Some friends and I are coming up on Thursday for our first trip to Mille Lacs. We’re finding it extremely difficult to find any current information on smallie fishing, as it seems all the reports focus on walleye. Since we’re really only interested in smallmouth (and pike/muskie), does anyone have any current reports or input for some newbies coming into the lake somewhat blind? Or can someone direct me to a good smallmouth resource online that gives current info?
Thanks for any help!
Last weekend I found them still on the rocks but out much deeper, 10-15′ of water. Use anything with red on it, they are spitting up a ton of crayfish that have changed color to almost a pure red color or brown red. I had good luck with orange also, but red seemed to be better.
The smallie bite has slowed down quite a bit for me. Still getting them, but not near the numbers as a couple weeks ago. The smaller fish seem to be more aggressive than the 17″ and up also. Most of my fish last weekend were in the 9-12″ range.
In the evening on a calm night I did find them up real shallow(3-4′) on the reefs feeding on mayflies/fishflies on top the water. If they hatch again this weekend that pattern should be good.
I’ll echo what Sticker wrote. Spot on what I was seeing last weekend. Still tossing pumpkin or green fleck tube jigs to these areas. If this is your first trip to Mille Lacs, start by fishing areas where there are marker buoys. (Marking shallow rock) Fish are off in the deeper areas. South end out of Isle are quite a few to work through. 3-mile has been consistent too. Big Point and Doe Island have been getting pounded, so those fish are getting tougher to move fish. (DNR Nets have been in those areas too)
Good luck!
-J.
Thanks for the input, all. We ended up catching about 120 fish in 3 days, with 83 of those coming on Friday. Our group had two over 5 lbs, and lots of 3-4 lb. fish. If it hadn’t been for a starter failing and me running out of my best bait, we would’ve had a lot more. Overall, it was a great time, and I’ll definitely be back (hopefully before the end of the year). Thanks again!
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