The open water trolling bite on Mille Lacs is in full swing and the walleyes are certainly cooperating. Fishing with me this past Thursday were some clients and partners of mine from my work – Woody, Jeff and Mike. All of these guys were experienced anglers but none of them were ever exposed to open water trolling on Mille Lacs. Fishing with me on Friday was a friend of mine – Mike Buros, his son Scott Buros and my wife Tina. Mike and Scott traveled a long way to experience the thrill of open water trolling! Mike lives in Scottsdale, AZ and Scott lives in Oakland, CA. I met mike in a local tavern a couple of years ago where I deer hunt over in Buffalo Cty., WI and we’ve been friends ever since. These guys are big time golfers and have played some of the most prestigious golf courses around the world.
The weather was perfect on both days with temps in the mid 80’s and very light winds. These calm conditions allowed us to stay on these schools of suspended walleyes as we were able to figure 8 these schools trolling our crankbaits back and forth without taking our lines out of the water.
Long story short – over the course of two days, over 50 walleyes were reeled in and we also caught 3 bonus northerns – 32”, 32” and a 38 incher! Most of the walleyes ranged from (22-27 inches) and we also caught a couple that hit the 28+ inch mark. There were also 3 doubles and one triple! Rapala Deep Tail Dancers and Storm Deep Thundersticks caught the majority of our fish.
Keys to our success:
We trolled 4 lines throughout the two days – two braided lines on planer boards and long lined two leadcore lines out the back. The majority of our fish were caught utilizing leadcore. I use 18lb leadcore and like to tie on long mono leaders consisting of 50 feet. Using a longer leader helps me prevent spooking fish and I want to position that crankbait far away from my leadcore line.
Someone recently asked me a good question about why I use leadcore line when trolling deep diving crankbaits (such as Deep Tail Dancers and Deep Thundersticks) when those same crankbaits can achieve depths of 24-30’ on their own using braided line. It got me thinking a bit so I thought I would share my thoughts on this subject. I believe there are some subtle differences in regard to the swimming action of the crankbait, the vibration of the crankbait and the angle of the crankbait when using leadcore line vs braided or mono line. Keep in mind this may influence the bite or deter the bite on any given day.
When trolling with leadcore, there’s a bow in your line in the shape of an “S”. This is due to the weight of the line and the fluctuations of your boat speed and the turning of your boat. Leadcore is very speed sensitive. The slower you go – the bigger the “S bow” in your line and vice versa – the faster you troll the smaller the “S”. When you speed up, the bow in the line stretches a bit and thus creating a different swimming action or vibration of your crankbait. As your boat slows down, your leadcore line starts to sink again and the angle of the crankbait changes. These miniscule swimming and vibration changes in your crankbaits below can trigger strikes on certain days. This past Friday was certainly one of those days.
The other reason I like using leadcore is that it corners better than braid or mono. When I’m trolling, I will on purpose troll “S” curves to help me determine if a certain speed with trigger a bite. I simply make big shaped “S” marks in the water and on my GPS trail. If an outside line picks up a fish, that tells me that I need to speed up all my lines because that crankbait is swimming faster than the others. And vice versa – if an inside rod picks up a fish, that tells me that I need to slow down all my other lines. Leadcore and segmented leadcore line on planer boards (mono backing, 3 colors of leadcore, mono leader) allows my crankbaits to corner more efficiently and that means staying in the strikezone longer. There are many times when my leadcore line takes off screaming when I’m circling back around towards the big school again.
Speed played an important role these past two fishing trips. On numerous occasions we triggered strikes by varying the speed of our crankbaits. Our biggest fish (28+ inches) was caught off a planer board that I reeled in and stopped a few feet from the boat. That hesitation caused that big girl to explode on the crankbait. Another time I shifted the kicker motor in and out of gear and that triggered a strike. I believe you get a lot of followers out there and sometimes these subtle differences in speed is all it takes to trigger a reactionary strike.
Wow! What a great two days on the water with a bunch of really good people. We were catching fish, grilling venison hot dogs on the boat and having a few cold ones. It was also great texting, seeing and hearing from some other fellow IDO members while on the water. On Friday we ran into “Sauger” and a couple of his buddies. We exchanged a few words and ended up fishing beside each other. It was great as both boats netted fish back and forth while the other boat was hootin’ and hollerin’! 
Thanks again to Woody, Jeff, Mike K., Mike B. and Scott for sharing a day on the water with Tina and me. The stories and laughter we shared will certainly be treasured. I hope your day was as memorable as mine.
Until next time, I’ll leave you with a little saying of mine… “This is not about having fun today…. it’s about catching fish!” 
Now is the time to make plans for your open water trolling trip. Feel free to send me a PM or email me if you have any questions.
A few more pics…
A few more pics from Friday.
Story’s like these always bring back a good tune too my little bean cap…..I Love This Bar
Me, it was my wife also!
