Southerner Headed North

Hello All,

Every year my son and I take a trip up north to experience some smallie and walleye fishing that has become a drug. Usually I go to the northwoods of Wisconsin, but this year I’m headed to Minnesota. I’m going to spend 2 days on Mille Lacs and am staying at the Grand Casino. So I’m requesting a little assistance for two questions:
1. Being from Florida which is open for business with most areas not requiring a mask, what can I expect up there? Not looking for a political answer, just the overall regulations and attitudes in and around the lake. Are restaurants open, do most people wear masks, etc. Last year in Wisconsin, the southern part of the state was completely different from the northern. Had a great time.
2. I’ll be on Mille Lacs the 24th and 25th. Having never been on the lake, where should I start? I only artificial and enjoy in order of preference, smallies, largemouth and walleyes. Not looking for coordinates or community holes lol, just good general information (spawning flats, rocky areas, etc). I’ll be in a Ranger 520 so unless the wind in blowing 20, I should be good most anywhere on the lake. I choose the Grand Casino since there’s a ramp right across the street.
I’ll be happy to share info in Florida in exchange for those who visit the central part of the state. Here’s 2 my son caught on consecutive weekends. Thanks.

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First thing I would do is stay at a resort that is a small business, not a tribal owned casino…..but that is just me. You will get little to no help from the casino, the smaller resorts will give you good advice. Good luck.

Garrison reef is a terrific place for walleye and small mouth. It is close to shore and the boat launch in Garrison. It is also a huge piece of structure. Get a good map of the lake if you don’t have a chip for your locator. If the wind picks up,three mile is a really good spot on the east side. For largemouth,try one of the many small lakes around mille lacs. Two good lakes are Borden and Farm Island. Down where you are staying, there is a really good reef by rainbow island. Bring a mask wherever you go. Usually need to wear one but most bars and restaurants,once inside,no mask.

Restaurants are mostly open. You have to wear a mask as you walk in and can take it off when seated. Mille Lacs “rules” might be more laxed than other places regarding mask wearing. Many smaller restaurants have gone to carry out only instead of dealing with changing dine in guidelines. So call ahead and get the lay of the land if you want a sit down meal somewhere.

Lots of great info here on where to target smallies. Just beware of the wind and weather reports, Mille Lacs can turn quickly!

The 24th and 25th of May?

1. I can’t speak for Mille Lacs area compliance in general, but masks are still required inside businesses. Engagement and enforcement of that seems to decrease the further away from the cities you get. Restaurants are open with some capacity restrictions, but shouldn’t be an issue. I’d also recommend trying to find a spot at one of the many small resorts around the lake, they could use the revenue more and are much safer than the casino. Both the casino and the access by the casino are notorious for boat/truck break-ins and theft, although I use that access often and haven’t had an issue. Most of the resorts on the lake have their own accesses and/or marinas/slips (Do not use Eddy’s either btw). Hunters Point and Appledoorn’s are good places to eat on the lake, and there’s some good places in Garrison and Isle/Wahkon as well.

2. It will be wind dependent, even in your boat if it’s blowing 15+ mph you will likely want to fish where the wind is coming from. And you can generally add 5 mph to any wind forecast. So bad news is regardless of where you stay, you may end up having to trailer over to the other side of the lake (typically the North or NW side). Good news is the lake is full of walleye and smallies, and there are great spots to fish all the way around it. I like dragging or pitching jigs and plastics around shallow rocks and rocky points early in the year for both eye’s and smallies. And you will often catch both in the same spots early in the year. Depending on the weather between now and then, the eye’s may start transitioning off shore to mid lake flats but usually June is when that really heats up. There are also fish shallow all year. Not a lot of Largemouth, but they can be had around docks on the south end of the lake if I remember correctly from the BASS tourney up there.

Have a GREAT trip and post a report afterwards! It’s probably my favorite lake to fish, and I’m sure you’ll have a blast.

All good advise above.

Scott Kamien wrote:

. I’ll be in a Ranger 520 so unless the wind in blowing 20, I should be good most anywhere on the lake. I choose the Grand Casino since there’s a ramp right across the street.

If you actually end up staying at the Casio or better said staying on a Indian Reservation, keep a few things in mind. Law enforcement is done by the tribes. Crime is rampant and there is little recourse for you if your property is stolen or damaged. I WOULD NOT under any circumstances park my boat at the casino or any ramp on reservation land. I would not leave ANYTHING of value in your car/truck. Even a $10 pair of sunglasses is enough to have someone smash out a window and take them.

Stay at a resort as far away from the tribes as you can IMO.

Good luck!

-J.

Wow. Thanks for the good information already. When in Wisconsin I noticed the locals weren’t happy with the tribe basically raping the lakes. In Florida we have the casinos scattered about and I won’t visit them. They don’t get to harvest our lakes but they get paid ridiculous amounts of $$ per tribe member. I will heed you alls warning about the crime and look elsewhere. My reservation is refundable. I’d rather support the locals so resort recommendations are welcomed. All I need is a clean room with 2 queen beds.
I looked at the Garrison reef on my navionics chip. Looks awesome. My trip is in May. Should I target the shallower rocky areas 4′-10′ or the offshore reefs? I’m still learning the smallies but fished Lake Owen (deep and very clear) in Wisconsin multiple times. It usually takes me a day or two to determine the depth. I also noticed the bays all seem to be on the southside. Are they worth exploring?

