Look–I will respond only ONE more time here–then I am DONE with this and every other site that “users” hide behind phony names–PERIOD!!–DONE!!!:

1. In this day of multi media/social media, are you really that dependent on a fishing report from a resort? IDO Mille Lacs page isn’t enough of a place to ask or a simple call to a resort to find out?

2. Resort fishing reports?–the resort reports come from people who fish–NOT the resort owners/managers who don’t go on the water much if any at all. Do you know in the past few weeks how many anglers have been coming through resorts and stopping to report their catches and details etc.? Almost ZERO!!!!!! (public accesses are full) But you expect an up to date DETAILED report from the resorts?

3. Lake Mille Lacs can NOT be a bass lake and walleye lake at the highest level at the same time. It can not work. Simple biology proves that….as biologists have PREACHED for the 50 plus years I have been on the lake to NOT do any thing to help the bass numbers improve–IF you want the walleye numbers to hold up.

4. No matter how much any resort or the like promotes the bass thing, in the Upper Midwest, there is no way to change a walleye fishing culture at Lake Mille Lacs much bigger than it is or has been in a short time to help save their businesses. The muskie thing is NOT a big deal at Lake Mille Lacs anymore as it was 10 years ago or more. If it was, the boats would still be out in rafts as they used to be-thus you can not market a fish that is almost impossible to find these days.

5. Before you blame anyone from up here for anything…know the FACTS and know the reality of being in the resort business in this “political” climate etc. Hind sight is always 20/20. It simply is NOT what you think it is or could be…or should have been.

Now– I am DONE with all you nameless gutless posters…..NEVER again. Like on most sites over the years …good ( expert) people quit posting since all they got back was to get ripped or at the very least–disrespected. My name is now added to the list of the people that got smart and stopped helping the nameless “users”.

“John23”??? “obnoxious” enough for you?? LOL No worry “john23’s of the word” –this “obnoxious” poster will never be heard from on here again.

Dutchboy wrote:

Which resort do you launch from?

Good question….but “public access” ( not paying a resort) is not the right answer when asking for a “resort” fishing/help report–thus no answer.

All I can say is all you resort/fishing marketing geniuses should be lined up to buy into the Lake Mille Lacs tourism industry. Obviously, it would be a GREAT investment–easy money!! Banks will line up to finance you….LOL

Yep…this posting so fitting ( from a “fire watcher”) “I am sure there are a record number of boats targeting bass this year, but I would guess the on water hours with bass/muskie vs. walleye hours are minimal. One would think that resorts would at least try to cater to alternative potential customers.”–being the Bass and Muskie thing has been kept a secret all these years by all the stupid/lazy Lake Mille Lacs resorts and guides.

Yep…kick’em when they’re down. GENIUS! In fact, call them and tell them that directly!! Or hide behind some phony name on the internet…instead of calling or asking them directly for an honest fishing report? LOL Amazing–GENIUS in fact!!

“Chubby” LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!

catmando wrote:

It was great! A win yes. But the 7 th ranked player in the World left off the team. I just don’t get it.

Obviously, it was a great choice by the entire U.S. regime to have him work with the players…as they credited him with much of the “team” success. Bubba was quoted at the end saying this was the GREATEST day in his golf career! ( bigger than two Masters wins!)

The TEAM won…no “I” ( or Bubba) in this group!

steve-fellegy wrote:

My oh my….EVERY hole/putt/drive/chip is like having a $50K walleye 6″ from the net rim on 4lb. test in 4 ft. waves and having it make a hard run…back-reeling one more time …..oh my!!!!!

Well–not quite but kinda?? LOL

Okay…a look at the scoreboard(live well)–now it’s time to make sure you don’t screw this up—you have the “right ones”. Calculate the ride time/conditions back to weigh-in. Make sure you leave enough extra time for some rare and unlikely issue to be resolved. No mistake–and the deposit slip can be made out!! GO U.S.A.!! Deep breaths…GO U.S.A.!!

You’re right … I am NUTS!! LOL

My oh my….EVERY hole/putt/drive/chip is like having a $50K walleye 6″ from the net rim on 4lb. test in 4 ft. waves and having it make a hard run…back-reeling one more time …..oh my!!!!!

Well–not quite but kinda?? LOL

One would hope for today that the “fans” are NOT a topic of discussion in the end….