We have all made at least one friend at a local Saloon
Another great read Brad, I love the pics and smiles on the world travelers. Great job on the fish guys, you could not of had a better host
With all the information you have shared in your last reports on the big pond, even I would have confidence in putting all the info to use and giving it a try
I better wait until I have something a little bigger than my 14foot floater though 
Thanks for another great read and pics
Brad,sure was great seeing you out there! So much more fun sharing a pod of tank walleye’s
What a blast! Not many bodies of water that you can pull that kind of weight on a hot sunny afternoon.Sure is fun watching friends catch fish of that quality 
I hope my cannon balls at the end of the run did’nt spook too many fish for ya 
Brad what kind of grill do you use on the boat and how/were is it mounted or placed when in use? also what LB test/brand of braid do you recomend? Thanks
Nice fish
I use the Coleman – PerfectFlow Grill. I only use it in calmer conditions and just set it on top of some heavy duty aluminum foil on the bow. Very easy to use and store.
I like Spiderwire Stealth – 15 lb test/ 4 lb diameter. PowerPro is also good.
We were perhaps the most top heavy fishing team in the Midwest on Friday July 8, 2011, consisting of expert Walleye fisherman Brad Juaire, his equally skilled wife Tina Hebert, former golf pro, semi-annual fisherman, and my father Mike Buros, and myself a teacher from Oakland, California who had never seen a walleye, northern, tullibee, line counter, planer board, Skeeter boat, or Milles Lacs for that matter. Needless to say I was worried that I was going to be able to do little more than function as a backup anchor for the boat, but Brad assured me that we would catch lots of fish and larger fish than most people on the lake that day.
We pushed off from Terry’s dock at 11 am, a feat that already went against one preconceived notion I had that fish were caught early in the morning or not at all, and after a 15 minute windswept ride in the sunshine across still water we were in the middle of the lake, in a nondescript section of glassy water that appeared some 3 or 4 miles from shore, heading North according to Brad, the only landmark a water tower at the local casino.
“This is it,” said Brad. This is it. I thought to myself, How is this it and not that spot a mile back where I saw all those other boats? “This is where we’ve been catching them all year. See the dots, they mark the fish we’ve caught,” he continued as he pointed to several blue spots on the sonar and GPS screen. I tried my best not to doubt him, but peering out over the dead water, the surface unbroken save for the few places where a loon hooted through the lake beside our boat, I needed to remind myself of the pictures Brad had emailed me of previous trips to not be skeptical.
At 11:15 he started showing us our gear, four poles with casting reels attached, something called lead core line, which he explained and I now understand as weighted lead line in nylon sheathes that allows for deeper fishing, crank baits which the writer in me loved for their brilliant names such as deep purple clown dancers and deep purple chartreuse flash thunder stick, and a host of other equipment items that escape me now.
Like Bobby Fischer playing four games of chess at once Brad meticulously arranged the four lines in the water before he announced with a glint in his eye and a smile on his face, “Remember guys, it’s not about having fun, its about catching fish.” I looked around the lake. I wasn’t sure I was the right person if that was the goal, but Brad’s confidence remained unchanged. Five minutes later, one of the rods with the lead core line was hit. I grabbed the rod as Brad had explained, turned off the clicker, but forgot to tighten the drag and after bringing in 30 feet of line lost our first fish. My confidence was shot and I was apologizing more than Tiger Woods. Brad was unfazed. “There’s going to be plenty of other chances.”
Five minutes later I was put to the test again. A fish was on the lead core once more and this time I tightened the drag properly and the reeling began. One hundred feet, ninety feet, eighty feet, seventy feet; I wanted to see this fish, fifty feet, forty feet, finally it surfaced. Having never seen a live walleye before, I was shocked. It looked as long as my arm and as fat as loaf of rye bread, the color some prehistoric green that glistened like jewelry beneath the surface. A minute later Brad threw out the net and said, “Tip up.” I raised the rod like I was shoveling dirt over my shoulder and the net shot out beneath a 26 inch walleye, the first that I caught and a personal best. With the swift precision of a short order cook on the lunch shift, Brad unhook the lure, measured the fish and had it in my hand for a picture; two clicks later he eased the fish back in the water and it swam away a little wiser after our brief affair.
Next up was my Dad, a slightly more experienced angler, and no more than 20 minutes later another similar sized walleye was on the line and a pattern began to form that was repeated 28 more times that day, the only difference being that Brad’s wife Tina was generous enough to reel in a fish when we were too busy enjoying a beverage or one of Brad’s venison hot dogs with onions, and twice it was not walleye on the line, but northern pike each measuring in at 32 and 38 inches in length.
During our day of open water trolling it was clear that Brad was teasing about our goal just being about catching fish. Brad knew fish would be caught. But he was just as certain that we were going to have fun. The grilled game meat and venison sandwiches, the friends of Brad and Tina who trolled over to share some of their beer and gather information from our expert captain, the brief chance I was able to give Brad to sit in the front seat of his boat for the first time while he let me I drive the vessel, and of course the incredible fish that came in one after another made the trip as memorable as any this father and son can ever remember, and reminded me that even if the people who ask you to go fishing are not as kind and knowledgeable as Brad and Tina you should agree to tag along anyways because the joy the outdoors brings us is nearly as precious and certain as almost anything in our lives.
Weird, I’ve heard Brad repeat that same line. Turkey hunting, Deer hunting and fishing. Yet, I’ve never been on a trip with him where the game took priority over the fun.
Welcome to IDO Tenderfoot and thanks for the great read!!