Mille Lacs Perch or Crappies question

Pretty sure I’m going to be up on ML in late Feb or early March..more likely March. Fished open water a lot and quite a bit for eyes thru the ice but never been up there late winter after walleye season closes to chase perch/crappies.

For perch would I be better served looking at the S end gravel, the mud or weedlines?
For crappies, are they into the bays by early March or still staging in deeper water at the mouth of bays?

Have a sled and portable so mobility isn’t an issue. Just figure as long as I’m going to be there I might as well try and catch some fish too!!
Thanks for any suggestions.

All I can say is good luck on both. Crappie fisherman are pretty tight lipped up there and are a tough nut to crack. Population is not large but the fish can be. Perch population for keepable fish has not been prevalent for several years. I would be in the south bays for both.
Tullibee might be a better option to target that time of year or a surrounding lake for panfish.

I would be on a surrounding lake for crappies. And the perch in mille lacs are thick but it’ll be a couple more years to be on consistent jumbo perch. You can catch a million right now 6 to 8 inch but thats not that exciting

Jumbo perch in Mille Lacs? That’s an endangered species.

Listen to BC.

The Lake a bit to the west may or may not hold some slabs.

Lots oF perch up there, size? Not so much. Would I sit there and catch 50 just to keep 10 10 inchers? Sure why not they are delicious

The crappie thing in Mille Lacs is really a mystery. I have heard rumors of enormous slabs in the southern bays and backwaters after ice out. In 2011 my Grandfather caught a couple back in Isle Bay that were 15 and 18 inches. He didn’t think an 18 inch crappie was anything special either.

I would focus on the pike that time of year if you don’t mind catch and release. There’s some hawgs out there. Must release all pike over 30” though.

gimruis wrote:

The <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie thing in Mille Lacs is really a mystery. I have heard rumors of enormous slabs in the southern bays and backwaters after ice out. In 2011 my Grandfather caught a couple back in Isle Bay that were 15 and 18 inches. He didn’t think an 18 inch <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie was anything special either.

Wouldn’t that be fun as heck to make a pattern of that bite

Bearcat89 wrote:

Wouldn’t that be fun as heck to make a pattern of that bite

He was a hard core walleye guy so panfish were inferior in his mind, especially on that lake. I tried to tell him that an 18 inch crappie was a freak but he just shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

I can neither confirm nor deny, but I found 13/14″ really thick crappies near Terrys Boat Harbor. Nots lots but the ones I caught we heavy.

The biggest crappie I have ever caught out of Mille Lacs was maybe 11.5″. I used to fish the boat channels in the Spring. After a few years of that and no giants to show for it, I just stick closer to home, and I only live 20-minutes from the lake.

gimruis wrote:

Jumbo perch in Mille Lacs? That’s an endangered species.

More rare than a Caucasian in a tv commercial.

Thanks for the info….don’t really care if I catch keepers or not…more about getting out. I’ll probably have kids and/or newbies with me, so more just looking for some cooperative fish to keep things interesting.

buckshot wrote:

Thanks for the info….don’t really care if I catch keepers or not…more about getting out. I’ll probably have kids and/or newbies with me, so more just looking for some cooperative fish to keep things interesting.

The lakes very close to mille lacs would be my 1st choice. Keep the kids busy with quality panfish and not any where near the hunt for them

gimruis wrote:

The <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie thing in Mille Lacs is really a mystery. I have heard rumors of enormous slabs in the southern bays and backwaters after ice out. In 2011 my Grandfather caught a couple back in Isle Bay that were 15 and 18 inches. He didn’t think an 18 inch <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie was anything special either.

Did you see a picture? I’ve heard about the elusive 17-18 inch crappie on Mille Lacs all my life and I’ve never seen any evidence they ever exist. I’ve never seen a mount or a photo. I’ve seen thousands of crappies in that lake, and I’ve never seen one over 15 inches. In fact, I’ve only seen 1 over 14.5 inches and it was a 15 incher I personally caught.

I’ve heard many people talk about 17 inch crappies yet no one can ever provide any evidence. What I have witnessed is someone catches a 14.5 inch crappie on Mille Lacs and think it’s a 16 or 17 incher. That’s very common. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but until I see a photo or a mount, or I catch one myself, I don’t believe it.

That being said, I wouldn’t waste my time targeting crappies. Even if you know where to catch them, it’s a crap shoot. They also aren’t as big as everyone thinks they are. If you want action and you’re committed to Mille Lacs, pick a southern bay and target pike. The amount of big pike in that lake is extraordinary and it’s a very underutilized fishery. Lots of fish in that 28-36 inch class with fish upwards and over 40 inches. Put out tip ups with sucker minnows, and if you want allot of action, drill holes and jig for all the 6-8 inch perch your heart desires.

Armchair Biologist wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>gimruis wrote:</div>
The <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappie thing in Mille Lacs is really a mystery. I have heard rumors of enormous slabs in the southern bays and backwaters after ice out. In 2011 my Grandfather caught a couple back in Isle Bay that were 15 and 18 inches. He didn’t think an 18 inch <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappie was anything special either.

Did you see a picture? I’ve heard about the elusive 17-18 inch crappie on Mille Lacs all my life and I’ve never seen any evidence they ever exist. I’ve never seen a mount or a photo. I’ve seen thousands of <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>crappies in that lake, and I’ve never seen one over 15 inches. In fact, I’ve only seen 1 over 14.5 inches and it was a 15 incher I personally caught.

