than sorry!
The lake is tremdously low right now, and can be very dangerous to operate at night! Yes the chips will help to determine location, but remember those chips are not accurate if the water level is low!!!!

Welcome to IDA!!!!!

Rob, brings up a good point about the lake water level.

I would guess that it is down about 15-18 inches from this spring..I know that I will not beable to get out of our harbor here on the eastside if we have any kind of south/west wind. Just out of the mouth of the harbor it’s only 12-15 inches deep……..with any waves……you would be on the bottom!! I know that the access at the resort is ok…….but some of the public ones are no longer deep enough to launch any bigger boats.

Under the current conditions, Mac’s Twin Bay is the best ramp available on the entire east side of the lake.

Mark,
Welcome to IDA. this is a great site.
you can pull up Mille Lacs-Walleye forum reports from last Fall (Oct), there is alot on there, tips, and big pics.

For a first timer, I’d give Chris Tuckner, or Derek Johnson a call and see if they have any openings. They really know the lake, and can get you OFF on the right foot, with info you can use the rest of your life.
good luck, take a camera, and report back.
Jack..

Welcome to IDA Mark

Nothing new to add except for good luck and just keep checking the forum and reading the Fishing Reports from the Pond.

Thanks everyone! I’ve been reading reports on this site for about a year and am very impressed with how much info everyone is willing to share (and the quality of fish everyone is catching ). Mille Lacs has been on my list of places to go for awhile.

A couple of questions:
1) Are there many hazards that we need to consider while motoring on the lake? I’m surprised the lake is that low!
2) What will the day bite be like? Any suggestions on where and what to use?
3) It obviously sounds like the full moon is the time to be there, do you see increased results with a new moon as well?

Any more suggestions on where to stay? Will we be able to put in at Hunters? I’m putting some thought into hiring a guide. We’ve never gotten one before, but can understand how one would be helpful for the night fishing.

Thanks again!
-Mark Krakau

Actually, I think the guide thing might be better for the day fishing as the day bite can take much more presision in both location and presentation than the night trolling. And one can learn the night areas easier in daylight than being intro’d to them in the dark. The day bite at this time of year can be very shakey yet can be very good IF one is “on” it. Just my opinion/thoughts.

Steve Fellegy

218-678-3103

Quote:

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1) Are there many hazards that we need to consider while motoring on the lake? I’m surprised the lake is that low!

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Yes! Low water, high water, don’t matter. There are plenty of hazards to run into!

I’m on the same page as Steve here. Very leery about sending people out on the lake at night who are unfamilliar with the lake. It’s just not a smart move in my opinion. Be very carefull. A wrong move can be fatal.

-J.

Hey Mark!
I’m no night trolling expert, but I know that people are up there and catching fish at night all through the fall. My experience is that the night of the full moon seems to be less productive than the nights before and after. Not accounting for cloud cover it appears to me that the actual full moon is too bright and a waxing or waning moon is better. Good luck out on tthe pond sir!

dd

Thanks for the plug Jack!
Speaking for me, I have dates some dates open for the week after the full Moon in October. I let the customer decide which side of the lake they care to fish. I have had folks that wanted to only fish the east side, because that is where “Their” cabin is, and want to see how we do it at night there. Others want the thrill of catching true trophy fish with regularity. Then we may go to a different part of the lake. We will have 3 IDAGuide’s boats on Mille Lacs this fall. I will be up there every weekend in September and October starting this weekend. (As soon as the carpet is done in the cabin! )
Feel free to get a hold of us online or give me a call if it is a short notice deal.
Tuck

Got back from our trip on Sunday and thought I would post how we did. As most of you know….the weather stunk! I can deal with wind and cold, but didn’t need it to rain the entire time! Regardless, we didn’t go up there not to fish.

Went out Thursday afternoon/Friday morning with Steve Fellegy and fished the north side. It was a pleasure being in the boat with Steve and learning about the lake and fishing in general. The amount of knowledge and past experiences that he has is amazing. I really enjoyed hearing some stories about fishing various waters on the tournament trail. As for the fishing….we didn’t get the numbers that I was hoping for as the bite seemed to slow, but the fish that we did catch were nice! Several fish from 20-23 1/2″ and my personal best to boot! We neglected to measure it, but we all were guessing roughly 27″ and probably around 7lbs?

After our trip ended with Steve, dad and I headed to the east side and fished flamingo reef and surrounding areas with limited success Friday evening/Sat morning but did pick a couple up. The wind was out of the N-NE so we wanted to stay in some waves, but the walleyes didn’t cooperate.

Sat. afternoon/evening we went back to the north end since we were staying at Red Door and didn’t have much luck on the east side. We got into them for a while before the sun went down on bobbers and probably caught a dozen fish before we started trolling at night. Only picked up one ‘eye while night trolling on a #12 Husky Jerk (clown) and also picked up a bonus fish. My dad hooked into a big muskie and had quite a battle before getting it to the boat. The problem was that since we are walleye fisherman, we didn’t have a big enough net to land the thing!! It was pretty tired after making 4-5 runs, but I didn’t attempt to grab it with my hand (although I am now regretting not trying!) I would guess that it was around 45″ and 30lbs or so? The picture doesn’t do it justice! Ran into Mike W at the ramp – it was good meeting you, thanks for all the help!

I really enjoyed my first experience on the ‘Big Pond’ and can’t wait to try it again. Hopefully we can get some better weather! Didn’t get the numbers I was hoping for, but can’t say we didn’t catch fish. Steve – thanks for putting up with us for a day and being so flexible with our schedule. I really enjoyed sharing a day on the water with you!

Can’t get my pics to post and not sure how to reduce the file size, if someone could educate me I will put them up. Good luck the rest of the year! Wish I could get back up!

-Mark Krakau

Email them to my address below and I will put them up.

Sounds likeyou still made the best of it with 2 fish being personal bests???

Thank ME for putting up with YOU? That’s funny! I am the one that owes you two the big THANK YOU for being so tough and patient in those conditions. It was brutal! Putting up with 20-30 mile per winds and non-stop rain with no more than a fish per hour is (or less)is a testimony to the passion you have toward walleye fishing. I always say “you gotta be awful mad at those fish to go out in those conditions!” THANK YOU!

And glad to hear you finally were able to put together some fair numbers later on Saturday. The morning was maybe even better on those “spots”. I was gonna get up early and steal your GPS before you left so you couldn’t keep those numbers but I blew it! Now I will have to send a hit man to Iowa! lol (get the drift!lol)

The key thing you learned was THE key word. “ENVISION”

Keep a tight line….

Steve Fellegy
218-678-3103

Marks 27″ er. Congrats & Awesome fish Mark.

His Dads Muskie.