(I’ll add my post from http://www.fishthelake.com to this forum for the sake of those who may be headed up there, and have not been on FTL to check out the latest info on Mille Lacs)
Yep, you would not have to twist my arm hard to get me right back on my way up to Mille Lacs today…
I had a blast! Great fishing with lots of action!
My first day on the water was Friday. My two boys and I got started about 10:30am. My first two fish came in about twenty minutes of hitting Indain Point. They were both 5 1/2 lbs each… one was a walleye, the other was a SMALLMOUTH ! And what a battle the smallmouth gave on my walleye rod too. Thrilling to land a trophy like that. She went right back in the water, real quick. I had several guys in close quarters that got to watch the battle. “Man, I thought you wete never going to land that fish” one yelled after about five minutes went by, and I finally got her in the net. Wow, what a fish… made my trip!
We caught two keeper walleye that day. I say “we” but truth is, my boys spent much more of the time watching their Game Boys and t.v. and playing under the Sea Cap fiberglass front boat cover. Though I did not grasp the concept of playing games instead of fishing, but I respected their choice and let them do their thing. I figured that they had their own kind of fun. Later when we got home, I asked my son Jeff why he did not do more fishing on this trip. He said it was his and his brother’s way to give me a special birthday gift… by not having to have me constantly be baiting-up and removing fish for them… that I could spend more of my time actually fishing on my birthday trip. Tearfully heart-warming, what a great couple of little guys! What can I say….
My buddies Richard Smith and Mike Connors, arrived Friday nite about 11:00pm. We went in early to meet them. So, I only fished till 11:00 pm on Friday night and put her in park for an early rise. Yep, I missed the major part of the moon bite that nite. But, the boys were zonked… and it was the early morning Musky ticket I was after. Saturday and Sunday were great days on the water. Between Richard’s boat and mine, we caught a 27, 25, 2-23’s, 6-22’s, 6-21’s and many other smaller walleyes.
I got a total of eight Musky follows and three fish on. I never got one of them in the boat! One, I got to fight, was huge… she was a real monster…. and had to be 54+ inches. She ate a 16 inch sucker minnow I was drifting on a spinner-rig. We fought for a good five minutes and I got to see her somewhat up-close, before she broke water… blew me a good-bye kiss, came un-hooked… and vanished into the weeds. Wow!
On Sunday morning, I was throwing a jerk-bait over the weeds and had a follow from a huge walleye that would have went 13 + lbs. The big walleye was so big that it looked like a salmon! It was snapping at the 11 inch bait just as it reached the boat. I went to the figure-eight but this spooked her off. Another wow!
Over all, a great time on the water. And, I got to meet up with some of the guys at Ozzies for breakfast and good conversation.
If you are headed up, I suggest working the shallows in the weed edges and weedline drops for daytime and over the tops at night with shallow diving minnow baits. Try some bigger baits (those with a slower wobble such as Grandma’s and Bagley’s).
What a trip…I’ll be back!
Hawger
