Mille Lacs memories

Sorry for the length of this post but I was just thinking of one of my Mille Lacs memories from my youth and I thought I’d scratch it down (I think of stuff like this when I can’t go fishing). You know are getting old when your childhood memories are suddenly 25-30 years in the rearview mirror.

Anyway, I’m wondering if anyone remembers this one (or has heard about it)… I’m thinking it was about 1977 or so and it was the 4th of July. A big storm system moved over the lake and the wind blew VERY hard for a long time (My memory as a 9 or 10 year old makes it seem like it was all day but I’m sure it wasn’t). The waves crashing into our shore on Wigwam Bay were as big as I have ever seen them on Mille Lacs. We almost lost our boat but several people from up and down the shoreline lent a hand and they were able to keep it on the lift. The interesting part came as the wind went down. The wind had blown so hard for so long, the water actually “piled up” on one side of the lake (this may have been due to severe air pressure differences around the lake too). For a few hours, the water by our shore would get deeper, then shallower – very much like a tide. Each cycle was a little less pronounced than the one before it, until the lake gradually returned to normal. At it’s height, our dock was actually under water, then the “tide” went out and the dock wheels were actually sitting on dry ground. I have distinct memories of crayfish scrambling to get to water and even a fish or two flopping on the dry lake bed. We had a Chesapeake that loved to jump off the dock and retrieve sticks or anything else that would blow in. She was in heaven after that storm, with the lake full of floating goodies. The funniest moment came when she did her usual plunge off the dock during one of the low water cycles (the water under the dock was less than a foot deep at the time) and she looked just like a bewildered cartoon character when she hit the solid bottom. Anyone who says a dog can’t show emotion did not see the confused look on her face as she stood there in ankle deep water at the end of our dock.

After this tide situation leveled out, we went for a drive and were shocked at the number of big trees that had toppled. We turned around and went back when we got to Shore Acres. The lodge roof had been blown right off the building.

I read Joe Fellegy’s book a couple years ago and he mentioned that storm and the sloshing water. I’m guessing this “tide” situation presented itself all over the lake. Has anyone seen this on Mille Lacs since?

Back a few years ago Bob Carlson and I were fishing a tourney in late June when a bad storm rolled in over Myr Mar.
We were in the middle of the lake fishing a hot flat at the time when the severe storm warning came over the radio at about 1:00 PM.
We made a move closer to the north end to have a quick exit off the lake (Barnacle Bills Harbor) in case things got dangerous. Needless to say, the storm hit, 70 MPH winds sweeping the lake in a clockwise circular direction from the northwest (The worst storms will usually come out of this direction). We made the run for the harbor just as the storm was hitting, we knew it was close because the shoreline was disappearing as fast as we were moving towards it. We docked and secured the boat just as it hit, Bob yells “HOOK, HIT THE DECK” as I turned around while falling for the floor of the boat, a wall of sand, leaves and various other debris is heading from the shoreline for me. We lay on the floor of the boat with our hands over our heads while being pelted by branches, sand and rain.
Then the wind subsided for a couple minutes and we made a break for the resort. When we got in the door the power was out, everyone is sitting around by candlelight. We stood around for about ten minutes watching it storm, raining minnows and leeches (cats and dogs, what’s the difference, a fishing reference). About this time we see two guys in a Lund Pro V come rolling in the harbor swamped. These two guys were white knuckled to say the least, very shook up. They got caught on the lake in the storm, not prepared to take action to get off the lake safely. They went north by compass point in the storm till they could see shore, then followed the shoreline until they found a harbor. We were talking to them when they came in, to see what the heck they were thinking, and found out they were fishing the tourney too. Their electrical systems had shorted out, and were about ready to beach it when they found the harbor. We were all standing around wondering what to do with our fish for weigh in when one of these guys goes “look at that guys boat, he beached it so hard he’s out of the water, his prop is sticking out”. We then noticed that the water level was dropping and all the boats were beginning to beach on the bottom of the harbor.
The storm had hit the lake so hard it was sucking the water out of the harbor and out into the lake.
This was so cool to watch!
Then it dawned on us about 15 minutes later that the storm surge was starting to come back in the harbor. Needless to say it was a mad scramble to the boats to keep them from going under the docks and being damaged.
This storm shut down the entire north end of the lake, multiple downed trees across the highway.
We were able to call in to tourney headquarters to let them know we were stranded on the north end. They said get your fish in as soon as possible.
We called our wives and made arrangements for someone to come get us with the trailer as the lake was nearly unnavigable.
Many people were injured this day riding that storm out and many boats damaged. Not to mention the property damage.
Many experienced anglers caught on the flats of the lake were quoted to seeing 10-12 footers in the middle of the storm.
The next day all returned to normal, but we’ll never forget this one!

