Who said there are no fish in Mille Lacs

Went up Friday night and could not keep the bobbers on top of the water, leaches and crawlers did not matter. Went out this morning till 2pm and first 2 fish on the flat I was on were 23″ and 24″, one had a tag so I set her down to take a pic of the tag and she flopped right into the water before I could get a pic. Back trolled a rock flat on the East side with #9 shad raps and it was one after another with some nice 18″ & 19″ smileys to boot. Oh ya also got sun burned. All in all a good time.

bigcrappie, don’t tell the MN DNR………they have been saying the lake is at a 30-40 year low??

Yes, the lake is not fished out! lots of fish to catch….but sad that we can’t eat a walleye once in awhile for a meal. I miss that……guess thats why my boat is sitting collecting spider web’s and my bait frig. is full of beer and NO BAIT

The DNR is killing off so much business around the lake….from the gas stations to cafe’s, hardware stores you name it. It’s a real downer

glad you had a good time! those few that are on the lake are enjoying it

First timer up on Mille Lacs as we speak. Wind is nasty today, but pulled cranks in 10 to 16 ft on west end and boated 30 to 40 eyes all between 15in and 21in with one at 24in. Pull cranks from 10am to 4pm.

All perfect eaters. We are from Nebraska and disappointed we can not keep a few for some meals this week but are having a blast so far. Got into a few 17 in smallies earlier pitching jigs.

How deep can we slip bobber successfully when the wind dies and we can head out? 20ft?

Ill keep an updated all week.

There’s no fish in the lake according to the almighty MN DNR! The family and I had a very memorable fathers day weekend on the big pond. A lot of fish over 20″ and a good number of 16″ to 20″ fish, and of course a bunch of the 10″ to 14″ fish.

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With all these fish being caught and released is anyone starting to see floaters out there? Hopefully the water temps are still cool enough so they live another day. That’s all it is going to take for the DNR to start saying it’s time to shut er’ down…RR

Not to hyjack this post, but does anyone have an educated guess as to when the hooking mortality quota might be reached? I want to try and make it up before they shut it down. I would like to right now, but the schedule is kind tight.

Thanks, matt

We experienced similar results on Saturday as those mentioned above on our very first trip to Mille Lacs. It was a great day on the water, could have used a little wind but not quite as much as on Sunday!

Rooseter, I saw one nice perch floating, no eyes but did see a boat by me foot ball toss all there fish back standing up and toss them 14 feet back into the water. I wanted to say something but moved on.

Rooster, I saw one nice perch floating, no eyes but did see a boat by me foot ball toss all there fish back standing up and toss them 14 feet back into the water. I wanted to say something but moved on.

I saw a few floaters

Kyle,

We bobber fished Sunday afternoon on one of the deep gravel spots in 23 feet of water and from 4:00 to 7:00 and had a bobber down at least every 5 minutes. Sizes ranged from 13 inches to 26 inches. Probably netted 30 fish total.

Great reports and good to hear. I spent the weekend chasing smallies, but plan to change to walleyes now that the smallies have moved out deeper.

I have yet to see a floater out there and I have been on the water 3 days a week all season.

Matt M wrote:

Not to hyjack this post, but does anyone have an educated guess as to when the hooking mortality quota might be reached? I want to try and make it up before they shut it down. I would like to right now, but the schedule is kind tight.

Thanks, matt

Good question Matt…as last years closure came suddenly. Here is the report from the DNR through May 31. As you can see from the report, there is a long way to go before the safe harvest limit is reached. But a month from now…could look very different. Next DNR update report will be posted this Friday 6/24.

“Fishing report through Tuesday, May 31

Factors

High catch rate
Low fishing pressure
Temperatures low to normal
Walleye

State anglers
Harvested 1,639 pounds (767 fish) ice fishing through March 13, 2016
Harvested no fish beginning May 14
Hooking mortality estimate: 453 pounds (207 fish)
Released: 52,369 pounds (29,854 fish)
Tribal fishing total: 7,808 of 11,400 allowed pounds (2,407 fish)
State angler total: 2,092 of 28,600 allowed pounds (974 fish)”

“The report for the next survey period (June 1-15) will be posted on Friday, June 24.”

Fishing has been great. I even made it up for a day chasing Smallies.

Nasty wind today. Caught some more 14 to 16s trolling until the wind kicked us off by noon. Bobber fished off the dock with a glass of whiskey all afternoon and cuaght a mixed group of smallies, walleye, and rock bass. Been a fun trip so far. Looking to get after it tomorrow with the nice weather.

Kyle Brant wrote:

Nasty wind today. Caught some more 14 to 16s trolling until the wind kicked us off by noon. Bobber fished off the dock with a glass of whiskey all afternoon and cuaght a mixed group of smallies, walleye, and rock bass. Been a fun trip so far. Looking to get after it tomorrow with the nice weather.

