The word that I heard from the Mille Lacs anglers is that the bite remains a little tough on the big pond, but fish are still there to be caught and that’s the fuel I always try to stay focused on each and every time on the water. Not all the fish are doing the same thing at the same time right? Easier said than done obviously, but the logic stands true and with a little adjustment each day out, you can definitely up your odds in these conditions.
Sunday I was joined by John Nordenstrom of Blaine,Mn for a day of trolling cranks. With winds howling at 20-30mph out of the NE, we trailered up to the NE corner of the lake and started our search from there. My main objective was to start along the break line in a nearby sand/gravel flat that had access to deep water. After getting both our lines set up and started our troll with the wind, we got bit almost immediately. Lead core and Smithwick Deep Rattling Rogues got the job done early on. In all of 45 minutes, we had boated 2 fish and lost two more that hit the Rogue and was gone! John got a little sea-sick and we decided to call it a day early into our trip to get him back on shore to hopefully feel a little better. Nothing worse than feeling sick out in the boat! Hope you are feeling better John!
Monday I got on the water early and was later joined by Steve Flygstad and Shawn Johnson of Milaca, Mn. With the quick response John and I had on Sunday, we started our attack Monday in the same area only to find that the school of fish we were onto the day prior had depleted rapidly. So before we wet a line in this area, I ran around the area in about a ½ mile radius of where we were at on Sunday. After a little hide and seek, we found a large school of fish and started to troll. After going through a bunch of fish that looked to active off the bottom next to the break line and no takers, I decided to start to play with the trolling speeds quite a bit to see if few could entice these fish that appeared to be a little tight lipped. With a little speed and depth adjustment on our lures, we finally got bit and the bite took off from there. Blue Deep Rattling Rogues trolled on lead tight to the bottom was the difference we were looking for to put together a pattern to start having confidence trolling through a fishy area. One by one we got fish to cooperate and actually had a pretty consistent bite going up until about 3:00pm and then the bite tapered off quite a bit. 1.3-1.6mph (gps) seemed to be the magic speed and anything faster than that seem to get passed up. Throughout the day we played with different depths and most of the day the tighter you got your lure to the bottom, the more response you got.
We ended the day near sunset and had 10 fish and lost another 6 fish to show for our all day efforts. Not a fantastic day by any means, but with a little work and determination, we got some fish to cooperate in the chilly 51 degrees water temps. As the old saying goes, “If you don’t see them on your graph, don’t fish them!” That goes without saying anywhere you go, but was specifically important for us yesterday. By midday, we noticed a early lake fly hatch that started to show on the west side of the lake. Look for this to impact the bite slightly, but remember not all the fish are doing the same thing at the ame time!!
Good luck to all have a safe holiday weekend coming up!
Those fish you got there, look like some mighty fine ones Steve.
With the river down here just below flood stage and a flow of 140,587 cfs. too much debris in the water. I think that I’ll hit some of the local lakes. Keep those reports coming.
Nice fish Steve.
Almost sounds like an Erie Reunion !!
Great report Steve !!
Hey Steve– you running straight ‘core… or segemented? Any board action?
Travis,
I run a mono backer and then 4-5 colors of lead and then about a 25-50 foot mono lead again. As you know lead is highly dependent upon trolling speeds for achieving depths. so this needs to be played with each day to get the right depth with wave action and boat trolling speeds!
I will be up there again over the memorial weekend.
These gas prices are tough on this guy!
Dee Zee, I will be up there too, checking out some of the usual haunts. I will be on channel 81.
Tuck
Steve,
With 5 colors of LC, are you ever getting down to the mono backing? I’ll assume you are not using boards with 5 colors.
Jon,
I should of said I have rods rigged both with 4 and 5 colors. 4 colors are for the slower speeds and the 5 colors are for the quicker trolling speeds. This way I can attach my mono backing to the board efficiently. Its amazing how a .5 mph changes things with lead and its depth range. Mostly been longlining the lead as of recently however!
Great report Steve, awesome fish, someday I hope to catch fish like yours on the rock.
Steve,
Out of curiousity have you ever tried Carolina Snap Weights for trolling? If so what are the advantages/disadvantages vs. lead core in your opinion?
-Mike
Mike,
Snap weights are another good option for getting your lures down deep. Although both leadcore and snap weights provide the same basic functionality, I have seen leadcore present a lure in a slightly different fashion that snap weights can not duplicate. In my opinion, I think when you get alot of leadcore line (4-6 colors) out in the water while trolling, your line will have a big bow from the weight of the line. What this does is give the lure a different look to the way it swims. That differnece alone can make a lure swim with the nose orient slightly down. Although this may seem like a very subtle difference to most anglers, but there are days when I cannot buy a bite with snap weights and the lead core is the clearly the pattern, while other days the snap weights shine! I am not confident of what the exact difference is at times, but I have experienced days where one will outshine the other 5:1. So bottomline is I will run both throughout the day and let the fish tell you what they want to see and eat!
As I mentioned above and another reminder, leadcore line is highly speed dependent to keep your lure at a precise running depth. A 1/2 mph will change the running depth several feet!
Here a great book to give you all the running depths of snap weights,leadcore line, braids, mono, cranks, spinner harnesses, etc… Great resourve to have in the boat with you as you troll!
Precision Trolling Book
I’m a hardcore troller and my wife bought me that book last year. One of the best things I ever received from her. I’ve definatly learned some good tips from you as well. I started using snap weights a couple years ago as I was reading about the success that Lake Erie fishermen were having with them. Last fall I had very good luck with that system on the St. Croix especially with a 13 original chartreuse floater. But one thing I haven’t really tried was trolling with leadcore. I might do that, but I plan to give my wife your name and number when I go out and buy a new rod and reel for that
You don’t mind me blaming you, do you?
-Mike
Mike,
I have been known to have that impact on a few people….At least I hear that from their significant others.
Sounds like you have got the hang of the snap weights pretty well!
When someone asks me what the investment ($$) is to get started trolling. Whether you are targeting suspended fish or not….I always say these three itmes that are staples in your arsenal! (The last one can kind be a rough one.$$$)
Diawa Sealine 27LCW (Coupled with a St. Croix Wild River Rod)
Pecision Trolling book
Endless assortment of cranks (sizes, colors, styles, etc..)
With these crucial items at hand, you are ready to roll just about anywhere a walleye swims!
Good luck fishing!