All good advice mentioned above! 😁

Both Cove and Wahkon bay can be good for both LM and SM bass if you hit it at the right time when the fish are on beds. Your trip dates may be about right – Depending on weather. I think the 4-10″ range should be about correct to target. The good thing is a lot of the shallow rocks on Mille Lacs are marked for you with marker buoy’s. Jerkbaits and Swimbaits are probably two of the best baits to fish. a Tubebait or a weightless stick worm are also good options. Hope you time it perfect and get good fishing conditions. Best of luck to you !!!

If you are looking at getting a hotel / motel room. Both have rooms as well as cabins.

http://www.mcquoidsinn.com

http://www.thereddoorresort.com

The smallies will be shallow, near shore. Any kind of rock will hold them.

-J.

Scott Kamien wrote:

I’d rather support the locals so resort recommendations are welcomed. All I need is a clean room with 2 queen beds.
I looked at the Garrison reef on my navionics chip. Looks awesome. My trip is in May. Should I target the shallower rocky areas 4′-10′ or the offshore reefs?

Red Door, Twin Pines, Hunter’s Point, Fisher’s, McQuiod’s and Appledoorns are all good resorts around the lake with lodging, guessing you can still find something available. I would focus on shoreline rocks out to the first break, and that can be found pretty much anywhere around the lake.

Do you have a gps with side imaging.
Do you have gps charts for the lake?

Thanks again everybody. Less then 2 weeks before I get a reprieve from the Florida heat and hopefully some big smallies. Of course who knows what the weather will be like when I get up there. One year in May I was greeted to record heat (92 in Cable, Wi) and three days later a high of 53 with snow, either way I’m grateful and blessed for the trip.
I do have side imaging and charts for the lake and am open to suggestions if there’s best way to use it up there.
Lastly, I cancelled my Grand Casino reservation. I appreciate that advice.

Only one rule. You gotta keep and eat smallie you boat.

Red Eye wrote:

Only one rule. You gotta keep and eat smallie you boat.

I don’t imagine they will keep any bass but the MN regs can be confusing enough without someone telling them to keep bass during the catch & release season.

I don’t mind the Reservations frequent them often and never had an issue.

If you do stay there right up the road is Garrison. Tutt’s bait and tackle is left of the “Y”. You’ll know the “Y” when you get there. They have a great map of the lake. I would start there plus they have a great selection of bait and tackle.

There are a some good places to eat/drink in that area also. (I will say the food at the Casino isn’t my favorite though.)

It’s a fun area and if the fish are biting you’ll have a great time.

I’ll be in the area for opener next weekend and will be fishing with an Arkansas guy for Bass. If we hit them I will let you know.
He likes to eat them critters

Enjoy your trip and if you have time (or bad weather) take a drive around the lake and stop by the little towns and Resorts.

All good information. I’m just posting to wish you good luck and enjoy your time in MN!

I would commend you for cancelling a resevation on the rez.
I would line up a place to atay ASAP. I am in Wahkon. I talked with one of the owners of one of the 2 resorts last weekend and it looks like a good year, he said, for his business. There are 2 family resorts in town, Island View & Beachside. Both reasonably priced ($90ish / night) good ramp, dock right in front, and about a 300 yard walk to 2 bar / restaurants. One is a townie bar with HUGE portions of decent food & the other is a little more ” ferny or up scale” with very good food and a wider selection of taps. I patronize both.
This is the rocky / weedy end of the lake. Both LMB & SMB.
Wahkon in the winter has maybe 200 people with lots of Gulf snowbirds. Now residents are maybe 300 to 325.

These past weeks were the most amazing stretch of fishing for my son and I. This picture is from Saturday. The baby was 8.6, the daddy was 10.5. Hard to leave Florida but I’m excited for my trip.

I’ll be in your fine state tomorrow. I was hoping for some chilly weather but will gladly accept the mid-70s, especially since I’ve heard the bass have moved up! I appreciate the information shared and will post pictures. If anyone comes south, let me know and I’ll share what I know.

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Saw a lot of bass boats out there last weekend. Just my 2 cents worth. A lot of boats up on the rocks where its less than 4 FOW sight fishing. They didn’t seem to be crushing them in there. Our fish were out in 10-12. All pre-spawn. I think you are timming it out perfect. Good luck on your trip.

-J.

20 inch smallie. First fish of the season for me.

-J

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Hey Jon whats the status of the access points around the lake, do you know? I fished a smaller lake about half an hour south of there on opener and the access was down over a foot. If we don’t get some rain soon, some of these may be an issue trying to launch a boat.

Launches are not an issue unless you frequent the real shallow ones nobody uses anyway.
I was getting smallies 2-12 ft of water on opener.

gim wrote:

Hey Jon whats the status of the access points around the lake, do you know?

No, just used my harbor ramp. Just pointing out the lake is down, be careful. Spots were you have no problems in the past, may find a rock this year. Sucks when the lake is so low this early.

-J.

Those are some beautiful Florida LM. Hope you can add a few monster SM from the North Country to your photo’s as well. Best of luck to you. We may be heading up that way as well this Weekend !!!

Hey Scott – How did you do on your trip to our fine State? I was looking forward to hearing a update from how you did?

Overall my trip to Minnesota was a pleasant one. I fished about 6 different lakes for whatever species was there. No huge fish but the numbers were quite impressive. My day at Mille Lacs was cut short by 30 mph winds with gusts to 40. Had very limited opportunities and space because of it.
The good news was when we came back home my son and I had a 28 lb 5-fish limit in a large tournament down here. It was his birthday and he wanted to fish that for his gift. God definitely smiled on us!
Thanks again for the info. If headed south, let me know!

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Thats a very impressive bag limit