Who are the best guides to rent over night fish houses from on Mille Lacs? My brothers and I are getting our father a weekend on the ice for Christmas. We are more or less looking for a home base so that we can use the rattling wheels at night and take our four wheeler out during the day to explore. We would like to target walleyes, perch and possibly northern pike. Any recommendations? Thank you!
#1: Appeldorn’s Sunset Bay. They have some nice & new shacks in a great area for the fish you’ve listed. Roads usually out to the Highway Bar(mud). Amazing hospitality!!
#2: Macs Twin Bay. They also has a lot of area to fish and some nice houses as well. Access from their roads will get you out to the gravel bars most years.
#3: Hunter’s Point. They usually have roads out to the Mud which would be nice for your exploring. But they are probably one of the busiest places on the lake.
Those are the 3 I would choose from.
Appreciate the info. So many to choose from, it’s nice to be able to narrow down the search!
What IceNEyes suggested would be the top 3, at least as far as nice houses go. Not sure if cost is a factor…it is for some. It’s worth it to me to have the indoor bathroom. Some can get by without. Most the west side resorts seem to be below the higher standards of the east side resorts. You get what you pay for.
Also, those 3 places has a bar/restaurant right on shore which can be an added bonus. I might throw Lyback’s on the south shore in the mix but no onsite restaurant.
Are they all pretty good about getting you on fish? I mean obviously there are a lot of factors that go into catching fish at any given time during the season but I just want to make sure we go with someone that gives us the best chance to be successful. That’s probably the most important factor. We are all fairly experienced ice fishermen, we have just never fished Mille Lacs before.
Just to clarify, the Resorts up there rent houses. They don’t come with a guide. You would need to hire a guide on your own. The resorts may or may not be able to put you on fish. You will want to be working lines at peak times. Sun up and sun set. Mid week is typically better fishing. (And less expensive.)
Good Luck and book as early as you can.
-J.
FYI – I moved this post to the Mille Lacs forum page. Hope to get more replies before this hits page 2 of the ice fishing forum.
-J.
IceNeyes recommendations are spot on. I’d just add if you plan on running and gunning during the day I’d look at Hunters Point, Red Door or Twin Pines since they usually have access to the mud flats. We stayed at Appledoorns, and they were great, but they have a big breaker most years that prevent you from accessing the mud flats (or at least did the year we went).
Thanks Jon!
Appreciate the input BigWerm.
Are they all pretty good about getting you on fish? I mean obviously there are a lot of factors that go into catching fish at any given time during the season but I just want to make sure we go with someone that gives us the best chance to be successful. That’s probably the most important factor. We are all fairly experienced ice fishermen, we have just never fished Mille Lacs before.
Like Jon Jordan said, you’ll just be renting a sleeper house not a guide but maybe you already know that.
Most all the resorts putting houses out have years of experience in their operations and have learned the prime spots to place their houses. Also worth noting is time of year. Early on, most all will have their houses in close and then continually push them out farther as the season progresses.
And then of course it’s impossible to predict the best spots at any given time. Typically once you can access the flats is about the time they start to turn on out there. Last year, I heard more reports of the bigger walleye being caught in shallow rocks after dark while most were out chasing them on the flats. One area that produced well last year was on the SW side…Rocky Reef area.
You never know for sure. You can explore with your wheeler during the day, but you’ll just have to be patient at night where your rental is set up. Have a beverage and get the cards out… 
Well guys, we ended up renting from macs twin bay the last 3 days. The weather was AWFUL so we weren’t able to get out and move around but we okay considering! Thanks for all of the helpful info! Check out the catch we had a blast! Ended up catching 8…
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Well guys, we ended up renting from macs twin bay the last 3 days. The weather was AWFUL so we weren’t able to get out and move around but that’s okay considering! Thanks for all of the helpful info! Check out the catch we had a blast! Ended up catching 8…
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Nice Work!! 8 is way more than you’d catch sitting at home on the couch! Looks like you got some nice ones too!
Was there heat in the shack? You guys sure are bundled up for being inside! 
all but one of our fish were caught on tip ups outside of our shack. We literally had to chisel through ice once the flags went up. Below zero wind chill…
Just a note about Mac’s Twin Bay..
We (my teenage son and I) fished the 11th and 12th.
They had just plowed the road out 6 miles, and moved most of the shacks farther out to the gravel. We got 15 all inside the house.
And we are not experienced fishermen.
Two guys who rented the same day as us got 18, Friday alone.
Nice! You hit it perfectly. They were plowing those roads tuesday and Wednesday. A lot more room to spread out around the gravel. The first couple roads were pretty congested when we were there. I would be shocked if there was a better road system than macs twin bay. Their combination of well groomed roads and getting you on structure is hard to beat. Very accessible.
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