Well for those of you wondering how the bite is shaping up for the big Full Moon weekend………..
I think you are in for a rod bending, drag screaming, tendonitis fishing elbow, sore arm weekend. 
Again looking at my schedule of Pheasant hunting this weekend, I had to get out and scratch that itch during the week. Man I need some more vacation time. 
This fishing during the week and working thing is killing me. 
Last night my brother Rich and I hit the lake last night and let me tell you man it felt good fishing with the Moon light again. It has been awhile and I think the walleyes were thinking the same thing. As it started out quickly as Rich boated this absolute pig minutes into the night and it continued until we had to get off the water around 1. 
The hot colors out of the gate were Clown and Firetiger for us and then it switched to Clown and Tennessee Shad, then it went to a new color for me in the Husky Jerks, blue and Silver with Orange belly. I think you could definitely see a pattern for color selection. As one would absolutely scream fish and then slowly die off. Changing and finding the right new color was key to continually putting fish in the boat. The only two factors that seemed to matter were speed and color. It did not matter if you were surging the rod, holding it still, inside turn, outside turn, they just wanted to crush the bait. We started and spent most of the evening running a long weed line with a short transition to rocks in 6 to 8 feet of water at the end of it. We picked up fish through out the whole run form ost of the night.
The key speeds seemed to be 1.2-1.4 mph. One thing I noticed is almost every time we hit a group of old icons (spots were previous fish were caught) from past trips we got hammered. So it definitely seems these fish are holding to certain structures or relating to certain transition areas. Looking on my mapping chip, a lot of these seemed to be little underwater points or nipples where most of these occurred. There was a half dozen or so boats working the same area I was last night. It was good seeing you Mike W. and Don Hanson, I believe as we crossed trolling paths numerous times last night. We ended up having 2 doubles last night with one happening just as I put my rod in the holder so I could go grab the net for a fish Rich had just hooked up, when I heard my drag start to peel out of my Tekota. We also boated 3 Pike last night. However the size was lacking on the pike compared to normal, as I think the largest one might have been 7 lbs. As the night progressed so did the wind and waves. This caused or pushed the fish in off the top of the break and more to the flat area we were fishing, which also coincided with the inside weed edge or what was left of it. By the time we got off the water there were some pretty good rollers and we were fishing in 4.5-5.5 feet of water.
Well, I probably had my 2nd best ever night as far as numbers go as we did not have very much down time and especially since it was rather a short night. The good news is I found some fish and some size of fish going on the rocks. This was a first for me this year. : Hopefully this trend continues. The bad new is I might not be back up there if I can’t squeeze in another midweek trip next week. 
The water temps started out at 51 and was dipping into the high 49’s by the time we got off the lake. If anyone is debating on going this weekend I would suggest going. Last night was the best bite I have seen this year and I would expect this to continue here for at least another week or 2. Just remember to be safe and these areas the fish are holding can be rather hazardous for those not familiar with the lake or the area, so use your head and common sense if you are a newbie coming out to experience this great thing we call the “Fall Full Moon Bite”. I’m out of here tomorrow and heading to Hoven, SD to drop the :smash on some Wiley Roosters and then it is a full month of chasing Whitetail’s and Muley’s in the Dakotas and MN .
Everyone else have a great weekend and good luck to those who are "Pond Bound" and keep those fish warmed up for me as I will hopefully be back next week!
**CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**
Great report… I think!? I was out with a friend last night as well but wish we had the luck you did!
We only managed to get four fish to the boat but one of them was a nice 27 incher. It’s always nice to see fish in the higher 20’s come to the net. Anyway, maybe the next time out we’ll get things dialed in and get a few more numbers to the boat. Good luck everyone! 
I don’t know how you do it Rob. Fish at night, work during the day…I think I’d be asleep at my desk if I were you!! Nice fish! Looks like you guys had a great night out. Looking forward to getting out this weekend to try our luck. Have fun in SD.
Ang
Nice report Rob, when do I get that chance to sit in the bow?
John
Nice report Rob! I also made it out last night. We actually found some box fish 14″-16″ early in the night. As the night grew later the bigger fish started to show themselves in better numbers and very aggressive. We caught a total of 25 fish the biggest was 28.25″ and the smallest was about 11″….(Caught by Matt Grow)
We also had a personal best walleye caught by Phil last night, who seemed to have the hot stick. His crank bait was new out of the box last night and when the night was over it looked like a trainwreck…. 
Like Rob mementioned, if you have a chance to head up this weekend…..GO…..you will not be disappointed.
Slow speeds were the key again last night..1.1-1.3 was the ticket, also most fish were caught while pulling the bait forward. Best depth for us was on the inside weed edge right at about 6′..
Good Luck to everyone fishing this weekend, if you see me give me a shout. Also channel 82 was rocking last night on the NW side.
Rob,
Another great night out and Great report,
be safe up in ND/SD.
Jack.
Nice fish Calvin,
Congrats..
Jack.
Thanks Guys and Cal. The radio where I was, was a little Dull.
Must of been to far away from you guys. 
Cal who is that guy in the Red Rain Gear with you???
I thought he only fished on Ice and Opener??? 
John & Jack , I wish I knew my buddy and his buddy were going to back out. I supposedly had a full boat last night, then ended up only with my brother.
