Mille Lacs

Hey guys whats the story.Is the fall bite starting yet?Itching to travel and wondering if it might be worth the drive for a couple nights of Mille Lacs walleye fishing.Any chance of a season like 3 years ago or whats going on? 1000 mile drive and not real eager to make it if its not worth it.Could make the run any time during the next three weeks if it turned on.would even be willing to share a seat in my boat with someone for some good leads..Thanks guys..James and Tuck it was a blast with the kids a couple years back.

I am seeing reports of eaters, but not much for big fish. The size limit is up to 20″, so you will catch more meat fish. We will be up Oct. 20-24.

If you driving that far, I would wait til the week of the full moon, the fish this year want a moon. Years past a night like tonight (new moon) has been good/great, but this year for bigger fish the moon needs to be shining bright. At least that is whats happenining with me.

You may be rght Cal. Two weeks ago we were on fish but couldn’t get a bite until that moon was high in the sky.

dd

Full moon on the weekend of the 23-24TH, I will be there! Good luck

Would anyone be willing to share some tips and maybe a spot or two in private? I’m taking my daughter up to mille lacs this weekend and I’ve never fished it. She is just under 4 years old and loves to fish but we’ve been skunked the last few times and I want to keep her interest high. I’d really appreciate it!

The bays–Isle and Wahkon–are giving up pretty decent perch lately. She could catch a ton of little ones and then a few jumbos here and there. It’s a hit or miss deal, though. I like Wahkon bay because when I take my kids for perch, we can go into Walleye Dundees and get great hot chocolate and bacon cheesebugers.

That’s good advice Scott. Thanks! Hot Chocolate and cheeseburgers always help!

Any thoughs on bait? We’ll be bobber fishing as she thinks bobbers are pretty cool.

Alright I’ll through some info out there

I’ve got over 21 hours in of night trolling, and 4 fish to show for it.
So far, The moon has to be out. I also think the water is a bit too warm yet.

I’ll keep on impatiently waiting for the girls to roam in though. The Lake isn’t quite ripe yet.

I believe the fish that have been caught so far in the 3-10′ range are the native fish that are there in the evenings all year long.

So unfortunately, no the transition has not even started yet in my eyes. Midlake structures still appear to be putting out good fish. We may be just seeing the beginning with some fish coming in at the 10-12′ range, but those too may be resident fish.

in the bays it’s like icefishing from your boat, look at some of your jigs, kastmasters, Go Devils and use pieces of fathead or a whole one under a bobber. The pods of larger jumbos cruise around, just like ice fishing…keep moving. We look for gulls crashing the schools of minnows, it’s usually perch pushing a school of bait and they are usually bigger perch.

I would agree. Waiting until the closer to the full moon may be your best bet.

If I was going back up now I would stick it out on the windiest part of the lake for night trolling. Calm nights there is nothing special going on many areas. Throw in a day or 2 of waves hitting a spot and the fish that are there may just be a little more active. Resident fish that is like Matt mentioned. The girls just haven’t seemed to have shown up for the party yet.

Everything Matt, Mike and Cal said about the moon being out and sky high has been true for myself this year also. The best bet is going to be hitting the wind blown shore lines and this should produce some fish. Buuttt, when I look back at some of the notes I’ve made over the last few years of nite trolling, the new moon has been some of my most productive nights, but usually not till the WE hours of the morning. So don’t let the new moon discourage you.

My bet is full moon and into Nov. the big girls will start to move in. We need some cold weather. Very similar to last year. Really didn’t pick up for big fish until early Nov. for my boat.
Missing the Oct. weather and bite we are all so used to.

I also agree with everything here in this thread. I’d hold off on a 1000 mile drive right now. However for us guys with a 2 hour drive, it’s not horrible, not great. Get wind in the same direction for a couple days straight and it’s game on – night or day. If you get into a good perch bite, that can make the trip too.

Looking forward to the full moon and some cool weather.

-J.