Joining my boat on Saturday night was Jim Riley of Elk River and his friend Scott. We started out the evening on a nearby sand/weed transition trolling crankbaits. With water temps hovering around 42 degrees at the start of the night, I was surprised to see as many standing weeds as I did. Usually this time of year we have a weed die off and are left with just small patches of half standing weeds, but with the warm mild temps wee had a few weeks back prolonged this process a bit. Needless to say, finding that one area where the fish seem to really bunch up is key for this time of year. Find one, and turn around and go right back through there, because chances are they will be more where that came from.
All three of us were outfitted with 3 different colors to start the night with hopes of finding a magic color of preference. Jim scores quickly with not one but the first 5 fish back to back on a firetiger colored HJ. After the 4th fish on the firetiger color, we switched Jim’s friend Scott up to a firetiger color and he immediately got bit right away. These two guys had their way with the walleyes for the first 2 hours netting a bunch of walleyes that ranged from 21-25 inches. Meanwhile, I was experimenting with different cranks as well as various color patterns to try to find another pattern as a go to. All the fish we found in the first couple hours all came from an area about 75 feet in diameter in 8-1/2ft of water.
At about 10:00pm and plenty of smaller 20-25” fish to show for our efforts, we decided to make a run to another sand/weed transition area that has been productive to me on the last couple of outings with hopes of tangling with better sized fish. Shortly upon our arrival we got bit right away only this time it was the Lazer craw color pattern that proved to be the hot number for the next several hours. One of two fish for each 100 yard trolling pass was the norm for the next several hours. A few nicer 26-27” fish making it to the boat over the next couple hours, but mainly the smaller fish again took precedence at our new location. Here again the 8-9 foot range seem to hold the most concentrations of fish bar none. We took several trolling passes up in the 5-7 foot range with with marginal success and still the size was not what I was after. The evening started out with 1.5mph trolling speeds being the best but as the night rolled on, the slower speeds got the attention from most of our fish caught. .8-1.2mph was best.
Overall our numbers reached nearly 35 fish, but lacked a few of the bigger fish that we were looking for. Look to the full moon this week to turn these numbers of smaller fish into much better on the over all average size.
See you all on the water near the end of this week!!
Hey Steve…. did you try any rocky areas at all?
Travis,
All my time was spent on the weed to sand transitions. The amount of fish we marked in the weeds was more than I have seen all this fall. I saw a couple of boats working some nearby reefs, but did not get a chance to visit with them and their results.
Sweet. I’m hoping this weekend… the BIG girls come out to play!
I talked to a couple guys myself who hit the rocks on the SE side…. they didn’t tie into anything.
Steve,
Whats up with the fish with the marks on the side?
War wounds?
Good question Hook, not sure exactly. They did not appear very fresh when we were examining her in the boat. The fish had these marks only on one side and I thought it would be good to show this side to see if anyone had any ideas. My guess the wound was a few weeks old at best.
Boat prop maybe???
Interesting?
Otherwise a very, very big fish? JAWS
Hi Steve,
I’m strongly considering heading up this weekend for my first ever fall full moon trip, likely Satuday night/Sunday morning. For a guy who has only fished Mille Lacs in the warm months, where would you recommend I start to get a few fish? Since you mentioned Sand/weed transition, I assume you’ve been going north out of Wealthwood? I know I gotta be careful of rocks and reefs because the marker bouys have been removed. Any guidance you could offer would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Steve, nice to meet you Saturday at the launch. Glad to see you guys had a great time. I pulled in a few as well with the biggest, my personal best a tad over 28.5. I can’t wait to get out there again! Thanks, for the great report.
What about Indian and DNR nets? Or the holding cages for the mortality study…???
Jon J.
Pete,
Alot of people that ask about where to start on Mille Lacs for all seasons, due to its size it can be rather intimidating. The weed/sand transition that I refer to in my report is actually happening all around the lake. What I mean is, take a look at the map and look at all the vegetation areas. Take one weed line and examine it a bit. The things I really like to look for this time of year is a weed edge with deep water nearby. The bigger the weed edge the more fish it has the ability to hold. Look for standing weed “clumps” that are still standing in the water column and the most of all the presence of perch or baitfish as well as walleyes around these areas. Start out an hour or two before sundown to motor around this area and get to know the “lay of the land” before the darkness sets in. From Wahkon Bay all the way north to Wealthwood offers all of these key elements. About every bay has a nightbite happening somewhere in the weed edges. Get bit once and turn around and troll once or twice back through it to see if you can reproduce the bite once again. If not keep on trucking until you get bit again. Sooner or later you will knock into the mother-load of fish and have a spot all to yourselves.
Mykal,
Good to meet you as well. Good luck on your outing this week. It should be some good trips for big fish. Keep those eyelids “ice-free”.
I am planning to fish Friday night but with forecast temps in the 20s I’m not so sure. If temps stay below freezing through Friday and the low is around 10 Wednesday and Thursday night will the landing just north of the casino freeze up?
Any guesses?
Good luck to all who get out this weekend.
Gopher, from my past years experience out of Shabash access that main bay just outside of the access area will start to freeze on the left towards Shermans Point in the corner first. The access should be okay through this weekend but if the temps remain this cold it will freeze very soon. I would highly recommend heading out this weekend and braving the cold. The big ones are biting!
Hey Steve. Thanks for another great report and all of the valuable information you share to all of us. Am heading up for last trip to Mille Lacs this weekend & just had a couple of quick questions for you. On your last guiding trip were you using the #12 Husky Jerks in Firetiger color or smaller sized ones? Also, what length of line were you letting out when trolling with the Husky Jerks? Thanks again for all of your help.
EyesHaveIt
Eyeshaveit,
Thanks for the nice words and I am glad you enjoy reading the reports that we put out. The reports are here solely to help people catch more fish!!
As far as the lures and the amount of line back I have been running…
Bomber Pro15AP= 130-150 ft back
Smithwick Suspending Super Rogues= 80-110 ft back
#12 Husky’s= 90-120 ft back
Remember this weekend to keep the trolling speeds very slow. By the end of the night on my last trip, we were hitting our best action at .8-1.0mph
There should be some real tanks landed this weekend and I hope to have my fair share of them as well!
Good Luck
With a post about some bays freezing over, are most of the acesses open still. I usually use tha casiono access but I will change if needs be. I know last year that it was open to use till pretty much ice on.
Thanks,
A
Alphid,
I have not been on the pond for a couple days now. I plan to be on the water tonight and will report back tomorrow am the condition of the ramp at Sha-Bush Kung.
I see some over night lows coming that are possibly in the single digits. Yikes!
Thanks for the response. I look forward to hearing how you do. From the other reports that I am getting the fish are on a tear. Can’t wait till tomorrow.
Steve, Thanks for the great information. Maybe we’ll bump into you tonight.
FYI…….the access in Garrison on Pikes Point looked ok this morning. The lake is very low, so watch the rocks just out of the landing.
We had a strong sw wind blowing some ice up along the north and northeast end of the lake. I noticed a view boats frooze in boat harbors????