Ah February fishing on Mille Lacs…..slow time….tough bite…finicky fish….NOT the case this time!!! I had the chance to fish with a few “new” friends and a couple of old friends! I fished with Nate, Doug, Brian, Joel, Ron, and Matt Grow! Wow what a group, and what an opportunity to find some fish! And man did we ever!
After a quick meet and discussion at Hunters Point we took a look at the Lakemaster chip to find some new spots that have not been fished much this year, and decided to go for broke and headed to the mud! Here is a photo of the biggest perch of the trip, fat healthy 13.875″ 1.6lb perch that fell victim to a jigging spoon tipped with a waxie!
The morning bite was, well as Nate says “off the hook”!!! I have not seen as aggressive fish as I did this morning in a long time. Fish seen on the Marcum in every hole we drilled and fish flying off the bottom to meet your jig as it fell to the bottom…What a great feeling to see that again! The fish were located ontop of the flat in 25-26 fow! These fish were feeding very heavy and often…both perch and walleye! Perch colored Go-Devils tipped with either minnow head, minnow tail, or a waxie was the bait of choice!
This is the largest fish of the day at 24″ that Nate was able to ice after loosing a few bigger fish throughout the day! Nice fish Nate!
Throughout the day it was necessary to stay on the move! Drill lots of holes to try to stay ontop of the school of fish! These fish are moving a lot durning the day. On the flat to feed then off into no mans land to digest the food, back on for more food, and so on all throughout the day! Most active fish are located ontop in a feeding frenzy while less active fish lying on just off the flat!! Some fish were caught deep but obviously the most agressive fish were ontop of the flat, this is where a majority of the fish were caught!
Here is a photo of Joel and Brian with a tag team effort on this 18″ walleye!!! Good work fellas!
The lures like mentioned before were some sort of jiggin spoons, Go-Devils were the ticket early and late in the day, while Buckshot rattle spoons triggered fish durning the mid-day lull period! The spoons were tipped with minnow heads, tails, or a waxie!
Total fish count kept was 16 walleyes and 24 perch, enough to spread out to eveyone so that we all could enjoy a good fresh meal!
The conditions on Mille Lacs are ideal right now for vehicle traffic. Although common sense and caution must be applied at all times when traveling the ice! I would say the ice is right around 27-30 inches! Be safe, and good luck to all the rest of the ice fishing season!
Last photo is Nate with a nice Mille Lacs perch!
Few more photo’s of fish!
Ron with a nice 19″ walleye early in the day!
Nice fish Ron
Late evening fish coming up the hole! Cool picture with the eyes shinning!!!
Myself with a nice eater Mille Lacs walleye!!!
I would agree that the fish are on top of the mud flats. I was set up in between a small flat on 8 mile and I was in about 32′ of water. I could see them cruising on top with the Marcum camera. Chased them on top and pounded the perch!
Thanks for the report!
Calvin~
Thanks for the report. Nice fish!
That is an AWESOME picture with the one coming through the hole!
That is always the best, when you get the fish to the hole, and get an idea just what ya got!
VERY NICE!
Wow, you guys hammered ’em! Nice job.
Great job fellas!
It just goes to show that when everybody says the eyes slow down come Feb, if you keep moving and locate key areas you’ll get to bite!
Nice report !!
Nice report and fish!
Thanks for that,looks you you guys had a blast,gotta love it when a plan comes together!
NICE fish Cal!! I hope we can get into some perch like that one at winni…
Nice report Cal!!
Funny…no pic’s of Matt? he must have been still hanging out! in cabin #2!!! In-side joke…..sorry Matt
I’mm post the Pic’s from the Hunters contest as soon as I get it together today!!!!
Calvin how are you able to measure your perch to the thousandths of an inch, but only weigh them to the tenth of a pound???
either way what a great bunch to fish with.
AH……what he said!!! Come on Cal!! how about that…..
Calvin, thanks for report.
Nice Perch.
Jack..
