We made what was most likely our last SMB trip to Lake Mille Lacs yesterday. I would say fishing was OK by Mille Lacs standards, which I set pretty high.
Started with topwater in the morning but couldn’t really get much going. We then tried wacky worms in 4′ to 6′ of water on top of the rock piles and still couldn’t pattern anything down. I suspect they crayfish have completed molting on the rock piles; the smallies seemed to have vacated the shallow rock piles where we found them just a few weeks ago.
We finally were able to pattern them in 8′ to 12′ FOW. The key was to find steep rock drop offs adjacent to deeper water (using our electronics with a Lakemaster chip). We caught some fish on topwater, wacky worms, drop shoting, and crankbaits; however, the best producer was a 5″ watermelon (w/ flakes) twister grub with a 1/4 or 3/8 oz jig head. I didn’t have any bullet shaped jig heads but I think they would have worked better. The key was to find the deep water drop offs and letting the twister settle down and using a slow and steady retrieve. The bites then came from a gentle loading of the rod.
We managed about 20 bass for the day with most in the 16″ to 17′ range. Biggest fish was 19″. Also noticed alot of fish with those white open sores that have been talked about before.
