There comes a time in every man’s ice season to shake the rust out and tackle walleyes on ice for the season. In my case; the sooner, the better! I will admit, it was a great feeling and no better lake to scratch the first itch than Lake Mille Lacs.
Monday afternoon was spent searching for safe ice in anticipation to search out a few early winter walleye on Mille Lacs. Disappointment set in early as I drilled into a few old haunts on Mille Lacs’ West side. Underneathe 8-10 inches of ice was over three feet of slush from the sudden windy freeze of the lake. Hopping holes was impossible as each hole needed to be carefully groomed into a fishable state.
Saddened in my findings, today found me devouring the ice of the North end. Its plain to say that the new StrikeMaster Solo handles 7 inches of ice like a shotgun through drywall. As of one quarter of a mile from the North shore, I found 7 inches of ice and no more. Farther South past the first active heave, the ice was 5 inches or less. Crossing this active heave is taking a chance as one may find himself trapped mid-lake.
Now, the walleyes on the other hand, seem to be quite active in comparison to recent years past in the current part of the season.
Early morning had our group settled in 15 feet of water. Jigging spoons produced over 8 fish until 11 AM. In that flurry of action came this fine specimen, measuring in at 27 inches. Additional slot fish were harvested, yet more difficult to locate.
The primary location fished today was 15 to 19 feet of water while staying close to rocky shallow areas. Within these depths of water, active fish can be found throughout the day. Small perch are abundant in these areas. It is important to stay in close proximity to these schools as larger predators are depending on them. Not only walleye, but your occasional large toothy pike.
The exciting part of today was two new pieces of equipment. The ice eating Strikemaster Solo and my custom spoon rod from Thorne Brothers . In a nutshell so far, I’ve got holes in record time and much more confidence and control behind the rod.
Today was bitterly cold with windchills colder than -20. I was forced to contain myself the majority of the time in my portable shelter.
However, as promised, I was able to capture some video for your viewing pleasure. I’m still learning a few tricks to capturing better video when in such a harsh environment. I beleive I’m getting better at it.
Here is the video link Mille Lacs video
Thanks for the update Matt
Great report, Matt!!
-J.
Nice report Matt, cool video as well..
Great report Matt.
How long will the walleye and perch hold in areas your currently catching them in? I may have a chance to hit Mille Lacs on Christmas and the day after. What kind of movements, if any, can one expect in another 10 days?
The fish I’m seeing in these shallow rock areas have been in the area since the fall and eating well. They will be in this area until the perch begin rounding up and cruising the lake mud for forage. However in a weeks time, there may be better options for slot fish if you desire. This shallow bite may last all the way through December, however by that time the reefs and flats will outproduce this bite
Matt, when I go to thorn Bros on Friday do I just tell Pat I want the Matt Grow spoon rod?
I’d be tickled if they would call it that
Pat should remember what it took to make it. If he doesn’t or doesn’t have the details of it anymore, Get ahold of me and I’ll contact them. If you’re a hole hopping spoon fisherman, this rod is sweet!
nice report and video matt!!
Nice Work Matt!!!
Never heard the word jounce… Is that a Matt exclusive?
Jami
Sorry its not a “Matt Exclusive”. It is however, something youget when a Mechanical engineer goes ice fishing. In terms of springs, jounce is the amount of recoil available after the spring is loaded. i.e. how far you can pick your truck off the ground before the tire actually leaves the floor. Hence,….jounce.
Heck don’t take my word for it,….. def. of jounce
great report, I can’t get up there till January and I’m ready! Cool video also!
I enjoy reading all of your reports, keep it up…
I enjoy reading all of your reports, keep it up…
Nice job Matt. Makes me wish I was up there.
Great video Matt! Looked mighty cold! I’m sure the filming would of gone better if it was a Tad warmer.
Lets just say I’m ready for just about any weather after that. I hope to see some other stories and photo’s from other’s success this weekend
I’m itchin to get up there, but I have to get my window of opportunity from the wife and then I’m out of here!
based on where you live jtimm, I would say your running to the hardware store and sneak off to mille lacs for a couple hours…
My window has opened! Off to the big pond….. I mean hardware store.
Living by Knife lake the pond isn’t to far away.
Well, I got out. A 13″, and a 16″ walleye to show for 2 hours of fishing. Got moved on the ice by a active crack.
On my same path in I came up to about 3-4′ of open water on a crack I crossed just 2.5 hours earlier. I luckily found a place to cross it about 100 yds down the lake. I was on foot, and found about 8″ of ice.