Mille Lacs Lake Minnesota Walleye Fishing Report

The open basin trolling bite is starting to heat up on Mille Lacs and big fish are starting to cooperate. One still needs to put in their time on the water, but once you find an active feeding school, the rewards will be worth it!

I had the fortunate opportunity to share the day on the water with Paul and Sheri Windschill from St. James, MN. They were the winners of an auction in which I promised a guided trip on Mille Lacs. The auction was a part of a fundraiser coordinated Tina’s mother (Margaret) and the contributions raised at this event were to help build a new hospital in St. James.

After numerous emails exchanges, we finally agreed upon a date and made plans to meet. We hit the water at 9am and motored out about six miles thanks to a tip I received from a fellow IDO – member Tim Ellis. As I was putting out the second planer board and about ready to put the rod in the rod holder – BANG – FISH ON! Shortly after we had our first walleye in the boat – 26.5 incher after only two minutes of fishing! What a way to start the day!

We picked up a couple of more fish in that area and eventually things quieted down. So we motored over to another spot where I had caught some walleyes on Sat. We quickly put out our lines again and as soon as we got set up we got a hit on a Deep Tail Dancer (Bleeding Tiger). Sheri picked up the rod and soon the 4th fish of the day was quickly in the boat. As I was releasing this fish, the other planer board took off! Paul was at the helm this time and soon after the 5th fish was in the boat. Two more fish in about 5 minutes! How come we didn’t come over to this spot earlier? However, after trolling this area for another hour, we did not get any more hits. The fish we did catch were also not the big girls that we were after.

The wind had now died down and the big pond was like glass. Whenever this happens, I just don’t graph many fish. We struggled over the next three hours. We had a hit but that was it. It was now around 6 pm and it was decision time. Do we stick it out until dark or call it a day? We decided to forge ahead and go back to where we had started fishing earlier that morning. I was feeling a little disappointed being that we had only caught 6 fish in 9 hours. About a half hour later, we finally broke the lull and Paul boated a good 26 inch fish. Our spirits were raised once again, but soon dissipated when we could not get another fish to go.

It was now 7pm and once again we decided to keep at it. I ventured off our troll run and tried trolling parallel to a mud flat. This decision was a good one. Shortly after, Sheri picked up a 27 incher off leadcore set up trolling a Deep Thunderstick (Firetiger Flash). About 15 minutes later Paul boated a 27.5 incher on another leadcore set up trolling a Deep Tail Dancer (purpledescent). Just like that, we were back in the game.

Over the next hour and a half, we worked this suspended school of walleyes and ended up catching 7 more fish. At one time we even had a triple going! However, chaos ensued and I ended up losing my fish. Paul and Sheri hung in there and both managed to get their walleyes into the boat.

The night ended with a bang and we were rewarded for sticking it out! We ended the day catching 15 walleyes (3 other hits) with the majority being between 24-27.5 inches. Deep Tail Dancers (Bleeding Tiger and Purpledescent) and Deep Thundersticks (Firetiger) took the most fish.

I would personally like to thank Paul and Sheri not only for making a contribution to the St. James Hospital, but just as important, making a truly memorable day for me on the water. The day went by so fast due to the good stories and conversations that we shared with one another. These two also caught on very quickly to the open basin trolling techniques and I felt like we were working together as a team.

Donating your money or time to a charity or a fundraiser is such a good feeling. I feel truly blessed that I was able to contribute a day of fishing. However, I’m even more grateful that I was able to share my passion for fishing with Paul and Sheri and meet two more friends along the way.