I can only count in 1/8ths but Matts scale only read to the tenths I guess, heck I took his word on how much it weighed!!!
What size Go Devils you using? Did you try any of the other colors? We have a large crew heading up there Thursday and I’m getting all hot and bothered from the reports coming in.
Nice fish Cal & Co.!
Well made another trip today to Mille Lacs! This time I had my toughest test of the year….Finding fish for my wife to catch!!!! So I did as anyone of us would have!!!!
Went back to the same spot we caught fish on Friday!!! Good idea right!!! Well ok idea, we did manage to catch a 1/2 dozen walleyes and just 2 perch. Conditions were tougher today, more wind, and much colder. Which made for hole hopping less appealing! So I bundled up and fished outside only to be rewarded with a nice 25″ walleye….What a long skinny fish…Check out the head on that thing!!!! 
My wife was able to set up the camera and WATCH the walleyes roam the bottom, I bet you she yelled to me at least 20-25 times, “nice walleye coming through, another walleye” but nothing was reacting to her hook, until we made a move for her and did not put the camera down and to her surprise this big gal showed up!!! Nice fish Rochelle!! Her biggest iced walleye ever!!
26″ fat…fat…fish. Way to go, and great job fighting the fish!
All fish were caught today on minnow heads and Go-Devils in the 1/8th oz size…Except for my wifes walleye!! Buckshot rattle spoon!!
Fish are still showing there faces ontop of the flats, just forgetting to open there mouth for our hooks!! The bite is only going to get better from here on out!!
So if time and weather permits, make a day trip or a weekend trip to Mille Lacs yet this ice season!!
My skinny long fish compared to my wifes hefty fish!!
Nice fish!! You can tell us the truth though Cal…I bet your wife caught both of them…
Great report and follow up Calvin. Looks like a great time was had by all
I’m guessing Cal took the measurements in 1/8ths and then used a calculator to get the decimal equivalent. 7/8″ equals .875″.
Nice Fish Cal and Rochelle.
I think I speak for all IDA when I say thanks for not posting pictures of Matt.
I hate to ask,been fishing for a number of years and not a newbie but i have never seen or used a go devil.Please let me know what they look like or were you can get them.Thanks,Burl.
I will reply to my own post.I should have looked at one of the sponsors to this site.I have been using something similar to these for years.They work realy well.The ones i have used have the extra hammered blades attached to the sides.They flutter with the slightest of twitches.Was up on sunday and still had pretty good luck.Burl.
welcome to the site burl, enjoy and post often.
Great report Cal and Rochelle!! Nice fish!
What an awesome day on the lake. Tons of fun with great people. Thanks again Cal, outstanding trip as always. Special thanks to Matt and Ron, great meeting you guys. Fyi Cal, Nate and I got his truck out of the snow bank Sat. with nothing hurt but his floor mats.
Welcome to IDA Brian….Nice to see you leaving the ice leaders….
How was fishin on the other spot?? 
I am sorry that we were not any closer to help out…
Good to see you here Brian!
Cal and I look forward to heading out again. I’ll bring some meatballs for Dougy! Still wanting to do some great lakes fishing 
Welcome to In-Depth Outdoors Brian!!!
Welcome to the site guys
Great report Cal, thanks for the update.
Thanks Guys, I really enjoy the site. Cal, we ended up heading back to where we started for the evening bite once we got the truck out. Did not stay very long though, headed back to the rental for some of Nates favorite, Pout on the rattles. Matt, you guys are welcome on our boat anytime, we will let you know once the spring King and Coho action is in full swing. Steelhead in the river is outstanding in March as well. Cold water Steel in high water equals spooled reels.
Hitting the pond all day wednesday.Should be a great day based on the weather forecast.Ill try and post results when i get back.Burl.
Hey Matt and Cal,
Had a blast this weekend. You guys are more than welcome on Brian and I’s boat any time. I will fill you in on the river fishing as well. I will send over the pics that I took with my camera shortly! See you guys very soon.
riddle
Welcome to IDA Nate!!!
