Mille Lacs Smallmouth

I had the pleasure of sharing my boat with Calvin Svihel and Bob Carlson, AKA Bobber. Chasing the smallies of Mille Lacs Lake would be the fish of choice for us. Bobber and I have been trying for a couple of years to fish together and share some spots that we each know as we each fish different areas of the lake. Calvin on the other hand has just recently started fishing smallmouth, having fished walleyes mostly in the past, and was looking to shorten his learning curve about smallmouth and the lake. A trip like this where I get to get to spend quality time with two top notch sticks does not come along too often.

After literarily throwing the boat in the water, wow is Mille Lacs shallow, we started on the east side of the lake. Calvin hooked up first. I was thinking it must be beginner’s luck but shortly learned that a 5 inch senko rigged wacky style was the hot bait. I grabbed my tube rod rigged with a 4 inch tube on a 1/8 ounce jig. This combo has worked for me for years and is my first choice time after time. Both Calvin and I were finesse fishing while Bob was going for the reaction bite. Bob was working K-grubs and paddletails from BfishN. He changed colors, jig weights both larger and smaller, to no avail. The fish were holding on the deeper boulders but it seemed that they were not willing to chase his choice of baits. He kept changing and even gave the old reliable Mepps spinner a chance. The smallies wanted nothing to do with Bob or his baits and with a reputation that he has as a fisherman I do not blame them one bit.

Calvin was getting better as the day went on, catching bass one after another and schooling both Bobber and I. The locations that we fished were rock reefs that were close to deeper water, your typical smallie spots. We moved many times, pulling a few fish from each one. Maybe I should say Calvin was pulling in one or two fish from each stop. I stayed tried and true with my tube; it was catching a few fish but not going to win bragging rights this time, that honor would go to the former walleye fisherman Calvin.

After we moved again, I was getting the boat in position to drift a small boulder-ridden ridge when Bobber let a cast fly to a small trough that runs right through the heart of this ridge. The moment Bobber’s K-grub touched the water, it was inhaled by a thick-bodied black-colored smallmouth. Smallmouth have a tendency to show fisherman why they are pound for pound the best fighters in freshwater; this one could have been the champion of smallies. A quick headshake and one big beautiful jump and it threw Bob’s jig five to six feet. After some ribbing from Calvin and I, Bob shook off the feeling of disgust as any good fisherman does BUT not nearly as fast as that smallie shook off Bob’s jig.

One last move, we found some fish that wanted my tube, finally. As a last resort Bob went to topwater; throwing Chug-Bugs. Shortly after his first cast and a couple of hard twitches and WHAM. Bob was a little quick on the trigger as he pulled the lure out of the fish’s mouth.

Smallies 2 – Bobber 0.

The moment I saw that bass hit Bobber’s lure, I was grabbing my topwater rod. Rarely do I drop my tube rod while fishing on Mille Lacs but nothing gets me going like a good topwater bite. I would be throwing and twitching topwater for the rest of our trip. I had a few blow-ups and I finally got one bass to sacrifice herself. Moments after that fish the wind started blowing and it looked like rain on the far side of the lake so we called it a day.

It was a great day on the water with two other IDA staffers. We shared stories, learned from each other, laughed with each other and at each other. Thank goodness I got my jig out of my trolling motor before they could get a picture.

Calvin and Bobber, Thanks for sharing a day on the water with me.

Untill next time,

Ron

One other note to readers: Do to some family health issues I could not write this report as quickly as I would have liked as this trip was almost two weeks ago. I do know that the smallmouth bite is still going strong if not stronger than when Calvin, Bobber and I went.