I’ve heard many people talk about 17 inch <em class=”ido-tag-em”>crappies yet no one can ever provide any evidence. What I have witnessed is someone catches a 14.5 inch crappie on Mille Lacs and think it’s a 16 or 17 incher. That’s very common. I’m not saying they don’t exist, but until I see a photo or a mount, or I catch one myself, I don’t believe it.

That being said, I wouldn’t waste my time targeting crappies. Even if you know where to catch them, it’s a crap shoot. They also aren’t as big as everyone thinks they are. If you want action and you’re committed to Mille Lacs, pick a southern bay and target pike. The amount of big <em class=”ido-tag-em”>pike in that lake is extraordinary and it’s a very underutilized fishery. Lots of fish in that 28-36 inch class with fish upwards and over 40 inches. Put out tip ups with sucker minnows, and if you want allot of action, drill holes and jig for all the 6-8 inch perch your heart desires.

Only 1-2 more years until guys are “hammering Mille Lacs jumbo perch” …that with a tail pinch and some rounding hit 9 1/4″

^To be honest, I hope the perch fishery catches on and becomes a staple of Mille Lacs. IF (and I am not saying it has) the walleye population drops more over time and some of the other predators moderate, that place has the makings of being a perch machine…more than it ever has been. The clearing waters and increased weed growth at depth don’t seem to bother the perch and some of the classes coming out recently are impressive despite all the predation.

Armchair Biologist wrote:

Did you see a picture? I’ve heard about the elusive 17-18 inch crappie on Mille Lacs all my life and I’ve never seen any evidence they ever exist. I’ve never seen a mount or a photo.

No, I didn’t see a photo of it. I saw the real fish when he brought it home to eat it. So did my Father. He had a 5 gallon bucket and the tail of it was hanging over the top. I asked him how big it was and he showed me on The Judge.

As I previously stated, he was a hardcore walleye guy (and fished walleye touranments) so panfish like perch and crappies were an inferior species to him. So there was definitely not a photo taken.

buckybadger wrote:

Only 1-2 more years until guys are “hammering Mille Lacs jumbo perch” …that with a tail pinch and some rounding hit 9 1/4″

^To be honest, I hope the perch fishery catches on and becomes a staple of Mille Lacs. IF (and I am not saying it has) the walleye population drops more over time and some of the other predators moderate, that place has the makings of being a perch machine…more than it ever has been. The clearing waters and increased weed growth at depth don’t seem to bother the perch and some of the classes coming out recently are impressive despite all the predation.

I wouldn’t be against it. I miss the 90’s. The perch fishing was fantastic and I totally took it for granted. You could go into Eddies boat harbor in the fall and there would be thousands of perch swimming everywhere. I’m not sure if I ever went a day ice fishing in the 90’s where I wouldn’t catch at least a few keeper perch.

I wouldn’t hold my breath though. There’s been large year classes of perch just like this in the last 15 years and they seem to get cropped off by the time they are jumbo’s.

gimruis wrote:

No, I didn’t see a photo of it. I saw the real fish when he brought it home to eat it. So did my Father. He had a 5 gallon bucket and the tail of it was hanging over the top. I asked him how big it was and he showed me on The Judge.

If you personally saw it measured on a bump board I’m more apt to believe it. I’m still convinced that the talk of crappies over 14.5 inches in that lake is overhyped. I’ve probably heard over 50 guys talk about 17-18 inch crappies in that lake yet not a single one ever personally caught one, and no one can ever present a photo or a mount. I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone is referencing the same 2-3 fish.

Armchair Biologist wrote:

If you personally saw it measured on a bump board I’m more apt to believe it. I’m still convinced that the talk of crappies over 14.5 inches in that lake is overhyped.

Oh I’m sure its over hyped. I’ve never even caught one out of that lake, ever. Granted, I’ve never specifically targeted them, but at some point I should have stumbled into one by accident when I was perch, walleye, or smallmouth bass fishing over the years.

Couple dandies no tape measure was used.

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Bearcat89 wrote:

Couple dandies no tape measure was used

Dandies indeed. Did you catch those recently?

Why did you circle the 24 on the case of beer lol?

so it’s not confused with a 12 pack? 24 pack is longer than a 12 pack?

nice fish!

phishingruven wrote:

so it’s not confused with a 12 pack? 24 pack is longer than a 12 pack?

nice fish!

Yes sir this is exactly why.

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Couple dandies no tape measure was used

Dandies indeed. Did you catch those recently?

Why did you circle the 24 on the case of beer lol?

Just a few years back. Middle of the night. Back to back. Both rattle reels went at the same time

~14.5 inch fish. not quite 15’s.

Never have put a rhyme or reason to it. Tried to look for them after. Very limited success. But have done fantastic in areas that have common waters

phishingruven wrote:

~14.5 inch fish. not quite 15’s.

I’m not sure. Wish we would have measured. But we wanted to snap a pic and get them back in the water.
I do t even know how long a case of beer is 😆. But they were a fun surprise

copy/paste is wonderful

A box with a 24-pack of soda has the dimensions of 4.2 in x 15 in x 10 in.

phishingruven wrote:

copy/paste is wonderful

A box with a 24-pack of soda has the dimensions of 4.2 in x 15 in x 10 in.

Damn you, I give you props. That was a good one