Mille Lacs-Isle Area- A little help

All right, I have waited as long as I could. I am within our one week window for me & my boys (8 of us) to head up to Dickie’s (Isle)(we have rental there and ports in the truck) for some lip RIPPIN! Was looking for a little heads up for spots to set up camp. One guy that is going has run tips in Cove Bay with some decent success. Probably will wind up staying in the SE corner of the lake & focusing on the structure in that area. Just seeing if Otto’s, Half Moon or Hawkbill are holding any fish. There is a TON of stucture in that corner of the lake and would like to get off the beaten path a little bit.
Thanks for any help in advance……Jim Cunningham

I’m going up this weekend around Hawkbill and will get you a report when I get back either Monday or Tuesday. Last I heard the bite was moving deeper. I moved my house out Sunday to the bottom edge of some structure in 24FOW, but have not dropped a line there yet.

Jack,
Look forward to your report after you get back. Thanks for the help. Just hoping the ice holds up to this heatwave we are having. Good luck this weekend…May your bobbers go deep & your flags go HIGH!!!!
Jim

Jim, I read a report soemwhere on here from Bobbber that said Mille Lacs is not quite getting those high temps that are being reported. No ice is ever safe, but it sounds like if you know where the pressure ridges are, you’ll be ok. Just pay access fee @ a resort stay on the roads and you should be fine. Good Luck. I suggest looking for Bobbers Ice Reports. He seems to give something a few times a week. Good Luck.

Rob, Thanks…..We have a rental set up for the weekend. Then we have portables too. Yes, Bob does do a good job with his posts. I tried to hire him for a day or so while we were up there but it sounds like everyone is gonna be tied up with the In-Depth Angling get together up at Hunter’s…We’ll manage though. This is our 6th year for this group of guys & we somehow manage to ice a few over the weekend. Thanks for the tip & if you hear anything else, gimme a shout……Thanks a ton!!!!!!!!!…..Jim

You should stop by the GTG if you are on the lake!!

Walk in to Hunter’s, say your name is Kooty, and ring the bell!

Is there something about “Kooty” that I should know????

Well, the rocks are not as hot a bite as they were a couple weeks ago. The sand/gravel (sand/rock) transition areas south of Hennipen Island are doing much better. 1 house I heard of had 15 walleyes 1 night with a very nice 30+” fish in the mix, which was released. All these fish came out of 28′, and heard reports of the same success coming from 24′. Shiners on plain hooks about 3′ above the bottom was the winning set up, but some fish are also being caught with perch pattern jigging spoons with a minnow head on it, worked real slow.

Good Luck out there.

Jack,
Thanks for the update. Sounds like the bite has been pretty decent though. Seems like the 25′-30′ hot zone is pretty consistant all over the lake. Like the sounds of that 30″ monster though. sounds like a big ol’ girl. Talk to Cindy (at Scenic Bay) at she said the houses (rentals) were over by Malone Island of which they did pretty good out of this last weekend. How were the ice conditions? Sounds like if you are careful, the SE corner is pretty open to truck travel. Will send the short straw guy ahead of us with the auger..ha ha
Thanks again for the information. Will put it to good use. Gonna make it to Isle by noon on Thursday and git after them from there…………..Jim
Ps. You gonna make it up this weekend??