Mille Lacs Smallmouth

canoebasser wrote:

No you cannot target a species out of season.

Ya except the season isn’t closed. Its only closed for harvest. If you can’t target a species that is open for catch and release then it would have been illegal to fish Mille Lacs this ENTIRE season for walleyes and to target bass for catch and release from May 9 – May 23. I targeted bass between May 9 – May 23 and walleyes on Mille Lacs multiple times this season (other than July) and it was all for catch n release. Carey Ann is feeding you a line of BS, canoebasser.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>canoebasser wrote:</div>
No you cannot target a species out of season.

Ya except the season isn’t closed. Its only closed for harvest. If you can’t target a species that is open for catch and release then it would have been illegal to fish Mille Lacs this ENTIRE season for walleyes and to target bass for catch and release from May 9 – May 23. I targeted <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>bass between May 9 – May 23 and <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes on Mille Lacs multiple times this season (other than July) and it was all for catch n release. Carey Ann is feeding you a line of BS, canoebasser.

X2 – Carey Ann is correct – You can’t target a species out of season – The key is Small Mouth are not out of season. They are just in the Catch and released season, So Target away !!!!

Mille Lacs has some confusing regs don’t get me wrong, but you can definitely target and catch Smallies now. Just can’t keep those tasty critters anymore.

Ripjiggen wrote:

Mille Lacs has some confusing regs don’t get me wrong, but you can definitely target and catch Smallies now. Just can’t keep those tasty critters anymore.

Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

I think he was being sarcastic but ya they’re not very good. I can think of several other species of fish that are abundant around here that taste much better including pike which actually do need to be thinned.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

I think he was being sarcastic but ya they’re not very good. I can think of several other species of fish that are abundant around here that taste much better including pike which actually do need to be thinned.

Yeah i assumed the same thing. I was just curious. I bet a small one out of cold water taste just as good as most any other fish.

Yeah i assumed the same thing. I was just curious. I bet a small one out of cold water taste just as good as most any other fish.
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I ate smallie for a couple days back in college. Up on the Gunflint and couldn’t catch a walleye to save our lives. We thought it tasted great. I am positive I could fry up one and a walleye and people wouldn’t know the difference. I haven’t kept one since though. not sure why, I guess we catch plenty of walleye and panfish to be satisfied.

Bearcat89 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Mille Lacs has some confusing regs don’t get me wrong, but you can definitely target and catch Smallies now. Just can’t keep those tasty critters anymore.

Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

They are what I use for my Cerviche recipe.

Carey Ann must be a politician. You notice she did not directly answer the question. Her answer was true as far as it went.

slawrenz wrote:

Carey Ann must be a politician. You notice she did not directly answer the question. Her answer was true as far as it went.

“if you accidently catch a small mouth just throw it back, but you cannot be actively trying to catch small mouth. If you continue to catch small mouth, we recommend moving to a different fishing spot.”

…seems to me she answered pretty clearly. Anyone give her a call back? Curious what she says.

I am the OP so here is a follow up report on my Mille Lacs fishing trip.

Fished with two other guys on 9/11 (good thing is was while the season was still OPEN :-))

We fished deeper rock piles from about 3 hours and never had a bit. Now I admit, we did NOT have any live bait so we were using drop shots, jigs and plastic, swim baits, even some deep crank baits, but we did not get a hit. Weather cooperated pretty well. After trying the small mouth without a bite, we went back into some of the bays for large mouth and had the same problems. End result – 3 guys, 5 hours, 0 fish. Oh well – that is fishing.

I drove up the Walker after that and fished some smaller lakes for and in two days caught 11 fish. Mixture of bass and northerns. Even caught 2 SMALL MOUTH.

ClownColor wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>slawrenz wrote:</div>
Carey Ann must be a politician. You notice she did not directly answer the question. Her answer was true as far as it went.

“if you accidently catch a small mouth just throw it back, but you cannot be actively trying to catch small mouth. If you continue to catch small mouth, we recommend moving to a different fishing spot.”

…seems to me she answered pretty clearly. Anyone give her a call back? Curious what she says.

For crying out loud, this is absurd.

She’s the “Information Consultant – Office of Communication and Outreach”…and she’s giving out this information?

Oh gee, oops.

Rick Janssen wrote:

I am the OP so here is a follow up report on my Mille Lacs fishing trip. End result – 3 guys, 5 hours, 0 fish. Oh well – that is fishing.

Rick, sorry to learn you washed out. I do know a couple guys on this forum had great success this past weekend with multiple big SM bass boated. Not sure, maybe they went “live”

By the way what I meant about her answer is that she used the wording “Open Season” not “Harvest” like in the regs. You can fish for smallies because the season is open, you just cannot harvest them.
as the regs said

We actually boated over 50 Smallies in 3 hours on Sunday with the biggest being over 21″. Took my daughter’s boyfriend out (never caught one before) and kept him pretty busy.

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Bearcat89 wrote:

Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

I’m not a big fan. Walleye, pike, sunfish, and crappie are way better. Smallmouth are only a touch better than a largemouth, which means they’re still at the tail-end of the pecking order.

