Mille Lacs Crankbait/Planer Board Report 6.24

As everyone already knows on this site, the bite on Mille Lacs is unbelievable this year. I actually debated on whether or not I should send out this report because it’s the same old story – high numbers of big fish being caught on lindy rigs, spinner rigs, slip bobbers and crankbaits. However, I decided I would do it mainly because of the people that were with me in my boat and a few other things that I observed over the weekend. Some of my friends do not get a chance to fish that often, and I’m trying to promote this sport to them and their family/friends/children and hopefully they can pass it on to others.

I finally got the chance to spend some quality consecutive days on the big pond. We fished Tuesday night, Fri, Sat. and Sun. Total time on the water was 39 hours and every minute we were trolling deep diving crankbaits trying to find those suspended big females out in no man’s land.

We ended up catching and releasing over 100 walleyes in the four days of fishing. That may seem a lot, but when you break it down we were only averaging 2-3 walleyes per hour. We caught 12 fish under the slot limit and kept 8 for a fish fry. Many big fish came to the boat including three legal fish over the 28 inch mark (28.5, 28.5 and a 29.5). These three fish were released. Joe who caught the 29.5 is going to have a replica mount made. CONGRATS JOE on your biggest walleye to date and I truly respect your decision to release this awesome fish for someone else to catch!

I also observed a couple of things that I would like to share. We caught two DNR tagged fish over the weekend and three so far this year. I sent them all in to the MN DNR website so that they can manage this fishery even better. I record the number in my cell phone and save it, get home, go online and register it. It’s that simple. I believe this is a good thing and I will do my part in helping the DNR track this wonderful fishery. It’s also exciting to get information back from the DNR about when the fish was tagged and where it was tagged.

Over the course of 4 days, we only saw 2 dead walleyes floating in the water. Yes, I know that not all dead fish float. However, with all of the boats and fishing pressure, I thought that I would see a lot more than that.

I always wondered if the suspended fish that we were catching out in no man’s land were the same ones also feeding on the flats? Well I found out! We caught two fish with hooks already in them. One hook had an eight foot snell attached to it along with a swivel with no line attached to it at the other end. The person who lost this fish must have tied a weak knot at the swivel. I was able to remove the hook and my crankbait so that the fish could swim again.

Then it happened again! We caught another fish with a hook in it. This walleye had the hook partially swallowed and the line was cut off about two inches out of the fish. I could tell that the person who caught this fish decided not to risk pulling out the hook and did the right thing – just cut off your line, release the fish and retie another hook. I left the hook exactly where it was and released her as well. At the time we caught these two fish, the closest flat to us was 2 miles away. I believe these fish were pressured off the flats and were now out chasing tullibees in the open water. Just goes to show you that these fish cover a lot of open water.

Another big thrill of the weekend was when Joe was reeling in a 24 inch walleye about 20 yards behind the boat on the surface, with a huge muskie swirling around it! The muskie missed it on two different occasions and eventually gave up. I’m guessing the fish was in the high forties but I’m no expert judging these toothy critters. Again, another question of mine was answered! Just like walleyes, there ARE huge muskies swimming out in the middle of no man’s land as well!!! And on two other occasions I’ve also seen them swimming on the surface.

Deep Tail Dancers, Deep Thundersticks and the new X-Rap took the majority of our fish. Leadcore and braided line were about equal. Most fish were caught in the 22 – 26 foot range in 32-34 feet or water. However, in the morning and evening we picked up fish as high as 15 feet.

Take care and I hope to see you on the water!

Mike with a 28.5 incher

Tina with a 27 incher

Joe with a 28.5 incher

Joe with a tagged fish – 26 incher.

Mike with another big fish

Due to 6 doubles for the week – I even got to catch a few fish!

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Just like walleyes, there ARE huge muskies swimming out in the middle of no man’s land as well!!! And on two other occasions I’ve also seen them swimming on the surface.

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Shhhhhhhhhh!!! No more talk about that OK.

Another awesome report Grifter! Keep throwing these reports up because I learn something new every time. Last weekend I had the boards and leadcore packed, but never got to wet a line. I think this weekend I’ll have to get the dust off the trolling gear.

