Mille Lacs Lake Minnesota Walleye Fishing Report

The open water trolling bite on Mille Lacs Lake is in full swing and the walleyes are finally into their summer patterns. However, the lake is experiencing tough bite right now due to the abundance of baitfish swimming around in the lake.

Saturday morning I checked out the weather forecast and saw that the winds were supposed to be only 6 mph along with mostly sunny skies and a small chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Soon after we made plans and headed up to the lake. Joining Tina and me was my long time high school buddy – Joe and fellow IDO member Tim Ellis (T Ellis).

When we arrived at the lake around 10:30am, there were some light sprinkles so we put on our rain gear and forged ahead. As soon as we motored out, the wind picked up and the rollers started to form. Then the sprinkles turned into rain and skies grew dark. The spot where I wanted to fish was 10 miles out from the landing and we quickly realized that destination was not going to happen. So we headed to another location where I had graphed some suspended fish a week prior. For the next two hours we toughed it out battling the down pouring rain along with 3 foot rollers. We marked some decent sign but we had no takers. We had only fished two hours and our rain gear was already soaked. The skies were not looking good and we decided a break was needed. Everyone was in favor of heading back into the landing, going to lunch somewhere and drying out.

The move was a good one because it poured for another 3 hours. Finally the rain stopped around 4:30pm and we decided to give it another try. However, instead of putting in on the west side, we decided to put in on the north end. The rain had stopped but the wind was still pretty strong coming out of the east. We slowly motored out 7 miles to the spot where I had previously wanted to fish earlier in the day. It took us 45 minutes to get out there because we had to go directly against the waves. As we trolled by our first waypoint and right on cue – BANG we got our first hit of the day on our port side planer board towing a #11 bleeding tiger deep tail dancer. The board was really thrashing in the water and we all knew it was most likely a good sized fish. Since Tina endured some big waves with a bad back, she was kindly rewarded by taking the first turn. This fish really put up a good fight. Eventually it made its way into the net and measured out at 27.5 inches! All of the hard work enduring the tough conditions finally paid off!

Over the next 3 hours, we trolled through this area with the waves, then pulled up our lines, motored up and repeated the process once again. As the night went on we were rewarded with each pass catching a walleye here and there. Nothing hot and heavy but rewarding nonetheless. Every fish fell for a DTD #11 – Bleeding Tiger Color. It always amazes me that each and every time out when trolling the open basin, these fish want something a little bit different than the time before. Some days it’s Deep Thundersticks, some days it’s Deep Tail Dancers and other days Shake E Blades tipped with gulp crawlers. One needs to experiment and consistently change it up in order to find out what is on the menu. Type of lure, color, speed and depth all play a factor in figuring out the daily special.

The walleyes that we are catching now seem to be in really good shape and their bellies look to be full of bait. I’m also marking a ton of baitfish out there and obviously this has something to do with the healthy condition of the fish along with a little tougher bite. Because of the large forage base within the lake, all of the little things make a big difference.

Fishing Mille Lacs can be a humbling experience. One can never rely on the forecasted weather report until you are actually on the water. Understanding your boat’s tolerance and knowing your capabilities is extremely important.

The other key factor for success when fishing tough conditions or under a tough bite is a good attitude. It’s so easy to get frustrated or lackadaisical out there when the bite gets tough or when you are enduring big waves. Odds are if you are not confident in your presentation or your location, you will not get bit. A poor attitude will also affect the way you fish. For example, instead of taking the time to tie on a different colored crankbait, one gets lazy and trolls around with the same one that worked the last time out. Then sometimes that transpires over to lack of concentration in regard to poor boat control and speed. I try to set time limits on each crankbait that I put out. If it’s not producing within a designated timeframe, tie on something else because time is your enemy. To me it’s a just a matter of elimination and I consider it part of the process if I want to catch fish. Sooner or later I’m going to figure out what’s the preferred “crankbait of the day”. And having over 700 crankbaits to choose from… well… you get the idea…

Next time you experience a tough bite or poor weather conditions, think about your attitude and ask yourself if you are confident in catching a fish or if you need to make an attitude adjustment. My most rewarding days on the water are typically not the ones in which I put numerous fish in the boat during an easy bite. In fact, my most memorable days are the ones in which I made some minor adjustments which resulted in putting a few fish in the boat during a tough bite while battling some nasty weather along the way.