These same people acting like jerks( at all sports venues) are parents–and wonder why kids nowadays act like disrespectful jerks?
I have never had sympathy for my opponent during any competition. But never have been openly disrespectful in a public setting as these jerks seem to think is acceptable…embarrassing to say the least. JERKS! IDIOTS!!

WOW! Just WOW!! Haven’t missed a hole on the TV and won’t today…

Jonesy wrote:

Up at leech right now and the wind died. Made me realize my ultimate weakness with leech. I have no idea how to fish this lake in the fall when it’s glass calm out. Any tips or tricks anyone is willing to share?

You can’t have the bait within 10 yards of the boat in shallow CALM water and expect the fish to stay there. Keep the jigs a LONG cast from the boat…??? ( or bobbers or crank baits or??)

“Envision”/anticipate what is happening and it get’s easier.

A “little birdy” told me yesterday afternoon in the calm water trolling lead core and 5’s in 12-14ft. of water on the “flats” produced some good fish/action…not surprising.

Watched EVERY hole played today!! Wonderful…can’t wait for another GREAT day tomorrow–and Sunday.

Ross Gunderson wrote:

I appreciate the info guys. I am contemplating bring the wife up 7-9th for walleyes and really trying to get her on walleyes. She just had our kid, arranged a babysitter, and this is her first time out so trying my best. I am just scared the lake will turnover/change (fish spread out a ton) in the eastern bays on Thursday or Friday and we will get skunked. Would you think its a solid bet to still have good fishing?

I would sure be surprised not to catch a fair number of walleyes those days…no reason not to?

BigWerm wrote:

Good info as always Steve and Phil! Either of you have any walleye trips in the next week? Reports are fewer and farther between once some hunting seasons open up, and muskies get hungrier!

I will be on Leech on October 7th and 8th out of Trapper’s. (Not before as the “chemo store” is having a sale this coming Monday the 3rd–can’t miss that –LAST one–I hope) After the 8th–all my fishing will be on “small” walleye lakes south of Leech.

Walker Bay will have a “turnover” but the main lake for the most part is not deep enough for a true “turnover”. IMO…

IMO-the “turnover” in central Mn. lakes –deep enough–starts at around 50-53 degrees. So–yes–a “complete” turnover takes place at water temps around 40 degrees but the process surely begins at much warmer water temps. IMO…and hands on experience.

WOW!! That “Opening Ceremony” makes one proud…to be a golf fan as well as an American. The CLASS of the world….as people/citizens first–above being the best of golf.

WOW!

Pushing them out from the inside of the mouth with a finger tip–then carefully–without puncturing the eyeball itself–cut the eyeball loose.

Then again, is it “legal” to use them in Mn.?

Glued to the TV coverage….no doubt the Golf event of the year!

Been out a couple times in the past week ( last Thursday and Saturday on the southern half of the lake). In the BIG waves….

3ft. of water/bobbers and leeches anchored–LOTS of BIG walleyes and very few keepers–6 keepers out of 28 ( 4 over 26″)on Thursday in 4 hrs. and 1 keeper out of 17 ( 2 over 26″)on Saturday in 3.5 hrs.–the rest “too big”. (so shallow the engine hits bottom while anchored if not trimmed up)

A nice look at Arnie from a few months before his last day…

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/arnold-palmer-even-declining-health-remains-king-bay-hill

One of the best 2 plus hrs. of TV you will ever watch…

‘Arnie’

RIP Mr. Palmer–I for one will miss him dearly!

jeff_huberty wrote:

My Family my friends and I,have been long time renters at the Red Door, this is the first time I a can ever remember calling on Wednesday and getting a lakeside cabin on Friday. I went for a walk this AM there was not a single car at the motel, less than half the cabins are occupied. Talk about playing into the hands of your opponent. These people up here need your buisness, there are three boats that I can see from the point. If you don’t help out up here these great communities will become part of the Mile Lacs Band. All of the efforts to save the Mile Lacs fisheries from the DNR & the Mile Lacs band mean absolutely nothing, when the very group of those who urine and moan about the Lake have abandoned those who are still here. Put your selfish pity away for the next several seasons and come on up to help these businesses. I would love to see a bunch of boats out during the October full moon trolling for Northerns, or Muskies, or Smallmouths and if you just happen to hooked up with a Walleye so be it, let him go.

Amen…THANKS Jeff.

gizmoguy wrote:

Good information Steve. I would like your opinion on the effect of the large population of large smallmouth currently in the lake. It seem to me that they have changed the traditional <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye locational patterens to some extent. They do have the reputation of being the bully of the block. Some traditional walleye reefs have been kinda taken over by smallies. Could they be skewing the walleye numbers?

