Mille Lacs Report from the Last Few Outings

Well, the last few times on the water has been a bit off for me and my boat. With fish still coming to the boat, the size has been lacking for the majority. I had a blast last weekend seeing a lot of IDA’ers on the water and sharing a fish fry with the other Staff Members. It was great to see the Nebraska guys (Zach & Ben) make it all the way up from tin buck 2 and the hospitality and fish were awesome (thanks Tuck and Hooks). To me this is what it is all about, getting together and sharing fun times on and off the water with buddies, family and new friends.

Last Friday I shared the boat with Wade form Jolly Ann and My buddy Torre. We were faced on fishing a part of the lake I have never really been to. Although we caught a decent amount of fish, the size was a ton smaller than what I was used to. As everyone knows it was a tad windy this last weekend. The hot bait for us that night once the moon got up high enough was Tennessee Shad Husky Jerks #12 and another heavy does of Tennessee Shad. We were working rock and sand transitions and points on the South shore down by Cove Bay. We trolled speeds between 1.5-1.8 mph with plenty of S turns mixed in. I think Torre ended up with biggest fish of the night and Wade came in a close second with a early night eye. Saturday was kind of the same with no real jumbo fish coming to the boat and we were joined on the West side with a million other trollers.

Tuesday night, I had a trip set up to help out Chirs Tuckner. I shared my boat with 3 guys from Chicago and the Twin Cities area. It was a brutal mid October night with the Cold, Wind and Rain. We were met with tough conditions that seemed to have the fish a little bit on the slow side. After putting in on the West side and only 1 fish in the first couple hours to show for our efforts, I revamped my game plan and made some changes that paid off and started to put some fish into the boat. I switched to smaller profile baits (Husky Jerk 10’s and Little Reef Runers) and instantly had a hook up and a 17” fish n the boat. The chrome baits (Clown Blue and Silver, Tennessee Shad) seemed to be of the liking. In particular the hot bait of the night that took over 50% of the fish was a modified Clown JH 10. Slow speeds between 1.3-1.6 mph seemed to be what the fish preferred. My group of guys were real Troopers braving the harshest conditions I have experienced trolling up there. It was great fishing with all 3 of you guys.

I’m really looking forward to fishing Friday and Saturday nights this week with the predicted winds I will be able to get back onto my favorite trolling runs and hopefully get back into oodles of BIG MAMA’s. With this cold weather that has hit us if you are not getting fish , SLOW DOWN. I still see many people saying the night was slow for them as I watched them cruise by me @ over 2 mph. Friday and Saturday night will be great, but I’m really looking forward to Sunday where I will be walking some CRP in hopes of a limit of a different kind and enjoying the day as I watch my dog Rufus flush birds and do what he loves to do. Hopefully we can get done at a decent time that gives me plenty of time to get my up in a deer stand, as I have a few bucks roaming down there that have my trigger finger, a little itchy. My game plan right now is my personal best Walleye on Friday or Saturday, a limit of Roosters by 3:00 pm Sunday and a BBD (Big Buck Down) by days end on Sunday. A very tall order to fill, but I will be just happy to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors with some buddies all weekend. But if I do fill that order, I’m sure you will be hearing from me. Until next time, everyone have a safe but fun time outdoors doing what ever your passion might be this weekend.

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