Some guy sitting at my house asking to go fishing with me…turns out he is a decent fishermen….he also wears gloves when he holds a fish…..
WHAT???? I knew he was light in the foot, when he was a busta movin’ on the dance floor about 2 months ago.
. 
GET UP THERE NOW!!! If a couple of rookies at the Full Moon trolling can do it, so can you!
We launched at the Garrison landing, even though it is low take some extra time and go slow out to the break and you will be fine. We launched 18’ walk-through warrior with a bunk trailer and we were just fine.
We ended up with 8 walleyes and two other healthy feeling fish that came unglued on the way to the boat. We had 4 fish under 20, including one 15” slot fish which will be joined with a really fat 12” Jumbo for my buddy’s dinner tonight. We had 4 fish over 24”, biggest one being 26.5”. Our first walleye came on a dark (gold?) at about 1.4mph down in the bay. We caught 6 of our walleyes on clown HJ (10’s and 14’s) between 9pm and 10pm, in an area of (about 150 feet) of knocked down weeds, at 1.6mph – 1.8mph. It was KEY to have your bait running just over the tops of these weeds, too much line out and you were in the weeds, not enough and you were running to shallow. 85 – 95 feet of line and the fight was on.
ANYONE that says walleye’s don’t fight, I beg to differ. The collision between a 25” sassy walleye and a HJ14 in 6’ of water is just that, a collision. All our fish came while jerking the bait forward and then letting it go back. We would often get bit when the slack gets out of the line. Hang on tight as THEY will pull the rod out of your hands!
If you have a chance to get up there from now till ice up, even if it’s for one night, DO IT. It was my first experience with fall trolling and it won’t be my last. If I ever do get a boat (hopefully next fall) I will seriously have to think about trading some of my deer hunting (which is limited anyway) for more night trips on Mille Lacs. I never knew catching 8 fish was so much fun!
Oh yea if someone wants some tenderloins on a deer, there’s a former small racked buck (the top of the rack broke off) on the side of 169 about 10 miles south of Onamia. Man did that thing hit hard, almost as hard as those ‘eye’s.
Will work on the photo’s
Congratsa Scott you are officially Hooked.
My brother had a 23″ that almost did rip the rod out of his hands.
He was fumbling and holding on for dear life as the drag screamed for 5 seconds, until he could get that fish under control.
You are right, there is nothing subtle on most of these strikes. It is a freight train hitting that lure.
Awesome reports!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait for Friday and Saturday Nights!
Here are a few shots of our nights activities.
Good job guys!
Ok, I totally forgot about this.
Did anyone get pics of the lake from the East Side (Bobber 
) of just after sunset on Wednesday night????? That was the most gorgeous sight I may have ever seen. The lake looked like it was on fire with the glow of red from the sun and clouds. Anyone else witness this??? I wish I would have been on the water to take some pics. We were driving around the East Side and man it was COOL. I’m guessing if you were on the West side you could not see it, but WOW 
Mother Nature and the Big Guy upstairs combined for a AWESOME view that evening 
I found out later that evening the lake was on fire with the Walleyes.
Hey Rob. It was me in the bow of Mike W.s boat last night. We were using some of the same colors as you listed there. We found the average size to be smaller than last week, with only a couple coming in over 26. We had a slow time around midnite, and the bigger fish seemed to hold out til later. You guys really make it fun out there, Mike was getting a little tired of fighting the waves, so he’s taking an extended nap this morning
Good luck and safe hunting. Also, good to run into Jon j last night . gotta get some work done, and maybe try it again tonight. Nathaniel
Lip, That was a really pretty sky!!! but I’ve seen so many like that
that you just look out and smile!!!
just kidding, its was something special!!!
And boy were the deer out early that evening….in the ditches, fields all over!!! they were on the move!!!
Lip,
I was a little south and west of your location. The better bite for us came later in the night. When things slowed a bit, we had success moving a little deeper and downsizing. I would find good weed clumps around 11 ft and run sr5″s through them. Here are a few fish that hit smaller baits.
It was awesome, wasn’t it?!
As for the fishing… last night was a hoot. 50+ fish night. Steady action from start to finish. Lots of fatties and a fun crew to fish with.
HJ’s have been a bit of a dud in my boat compared to another lure I’ve been running. #10 X Raps have been out fishing the HJ’s by about 5 to 1. Anyone else been running these little gems?
James you dog! I had two of them hanging on the edge of my boat and was once ounce of confindence away from putting one on. At least I know I’m thinking in the right direction. Next time.
Go figure. It’s HJ this and HJ that until I buy $300.00 worth.
Now I need the X-raps!
No need to feel like you made a bad purchase. Year in, year out, the HJ’s are the go to lure on mille lacs. This fall, for my boat, the X Raps have been the better bait. Who knows how long it will last… or if it will. I will tell you this… the last couple nights I’ve been letting my customers fish the X Raps and I’ve been sticking with HJ’s and Rogues. And they’ve been out fishing me handily.
I’ll post up more after tonight if the X Rap bite continues on or if it goes in the tank.
Have you tried any of those special ones yet?
Hello…Rob? Who is your sunset connection on Mille Lacs?
Click over to my report…
Great report BTW!
Yeah… so far they haven’t caught a single fish.
I’ll keep trying.
Perch and clown have been the ticket. That custom color just hasn’t popped, yet.