Well I have not been out on the water as much as usual and it shows when I do make it out. 
The Open Basin Cranking bite has been slow for me at best. Is it because I’m spending less time on the water and learning where the fish are schooled up or are the fish just not showing up???? I personally think it is a little of both.
I was out a little bit on Saturday and trolled for about 2 hours and I was surprised to find that the water temp was 65.4 degrees. Hmm that is usually when I start fishing this bite in the beginning to mid June is 65 degrees. I have struggled to find any real big schools or concentrations of fish, bait fish or even bug pods. Not saying they are not out there in the open basin, but not where I have looked. I think the cooler water temps has muffled this bite a little bit this Summer. The schools I have found are relatively small and a lil’ bit tight lipped.
I have tried almost everything in my arsenal (lead core, deep tail dancer #9,& #11’s, Deep Reef Runners, Lil’ Rippers, Shak-E Blades with crawlers) and have not been able to put a pattern together this Summer. Granted again my time is limited but still I have been flat out struggling. A fish here a fish there have been coming to the boat, but nothing like years prior and to top it off, like I mentioned the fish just don’t seem to be out there in any great numbers. The speed that has gotten most of my fish is 1.8-2.0 mph. The other thing I have put together that has helped me greatly this year; is when the wind is blowing a HUGE majority of my fish (almost all) have come off not using a planer board and just long lining off the boat. I think my biggest number day has been 8 fish in a 8 hour day and that was back in June. Perhaps the bite will pick up if and when the water temps start to become more normal or seasonal, but perhaps we will never see 70 degree water temps this syear??? This year the fish are really scattered and scarce, so make sure you scout out an area before trolling.
We always post reports on here when we do well, I just thought I would post my findings on this Open Basin bite here. If you are struggling to boat a lot of fish trolling the basin right now, don’t worry your not alone. This past Saturday I had a buddy with his new bride up from Florida and I didn’t even really attempt to fish this Open Basin bite. The best consistent bite I have found over the past few times I have been up is, corking the flats or deep rock transitions if it is clalm. If it is windy, I have been hitting my shallower rock corking spots 6’-17’ deep. I think the biggest tip I can give anyone is, look at the water temp and let that dictate where you look for fish not the time of year. Basically think beginning of June spots. 
I hope everyone is having a great Summer. I apologize for not being around and reporting much, but I have been a getting ready for Hunting fool as of late. Have a good one! 
**CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE**
nice report rob dont worry hunting season will be here before you know it and the boat can stay in the garage
nice pics also
If you don’t have a bunch of pictures of big fish to grab peoples attention, a good alternative is a picture of a really good looking girl in a bikini.
Looks like you & Stacie still caught a few decent fish so it wasn’t a complete loss.
“I swear I read the articles”! This is kind of like those people that buy playboy and say they read the articles. How many guys on here actually read the article before looking at the pictures
Good report Rob. Though it seems like it might not be as good as in previous years, it’s good to know how people are faring out there. Good or bad. Don’t be too glum, those are some NICE fish Stacie is holding!
Joel
Great Report Lip
Nice report Rip.
Where is your black sidekick, I love the dog photos in the boat
What report?
Nice report Lip! I can’t say much about the open basin bite, as I don’t concentrate much of my time on that presentation, but your findings on the rocks and mud are spot on. The pods are not real big in numbers, but if you sit on em you can put some serious fish in the boat. When it’s calm I go deeper and when it’s windy I’ll get up shallow. Sorry to hear the trolling bite hasn’t been great this year. I hope it picks up, I know you live for the basin bite… and hunting like a mad man of course. I plan to make it down for the archery shoot on Aug 30th. See ya then.
Nice job you 2 , Great fish
I was up the 10th – 13th with about the same luck ! Leeches and Spinner combo was the best 
Thanks Guys, I think!
The little black sidekick is almost always with Bob. With the heat he is usually laying low underneath the shade fort we make. He gets quite a few swim breaks through out the day retrieving his dummy out in the basin. See the pic below with our sidekick Rufus as Stacie is checking in back home with her Dad!
Yes it has been a tough Open basin bite for me this year. How are others fairing out there? Has anyone seen a double digit day pulling boards yet? I’m a huge believer that they are biting somewhere on that lake. I have come across some luck staying real tight to some flats and even pulled a few fish off the top of the flat with my outside board. the fish Stacie is holding in the first pic actually came off the top of a flat and smashed the board and was ripping drag the whole time until we got the board off. I actually thought it was going to be bigger and be her personal best as I gave the rod up after a few cranks of the reel, knowing it was a bigger fish the way it was ripping drag. Not quite big enough for her PB but a real nice one any ways.
Will we see these posted on the wall at Hunter’s again?
** Stacie for President **
Wow i forgot about that night!
Thanks for bringing that up! I had to go back and look again…It IS Stacie!
At first I thought it was Lip.
Great report and fish Stacie!
Tuck you are OLD.
If you can’t tell the difference between Stacie and I how do you pass your drivers test vision exam. Please call next time before you drive, I will stay in my basement until the close is clear. 
Good report Lip and I agree – it’s been a very finicky bite this year on Mille Lacs as it relates to pulling cranks in the open basin. Well at least the scenery is good!
Great report Stacie
Glad you were able to help Lipper look good
And that is a difficult task!
And the VIDEO is Where???
Welcome to In-Depth Outdoors Bluegil
Sorry no video.
Yep, I think a lot of people forgot about that night.
Yep, I think a lot of people forgot about that night.
Thanks for the kind comments.
Didn’t expect my suntanning to get posted on the site…but a girl has to do something when the bite is so slow. Hopefully the Fall bite will show us something different…I still need to get a 30″ walleye or a monster muskie! 
And to think those silly bass guys hold their fish at arms length to make them look good.
Rob & Stacie:
Managed my trip last week for the summer and am hoping to return for the fall as a first timer for the moon bites. Taking words of advice from here and the Hunter’s site I went scouting at the beginning of the week looking for edges of flats to help me out with was a much better ‘eye bite than last summer for our trip. None of my scouting took me to the open basin as it were and I concentrated on the tops, top edges and bottom edges of the flats out from Red Door and Myr Mar down to 8 Mile.
It was obvious that the spots mentioned to me while at the Door were getting pounded and I wandered to other areas close to those hotspots looking for my own fish. But while doing some fishing in those spots I did notice a fair number of fish suspended over the areas. Perhaps this year they are staying closer to the flats. It might be a help rather than a hindrance to stay closer to the flats. I never got a chance to find out if the crank bite was better though… We did put some fish in the box and ended up with a 25″ fish as big fish for the trip with most fish coming by pulling blades behind bouncers or corking 20′-25′ areas in select areas close to the flats. As I get a little more caught up here at work, I will try to get a few more details/pictures up regarding the muskies and smallies as well as the ‘eyes.
Mark