Mille Lacs continues to be a little fickle to those fishing the big lake the past couple days. We’re getting glimpses of the best the lake has to offer but the bite is certainly not "on" yet.
The water temps continue to run much too high for the best bite to really start to roll. As of last night at 3 AM I was still seeing 62 degree water temps but the forecast is for a hard frost advisory tonight which will quickly drop the temps and get us headed in the right direction.
We’re hearing highs in the 60’s for the next 3 days or so with lows in the 40’s. By the coming weekend I think the bite will be right where most expect and want it to be.
What we’ve been experiencing the last 2 nights is fast fishing… but only for portions of the night. 2 nights ago the second half of the night was solid with good numbers of fish and well as a decent average size. Last night the sundown bite was very hot with a good run for the first two hours and then a slower bite after that.
In my opinion I think what we’re doing is we’re able to catch a good number of the limited "resident" fish that inhabit a given area and then once the handful of active biters have fed or been caught, the fishing goes south with the absence of new fish moving in and low overall numbers available in any one area. Our best strategy has been to work through a given area fairly quickly and move after the first pass or two without a fish. Camping on spots has proven to be time consuming and unproductive.
One nice addition to this night bite fishing experience is the ability to reasonably expect to get a few eaters each night out. Personally I have to applaud the DNR for coming up with a slot limit that allows a wider size range of fish to be caught during period of reduced fishing pressure. With an apparent abundance of 19" – 22" fish from what we’re seeing each night out anglers should be able to leave the lake with some great photos of some dandies as well as a few fish for the table… and that just has not been the case for the last 3 or 4 years.
Just as a reminder, the limit on mille lacs is 4 fish under 22" – one of your 4 may be over 28".
We’re finding a VERY slow stickbait bite now with nearly all of our fish coming in shad raps or shallow shad raps. Chartreuse n’ pearl white has been the dominate producer but clown is running a close second. Our numbers are better in shallow, 4′ – 7′ of water, but our larger fish are coming a tad deeper out in 8′ – 11′. Trolling speeds are best in the low 2’s. Do stay prepared to drop the shad rap bite in favor of the stickbait bite as soon as we get the temps into the mid 50’s. The raps will still produce fish but the Husky Jerks and Rogues always seem to produce bigger fish.
Northern activity has really fallen off for us the last couple nights with only a couple smallish hammer handles showing up.
Word is the bass bite is SLOW. Some of our customers have been playing with them during the day and they’re seeing few and smallish fish. Someone is likely catching them but we’re not hearing about it that’s for sure.
My next report will be on Wednesday 9/28.
Last night our attention was off the fishing for the first 30 minutes and on the moon as it slowly rose about the lake.
Myself and two buddies charged up to the lake for 3 days. Arrived Thurs evening, on the water by 10:00 pm…skunked. My buddies looked like drowned rats by the end of the rain and wind, and I’ve never seen anyone fall asleep trolling with sheet rain hitting them in the face…until Thurs! It was tough. Fri came and the bite was alot better for us. Nothing with alot of size, but couple around 25 inches, one 19 inch bass, and a 13 pound northern. All on the west side weedlines through St. Albans and Garrison area. Sat was even better with another 19 inch bass, two more 25 inchers, and even some eater 16-17 inchers. Most productive was silver rouges and the glass husky jerks in purple. In the last hour of fishing up on the north end around Wealthwood we finished with a bang…well sort of, my buddy hooked a 10 pound northern just as another was casting,and got husky jerk major tangled in his rod tip, after cutting that apart, fish was still on and brought to boat in 3 to 4 foot rollers, only to be netted and as it flopped in the net boatside managed to snap a pretty nice fenwick rod in half! We were rolling in the bottom of the boat for 30 minutes after that fiasco! Rollers got to be too much even for the new Crestliner and we called it a night, barely making it into Red Doors opening with the waves crashing around 4:00 am. The 3 days weren’t anything to brag about but we caught a few quality fish and had lots of laughs that we will never forget, and thats what fishing is all about!
james, had a chance to get out last night for only 1 hour 8:00 to 9:00. got 1 21″er and the wife had one hit. going out tonight for a while, going to try trolling minnows on lindy spin rigs. just wondering where you stay when you are up here? i would like to put a face to the name.
tom fellegy
Nice report and pic’s James
Good to see you guys starting to get on fish. Be safe and have fun 
James,
Enjoy a fun and safe Fall up on ML. will not be able to get up there this week, as LOTW is calling. hopefully the end of Oct. Best of luck and am looking forward to some terrific pics and posts. Jack..
James I sent a private message, if you get a chance take a look-
Terry
Hey Tom
I’d be happy to do lunch with you or anyone else up in the area this week. I’m staying on the east side just north of hunter’s and I’m usually ready for a mid-day meal about 1 PM. Shoot me a PM with time and place and I’ll see if I can get Dustin out of bed in time to tag along.
How much do you think the cold front will affect the fishing? Will the cooler water and the drive to feed over ride their instinct to lay low?