Great report Grifter What were your most productive speeds if I may ask?

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Great report Grifter What were your most productive speeds if I may ask?

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Most productive speed was around 2 m.p.h. However, on Sunday we hit a slow spell and I started to do some “S Turns”. Soon after, we got a hit on the outside board which in turn meant that board was going faster than 2 m.p.h. I increased all of our lines to 2.5 m.p.h. and we went on a hot bite catching 6 fish within 20 minutes zig zaging back and forth within the school. Sometimes the little things make all of the difference.

Grifter, how big are these “schools” of walleye your tolling through? 5,10,50,100 eyes? What would be your best guess? Matt

The more info the better. Thanks for posting!

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Grifter, how big are these “schools” of walleye your tolling through? 5,10,50,100 eyes? What would be your best guess? Matt

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Matt, this is a tough question to answer and I think it’s different every day.

My best guess is that there are typically small schools (10-20) of walleyes hunting in wolf packs out there.

On Friday my troll runs were pretty long – sometimes up to 2 miles. On Saturday, I basically stayed wihin a square half mile the whole time. The wind also has a lot to do with it in regard to how long my troll lines are. I typically never troll against it due to the fact the boards take a beating in the waves and thus it affects your swimming crankbaits below.

It’s like what Rob Stenger reported in his recent post. You pick up 2-3 fish in a small area and then nothing for another half hour or or even an hour. Go circle back around if it’s calm or if it’s windy, you pull up your lines, motor on back through the waves and make another run with the waves.

If the next trolling run does not produce as well as the first one, I will slide perhaps a 1/4 mile or so in either direction of my trolling line and run a parallel line. These schools of fish do move around and you try and stay on them.

Certain locations on Mille Lacs seem to hold these fish year after year. I’m not certain why. The key to the whole thing is you must rely of your graphics. If you are not marking baitfish out in the suspended water column along with mixed in arcs, you will not catch fish. Once you find good sign, you try and figure out what they want on this particular day. What crankbait, what color, what depth and what speed. I’m contantly changing it up trying to figure out the pattern and it varies from day to day or even hour to hour.

Awesome report Brad! I must of stumbled on one of your schools on Sunday, because I got a OVER fish. Your secret is out now.

Grifter – as usual, thanks for the great report. I am fired up for my trip on Sunday (weather dependent) with a donated guide trip for Jake Martell and his family celebrating his good news on the progress of his cancer treatments.

If you are out and see me in the YAMAHA boat, swing by and say ‘hi’!

ted

Good job Brad !!!

big g

Question I am a newbie to this lake but how deep are most of the fish?? Are they suspended or are they bottom hugging meaning do I need to use leadcore or would I be fine with braided?? Also would a large crankbait be needed in order to get down this far?? Thanks and good luck to all!!!

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Question I am a newbie to this lake but how deep are most of the fish?? Are they suspended or are they bottom hugging meaning do I need to use leadcore or would I be fine with braided?? Also would a large crankbait be needed in order to get down this far?? Thanks and good luck to all!!!

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Wallerboy,

When trolling crankbaits during the summer out in the main basin of the lake, you want to find arcs and balls of baitfish on your graph typically 4-8 feet off the bottom. I do not get too excited if I mark arcs on the bottom.

You also do not have to use leadcore (or snap weights) and you can use braided line only if you choose to use deep diving crankbaits such as reef runners, deep tail dancers, deep thundersticks and super rouges. These crank baits will get you down to 22-28 feet on their own.

It’s been mentioned on this site many times before – to find out depth curves for most of the crankbaits out there – get the book called “Precision Trolling – The Trollers Bible” by Steven Holt and Mark Romanack. They are now on their 8th edition.

Thanks, I really appreciate it and use the trolling book to a T as it is very helpful. Are there any particular colors or depends on the day like most lakes?? Thanks for the help and it should be a blast!

Colors vary from day to day, sometimes even hour to hour. Mix it up until you get a fish and then hopefully you have another one in your box!

Great job Brad!!!!!

Great report, I am going up tomorrow to give this a try.