Mille Lacs Lake Report – Full Moon Madness…!

Man what a WEEK! For those of you that have never been on Mille Lacs Lake after night bite walleyes but have been tuned into all the talk we have on the site about this fishery at this time of the year… there is a VERY good reason for all the chatter! Big walleyes. Lots of them. Surrounded by friends in an atmosphere that is turning this trip into one of my favorite "can’t miss" experiences!

I’ll get onto the bite in a minutes but I have to mention some of the events that have been taking place up here at the Hukried "compound" or I just wouldn’t feel like I’ve painted a very clear picture for those reading.

Imagine having a dozen of your best friends and guide customers all milling around during the day eating and enjoying each other’s company at Tim Hukriede’s cabin during the day. Grilled steaks and burgers for lunch. Texas Holdem tournaments over the weekend. Koonce doing a 2 AM "Brat Cook-Off" every night on the lake for EVERYONE within VHF range with an appetite. And an open invite fish fry at Hunter’s Pt. Resort on Monday. IF you missed out on this weekend, plan on setting 2 or 3 days aside for next year’s full moon in October… everyone’s welcome and a fun time is guaranted for all!

So if you’re STILL wondering why the "official" reports have been a little hard to come by, need I say more?

And now to the bite….

I could go on for quite a number of paragraphs to bring everyone up to speed since the beginning of last week but since time is short and there’s another batch of steaks on the grill I’m just going to cut to the chase.

Fishing is FREAKIN’ fabulous. Last night was one of those nights when all of the boats in our group just POUNDED big fish. Largest walleye in my boat taped 29.25". Koonce had a 29". Kooty had a 29". Tuck had a couple 28’s. We all had a slug of 24" – 28" fish to boot. Added to the fact that the weather last night was nothing short of incredible, no wind and warm temps made for an evening that we never wanted to end.

The bite did start slowly with a pair of 25" fish for my boat and a couple other eaters for the box by 10 PM but little else to show for the time. We kept graphing huge numbers of fish in slightly deeper water that we hoped would slide up into an active feeding mode so we remained enthusiastic for what was to come. Given that the weather was basically a GIFT to all out on the water we weren’t going to leave early even if the fish weren’t biting!

Around 11 PM all heck broke loose the VHF starting reporting the biggies. First Tuck with a 27" ‘eye to the north and then Koonce with a 27.5" from the south. We made a move further south from Koonce and quickly had a 25", a 24" and a 29.25" MONSTER walleye. From that point on the radios fell fairly quiet as everyone was into fish.

My boat was doing well on the outside weedlines in 9.5′ of water on #12 HJ’s in Firetiger. Koonce and Tuckner reported excellent catches on Rogues in lazer craw on the inside of the weedlines in 7.5′ of water. Only our trolling speeds were similar at 1.5 – 1.7 mph and for the entire evening we all noted that the fish caught were stubborn to respond to anything faster or slower.

On this full moon night I fished with Tim Moore, first photo, and Jason "Brooktrout" Halfen. Tim landed his new personal best 29.25" walleye and Jason tagged a 28.5" specimen to stay in the running for close second.

After 1 AM some thin, high clouds rolled in and the bite actually accelerated. Many times fish were caught by the first person to get their lines back and their reel closed forcing those in the boat that were a little slow on the draw to reel all their lines back into net another fish for their quick on the draw partner!

Water temps are in the low to mid 50’s and the forecast calls for mild temps. For those that think the bite ended with the passing of the full moon cycle, I BEG to differ… the best is yet to come as the water temps fall into the low 50’s and upper 40’s. I anticpate the bite to remain excellent for the rest of the month barring a horrible cold snap to be quite honest and the best thing about fishing after the full moon is that the crowds are sparce to completely non-existent. If you’re hankering for a night filled tangling with big ‘eyes, this is the right body of water at the right time of year.

Now that the weekend has past and the group of friends at the Hukriede Compound have begun to thin I’ll be able to do "every other day" reports. Look for my next on Wednesday and every other day there after. There’s a couple 30" slobs out here waiting for me and with a little luck a customer of mine will get in that picture to be shared here on the site.

For those that have called about openings…

I’m completely full this month on mille lacs EXCEPT for one date. Mike "bigdad" Donahoe who has fished with me for the last 3 years with his boys just sent me a PM to let me know he won’t be able to make it out with my this coming Saturday night. Anyone interested in fishing Saturday just give me a shout.

The rest of the pics after this post will be from the beginning of last week and working forward. I got to share my boat with some great folks from IDA and sent a good number home with pictures of their new personal best ‘eyes from mille lacs lake!