I didn’t know fish drank whiskey

Good luck today, enjoy the great weather. I pulled up the lake cams yesterday and saw the wind. Was glad I wasn’t out there taking that beating. Keep the reports coming

Dnr knew the lake needed a break- Sometimes I read ‘look at the track record of the DNR” well 10,000 lakes most are healthy and now all the large walleye lakes have good to excellent fishing. If fishing is bad we blame them if it is good they get no credit. Are they perfect no, do they irk me with some of their counterproductive rules -yes. But you will not meet anyone in the DNR who is not a sportsperson. I feel sorry for the small businesses by Mil Lacs and more should be done for them,
but anyone who goes into business with mother nature soon finds out they have an unreliable partner. Ask a farmer.

^^ Well said Tim ! For many of us it is much easier to point accusing fingers at everyone else. I do know some DNR people personally and they are not the evil some make them out to be. Some things happen for a reason, good or bad. We just need to learn how to make the best of it.

^^^^^LOL…They cater to the Indians and could give a sh*t about the resorts on that lake. They could have saved the resorts arses’ by having a 1-2 fish limit (even w/ a tight slot…) but chose not to. Look back on what they said going into this season on the population of walleyes in the lake. And you’re telling me they know what’s going on up there? Nope, they ain’t getting a free pass from this fisherman…RR

…let me add that the CO’s and the folks that are at ground level are rock solid individuals. It’s the brass and decision makers in downtown St Paul that haven’t got a clue as to how to run that lake. I respectfully disagree with your stance on the Mn DNR and how they manage Mille Lacs Lake…RR

I’m concerned that it is 2011 (2012?) all over again. I thought most of the big fish were gone but they are plentiful this year.

It is good to see people catching 14″-17″ fish but has anyone seen a 11″-12″ fish? I have not. Nor have I heard of anyone catching a small walleye. It would give me some comfort to see another year class out there besides 24″+ and 14″-17″.

Either way, I still think the DNR is overly protecting the big fish. Based on what I’ve seen boated this year there are a lot of big fish still in the lake. That probably means that the lake will crash again in two years.

So no, the DNR is not helping the lake. It is trying to come back on its own but the DNR is still wrecking it by protecting the potential trophies.

I have caught a few in the 9-11″ range and have seen a few others get them too. Not a ton, but the second and third weekend of fishing they were more of them than the 20″+ fish by a lot. I caught 2 on a small crank last weekend that were in the 5-7″ range. Don’t know how they got that salmo hornet #4 in their mouth, but they did.

I would agree though, last year we caught a lot more of the 9-11″ fish in mid July than I have seen this year to date.

sticker wrote:

I have caught a few in the 9-11″ range and have seen a few others get them too. Not a ton, but the second and third weekend of fishing they were more of them than the 20″+ fish by a lot. I caught 2 on a small crank last weekend that were in the 5-7″ range. Don’t know how they got that salmo hornet #4 in their mouth, but they did.

I would agree though, last year we caught a lot more of the 9-11″ fish in mid July than I have seen this year to date.

I’m thinking that last years 9-11″ were that enormous 2013 year class. So yes, it would make sense that they are now the 14-17″ fish this year although I wonder if some at that 17″ size aren’t from 2012. So any that you are seeing this year at 9-11″ theoretically would be 2014 year class and would be encouraging to see those in any numbers because that would indicate they survived that first critical year when so many previous year classes vanished.
Like a fish pulled up on the bank, I have flip-flopped myself a lot about DNR opinions. I’ve decided to be more conservative when it comes to making judgments. I’ve learned that as much as you think you know, there’s a whole lot more that you don’t know.
Keep the good reports coming, I’m heading up this Saturday and will be out and at ’em through July 4!

u guys must be blind we have seen plenty since opener on the bottom on all the reefs

That is a relief to hear about the smaller eyes. I’ll feel better after we find them.

Kyhl wrote:

I’m concerned that it is 2011 (2012?) all over again. I thought most of the big fish were gone but they are plentiful this year.

It is good to see people catching 14″-17″ fish but has anyone seen a 11″-12″ fish? I have not. Nor have I heard of anyone catching a small walleye. It would give me some comfort to see another year class out there besides 24″+ and 14″-17″.

Either way, I still think the DNR is overly protecting the big fish. Based on what I’ve seen boated this year there are a lot of big fish still in the lake. That probably means that the lake will crash again in two years.

So no, the DNR is not helping the lake. It is trying to come back on its own but the DNR is still wrecking it by protecting the potential trophies.

I’ve caught plenty of 9″-11″ inch fish this year so far.

Here is a list of fish we caught in an early June tournament. Keep in mind, once the card is full we only document fish that help us move up so there were atleast 5 of those 16-19″ fish that didn’t get recorded.

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