Also sorry about the length.

Yes Hook that was one storm that I will never forget……
I attached a picture of the wall cloud that my wife Kath took that day.

Schnauzer, I remember the storm you mentioned. We were on the other side of the lake (south of Malmo). I remember watching a neighbor walk out 30 yards or so into what should have been the lake! All of the docks were out of the water. It was a freak of nature. Mille Lacs definately is its own little ecosystem.

A similar situation occurred in the 80’s. We were at Fisherman’s Wharf in the campground watching a wall cloud approach. There were reports of funnel clouds in the Brainerd area and this was crossing the lake toward us. Everyone was getting pretty nervous and most were in their vehicles waiting to see if they needed to evacuate the area. All of a sudden the wind came up strong and hail poured out of the sky. I was running to my truck when I looked out past Big Point and saw a tornado going down the lake toward the south shore. What a beautiful sight it was. Pure white as it sucked up lake water. Everyone came out of their vehicles , fishhouses and campers to get a good look. We watched this for a couple of minutes and saw when it hit land because the white funnel turned dark very quickly. After the storm passed the lake was doing the tide thing for a couple of hours. The water came so high it flowed over the banks in the harbor and when it receded it left boats on the ground , out of the harbor. That evening on the news there was video footage from a south shore resident who was filming as it came toward him. I remember someone in the background screaming at him to put the *&^%$%^&* camera down and get into the basement.
One of those memories that will last forever.
Dino

Here is another picture from that storm I thought you might like.

Wow, that picture is UGLY and beautiful at the same time. It is interesting to hear others have experienced the “tide” situation on Mille Lacs.

Two or three years ago I remember opener looked a little like some of these pictures. The waves were huge. We watched a guy go out on the lake from the east side and his motor was bouncing on the ground until he hit about ten feet of water.

Thanks for the stories. I fortunatly have never have been caught on the lake with a storm like this and hopefully never will.

I fished the big pond once as a teenager. Didn’t see the tide thing, but I saw how quickly some wind and rain change the lake.

I’m sensitive to rocking motions so big waves and I really don’t like each other. I wasn’t into the fishing on this particular day and a breeze was picking up so I was getting “sensitive” and thought I’d go down in the cuddy and count some sheepies. It was actually relaxing and I was fast asleep in no time.

When I awoke, the port hole was sky/water…………..sky…………water………sky……….you get the picture. I crawled out of there and to my surprise, I wasn’t bothered by the motion at all. But I WAS bothered by all the commotion of the grown ups in half-panic mode trying to get the bimini set up and snapped shut. Well, as it turned out, me and my best friend were the only two small enough to be nimble enough to complete the stuff over the cabin………….but with the waves reaching 3′, hanging on with one hand, trying not to slip, and snapping the last of the canvas………..well, that was just too much for a pair of young teens.

We figured our only chance of keeping it together was to hold on to it, hang on the rails for dear life, and motor for the shore……………..the one I couldn’t see! Oh, and no life preservers!

By the time we got back to Eddy’s, the waves were approaching 5′ and still growing. I don’t know how those guys pulled it off but they got the boat trailered under those extreme conditions and we weathered out the storm. Fishing was all done so we went for food and then………..oh yeah………….I got “land sick”! Go figure!

Hanging on in high wind, driving rain, and ever increasing waves size with one hand for at least 15 minutes was quite the experience……………and one I’m lucky to talk about!