Quick Mille Lacs Lake Fall Trolling Report 10.8.09

Last night a buddy and I made a mid day call to head up to the Pond and try some Fall night trolling. I have only been out trolling once so far this year as Hunting and work is taking up a HUGE amount of my time. Since I have not been on the lake since before Labor Day I was going into the night sort of blind. However, thanks to others here at IDO leaving their reports on the forums, I was able to at least figure a few things out quicker and have a game plan going in.. So, I met my buddy Chris at the camper and we headed around the top of the lake looking for a spot to land as we had a NW wind. We started fishing shortly before 8 and with a decent breeze we started up on the NW corner of the lake to stay out of the cool October wind. Water temp was right at 52.5 degrees all night long and we started out on some rock I have not visited for quite some time.

With the help of my Lake Master chip it really cut down the time to get re- acquainted with this reef again as exactly how it lays. After 2 quick passes on this small rock reef things and information came flooding back to my memory as I remembered a little spine that runs along one side of it and I quickly took advantage of it. Soon my Fire Tiger colored Storm crank sent the sensation of slack and excitement to my brain as I waited for the rod to load up and hook into my first fish of the night, a nice 17” fish. As soon as Chris got done netting mine and before he could grab his rod, he yells “Fish On” as he brings in a nice 16.5” slot eye that finds the bottom of the net on his Fire Tiger HJ12.

This was the theme the rest of the night. Nothing to crazy or big but just a steady grind of 16-20” fish as long as we stayed on the rocks. All but 4 of our 16 fish came on the rocks with a few on the gravel, but no fish again from the weeds. The weeds looked great and inviting but no takers, even on this proven area. We did have quite a few short bites that just would not hook up. The Fire Tiger baits took most of the fish with clown and a few others boating a couple. No real big fish came to the boat last and we had one pike that could not resist Chris’s Glass Clown HJ12. The key was find little humps on the reef or break where it got really shallow. Most of the fish were taken in 3-7’ fow on the rocks. Both inside and outside corner rods got bit and speeds seemed to be best about 1.5-1.7 mph.

The night started off with cloudy conditions and cleared up with the late rising moon. It was a cool October night and by the time we got off the water ice had formed on my deck and carpet as the chill of the night started to set in just before 2 am. It was great being on the water and even though we were able to catch a decent amount of fish and have 5 in the box to take home, I fish this bite for the BIG MOMMAS that just did not make an appearance last night as our biggest fish only taped out just under 21”. The bite seems like it is just starting to take shape and this weekend will only get better, but if the weather stays constant and somewhat stable I would have to say next weekend would be Prime time and when the BIG GIRLS start showing up in numbers. Hope this helps anyone heading up this weekend. Good Luck and let us know how you do!

I will not be back on the water until next week as I have hunting on the brain and a Dog that is about to go over the edge if he does not see some bird action soon! So until next time LIP is OUTIE!