Night Trolling Walleye on Lake Mille Lacs

Yesterday, I returned from my first ever Lake Mille Lacs walleye night bite. Can you see the smile on my face? I think this picture is worth at least a thousand words… words like “WOW”, “Awesome”, and “Here piggy, piggy, piggy”! Needless to say, I had an incredible time. In this report, my goal is to share some of the things I learned as a first-timer. My hope is that this information will be helpful to those of you who might be thinking about taking your first trip to the Big Pond.

“You and me go fishing in the dark, lying on our backs just counting the stars…” You know the words. Sing it with me… The way the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band sings it fishing in the dark is all cupcakes and roses, but the truth is fishing in the dark can be quite a challenge, especially if you’re new to a lake. My suggestion is to get out on the water early, while there is still plenty of light. Use your GPS to mark a few trails and set some waypoints where you want to fish. Be sure to mark your boat ramp so you can get back later. A good GPS map can be very helpful on Mille Lacs. Both the Navionics Premium North and the Lowrance Minnesota Lakemaster electronic maps offer an excellent map of Lake Mille Lacs. I find that a color GPS is much easier to read at night and really helps highlight some of the more subtle detail in the mapping. These maps will help you find structure quickly. Look for sharp breaks, rocks, or weedlines in about 5-14 feet of water. These should be good spots to start trolling cranks. Try trolling both the inside and outside weedline and let the fish tell you which side is the hot ticket at the time. Another bonus to running a good GPS is that it allows you to track your trolling speed. This weekend, it was critical to keep our speed between 1.5 and 1.7 GPS speed while trolling cranks.

You’ll need a good source of light as well. I was able to find a decent head lamp at WalMart for $10, batteries included. It was made by Eveready. I like the fact that it has both a regular setting and a red light setting, and it was easy to turn on while I was fighting pig eyes. Some of the lights are more difficult to turn on than others and you don’t want to have to fight your light and your fish at the same time. Be sure to have a couple of good flashlights in the boat and handy. And please be sure to run your navigation lights while trolling. Getting run over by an 18-footer is sure to put a damper on your walleye fishing. I also suggest that you have a VHF radio on your boat if you’re going to make this trip. The obvious reason is that it’s a safety issue. But, you might be surprised how much “secret” information you can ascertain over the radio, especially if you announce that you’re a proud member of In-DepthAngling! I have to take this opportunity to thank the numbers of anglers from this site who were incredibly helpful to me on this trip. I am forever grateful.

As far as what lures to use, you can generally get a good idea of “what’s hot” by reading the fishing reports here of listening to your VHF radio as noted above. That aside, it would be a good idea to have a healthy supply of shallow-running stick baits like Rapala Husky Jerks in sizes 10 to 14. Popular colors include Blue/Silver, Firetiger, Clown, and Tennessee Shad. Berkley Firestick Minnows and Smithwick Rattlin Rogues work very well also. To fish these stick baits properly, you’re going to need a decent medium action rod, preferably 7 to 7.5 feet long, and a reel with a line counter. The line counter is a must in my opinion. It’s basically impossible to know how far back your lure is running and how deep it’s running without the aid of a line counter. Many of these line counter reels have the “star drag” system. One word of advice here; be sure to check your drag regularly. Star drags tend to tighten up while you reel. It’s better to you’re your drag too lose rather than too tight with these big girls. Don’t set the hook. Just pick up the rod with a slight forward motion and let the rod and reel do the work. Spool your reel with one of the “superlines” such as Berkley Fireline or Spiderwire Stealth. You can tie your lure direct or use a simple snap which will allow you to change out lures more easily.

One other piece of equipment I want to mention is the Yamaha T-8 kicker. I had a chance to fish in three different boats this week and all three guys had the T-8 on their rig. It’s a great motor and should be on the short list of anyone looking to add a kicker to their rig. It offers electric start, tilt, trim, an alternator, and is incredibly quiet. And no, I am not sponsored by Yammie and I don’t sell ‘em. I just happen to love that little motor and I think you will too.

Finally, and maybe most important to some of you, where are you going to sleep and eat? There must be a hundred places to choose from on Lake Mille Lacs but many of the best places fill up quickly. I personally stayed at Twin Pines on the west side of the lake. I really enjoyed my stay there. It’s located close to Pike Point landing, the Casino, and the Blue Goose Bar and Grill. And they happen to have some great food right at Twin Pines as well. I spoke to Bill and Linda Eno and they said they still have some vacancies but you need to hurry because the weekends fill up fast. Call 800-450-4682. If you prefer the east side of the lake, give Hunters Point a try. They have an excellent reputation and they’re an In-DepthAngling sponsor as well. Reservations are available at (877) 240-0164.

Well, there it is. Everything you need to know to plan your first trip to Lake Mille Lacs for the fall night bite. So what’s stopping you? Chances are, if you’re reading this report, you’ve already got a friend on the water.

The above photos are as follows: 1) Me with a pig just shy of 28 inches. 2) John Kutz (Kooty) with a 26 inch plus hog. 3) Joe Smith (TBO/MN) with a healthy 26 incher. 4) Me again with a fat 27 incher.

I want to specifically thank James Holst, John Kutz, and Joe Smith for being so incredibly generous and allowing a goof like me to fish out of their rigs. I also want to thank the rest of the IDA crew that was on Mille Lacs this weekend. Thanks for your help and especially the laughs. You guys are the greatest and I feel truly blessed.

My name is Wade Kuehl, and I AM a Mille Lacs Fall Walleye Nite Bite Junkie. Good fishin’ everyone!