Even if the walleyes were displaced by smallmouth or even if they were not in the usual places due to water temps or ??–the survey nets cover every potential “area type”/”locational patterns” etc.–so the overall picture comes out–no matter. So–no–the overall numbers would NOT be skewed due to smallmouth pushing walleyes out of one area to another…( in some years, off shore nets have been better than others and to the contrary in other years where the shallower/shoreline related nets have shown bigger numbers–over the past 30-40 years of surveying)

I have said and been quoted for many years–“they ain’t got wings and they ain’t got shovels.”

As far as the smallmouth themselves…having an effect on the walleye numbers? Simple fishery biology/common sense 5th grade math shows, you can not have it both ways. Simply, the lake can NOT sustain/support the numbers of walleyes that traditionally lived in the lake IF you add 1000’s of times more adult smallmouth to system the forage base has to support.

So–it surely is counter productive to protect the smallmouth IF the lake is being worked on to the build the walleye numbers back up. The biology is NOT debatable in this sense. Only one species can be dominant–in big numbers–per the historical forage numbers/traditional population history.

So–smallmouth or walleyes? That is the question….for tomorrow’s Lake Mille Lacs.

“Legalized Racism”/ “Selective Sovereignty” at it’s best–again. 3 Casino’s can’t buy meat to feed the “elders”? ZERO RESPECT!!

Both District 8 Federal candidates ( Nolan and Mills) claim to be avid outdoorsman and hunters. Yet NOT ONE will have the guts to stand up to this ongoing in your face anti-conservation activity these Tribal Regimes push…GUTLESS on both sides of the party lines.

So–curious–did he fish Sunday on the east shore or the north shore–or both? I heard east shore the whole morning for sure. But-I’m gettin’ told “no–he was just east of Red Door”.

holstc wrote:

I took my son out earlier this year and did well with bobbers and leeches.

With the ban can a guy fish this way now?

Thx!

Go for it. Many are doing so all the time these days…that’s how I fish for them.

Kyhl wrote:

Be extra careful out there. I watched a DNR boat lay out a survey net this morning. They are long.

Does it seem early for the nets?

I was surprised at the location of one of them. It was on the end of what I consider a fall (October) trolling shoreline. Seems too early for walleye to be in that close to shore.

SAME week EVERY year…for over 30 years now. The basin nets were added in the late ’80’s ( if I remember correctly?)–the rest is about the same back over 30 years.

And on another point brought up–the survey nets are put in the SAME locations every year–year in and year out. That is so over the years they can compare and create trends. The shoreline nets, cover ALL depths from 2-3 ft. to 15-20ft. -up and down the drop-offs ( most of the time, the same net can cover that depth range as they are very long and have several mesh sizes built in)etc. The off shore nets cover structure related areas as well as mid-lake/basin areas–again always in the same spots so over a period of years, trends can be developed one way or another. They cover a full spectrum of the lake….no doubt.

Water temps play very little role if anything in the big picture on where the fish are or aren’t and how many are captured. For example–Contrary to most thinking, the WARMER water/fall air temps keeps MORE walleyes shallow ( less than 6ft.) than not. So–in other words, if the fall is warm and the shallow nets show less fish, it is NOT because of the warmer fall or that they should have put the nets in later or ???

Just a few reality points on the survey subject at Lake Mille Lacs.

WOW….just WOW!!!!

Noon–lots of time left but it looks like he has the deposit slip made out!

I recall this scenario playing out in my head more than once. NOW he has to be smart and get in early–in one piece–nice and easy on the rig in the waves ( about a 14-15 mile ride to the weigh-in from his area–a cross wind almost quartering them a little for his path to the money) Deep breaths!! THINK! Damn I can feel it…and miss that feeling badly.

Life changing for the kid–no doubt. WOW!!

mattgroff wrote:

He cracked em good. Wait till you see what he brings in on Sunday. With the weather that’s going to be there and he still has spots he hasn’t Evan been to. When you chuck 3lbders away before you have a limit you have some confidence.

LOL If he throws any keepers away without a limit he is nuts. I hope he get’s them!! It will be or could be a life changing day for him–one way or another.

Lots of deep breaths.

Fun but stressful to watch…been there done that.

Go Seth!! LOTS of deep breaths….