Not to mention, those big ML smallies are 15-plus years old.
#FREETHEFIGHTER

Bass Thumb wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Are they tasty ? Never tried it.

I’m not a big fan. Walleye, pike, sunfish, and crappie are way better. Smallmouth are only a touch better than a largemouth, which means they’re still at the tail-end of the pecking order.

Not to mention, those big ML smallies are 15-plus years old.
#FREETHEFIGHTER

Well you can’t keep one in season over 17 inches so don’t think you have to worry about that.
#FILLETTHEFIGHTER

Sounds like Carey Ann doesn’t want people fishing her lake

Maybe she has a pet one named “Brownie”!!

Bass Thumb wrote:

Not to mention, those big ML smallies are 15-plus years old.

A biologist at the bassmaster elite there in 2015 told me it took a bass 10 years to reach trophy caliber of 20 inches/5 pounds this far north. The reason there is so many old, large smallmouth in ML is because for many years the only harvest was 1 over 21 inches. A 17 inch smallmouth out there is still probably 5-7 years old.

Freethefighter

I was up on Mille Lacs yesterday with a good buddy chasing smallies.. It never disappoints. I think our average fish was close to 20 inches. It was amazing as always.. Think we had 3 hit or go over 21 and more than I will admit to that were over 20. It ruins a guy that goes fishing for small mouths anywhere else.

buschman wrote:

I was up on Mille Lacs yesterday with a good buddy chasing smallies.. It never disappoints. I think our average fish was close to 20 inches. It was amazing as always.. Think we had 3 hit or go over 21 and more than I will admit to that were over 20. It ruins a guy that goes fishing for small mouths anywhere else.

It really does. I will be up battling the wind again this weekend. Sunday we had a day of not huge numbers but lots of bigger fish. And of course the bonus walleyes.

buschman wrote:

I was up on Mille Lacs yesterday with a good buddy chasing smallies.. It never disappoints. I think our average fish was close to 20 inches. It was amazing as always.. Think we had 3 hit or go over 21 and more than I will admit to that were over 20. It ruins a guy that goes fishing for small mouths anywhere else.

Drop shot or ned rig? I had trouble with both of those presentations last week but I got some ripping a perch colored jerk bait.

Drop shot or ned rig? I had trouble with both of those presentations last week but I got some ripping a perch colored jerk bait.
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Drop shot for me has been better then the ned. If your not finding aggressive fish within a few minutes, then move. Pretty much if you mark them you catch them

Bearcat89 wrote:

Drop shot for me has been better then the ned. If your not finding aggressive fish within a few minutes, then move. Pretty much if you mark them you catch them

Great thanks Bearcat

Are those fish still running deep? Been chasing musky all season and haven’t been up to ML since June

We were fishing 15-25 FOW

Heading up Wednesday…pumped for the fall smallie bite

62 Saturday. North end.

When it’s on its on

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I guarantee that no one on here can tell smallmouth from walleye on the table. I’ve done taste tests using catfish and walleye and of the dozen or so walleye snobs to accept the challenge zero have passed. Many favored the catfish.

In my opinion smallmouth is much, much more difficult to distinguish from a walleye. I can for sure tell the difference between catfish and walleye….It’s pretty easy…but smallmouth? I doubt it.

$100 challenge? Ten pieces of fish numbered on ten different paper plates. One is smallmouth, one is walleye. I’ll even make it easier for you by giving you one. So all you have to do is get 9 out of 10. Bring a buddy and he can watch me fry up walleye in one pan, smallmouth in the other, he can write the answer key as to which is which, and I’ll trust him to not do any funny business like sending him signals….might have him watch behind a curtain or something to ensure that I’m not switching fish pieces prior to his buddy eating them.

I have no doubts about anyone failing so I’m not worried. Hell, if we can get five people to pony up a hundred bucks I’d do up to five, have five Benjamins ready to be shilled out in case I somehow lose, and I’d be willing to do more but after five it’s too much stuff to set up logistically and keep straight so I’ll cap it at five but might do more than one session since I like money. You have no chance. Fish will be breaded using original shorelunch and fried. About as standard as it gets so if smallmouth is so inferior then I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of takers?

This would take place near Garrison on a Saturday.

Who wants to step up and put their money where their mouth is? Who has a hundred bucks to lose?! Step right up! Step right up!

joneser wrote:

$100 challenge? Ten pieces of fish numbered on ten different paper plates. One is smallmouth, one is walleye.

Fish will be breaded using original shorelunch and fried. About as standard as it gets so if smallmouth is so inferior then I’m sure I’ll have a bunch of takers?

This would take place near Garrison on a Saturday.

Who wants to step up and put their money where their mouth is? Who has a hundred bucks to lose?! Step right up! Step right up!

Sure…”I’m your huckleberry”

How about next Saturday? I’m near Garrison, so what time?

Of course I’ll first need to see the smallmouth (in the whole)…and the walleye too before you fillet them.

Just trotting out a couple baggies of fillets for this contest is potentially “rigged” before it even gets started.

Up to you how you’re gonna bring that whole smallie to our little “betting” table.