Mille Lacs Lake Weekly Fishing Report
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs has been outstanding! The evening slip bite continues to produce the best numbers, and if you're going to utilize this approach, it's important that you have at least a pound of leeches. The fight is very busy for the last four hours of daylight, so make sure you're prepared.
During the day, the fish are transitioning deeper, and we are seeing more fish found in the mud flats. Don't be afraid to utilize your sonar and forward facing as much as possible to define schools of fish. Once these fish are found, they are easily able to stay on when you pitch from a distance.
Just last week, we had a struggling fisherman message us from his boat in the middle of the lake. We gave out some quick pointers, and he immediately started catching fish! We're happy to help whenever we can.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs continues to be excellent. Fish are transitioning deeper into the 20-24 foot gravel beds and can be found all the way along weed lines in up to 10 feet of water.
With the heavy winds we had during the last week, it has been a challenge to consistently locate fish in specific areas. With the stable forecast, that should improve as we move forward to late June.
Shiners and leeches continue to be the bait of choice. We've also noticed that using live scope and a slip bobber with a nightcrawler has been working well.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs has never been better. Guides have been producing fish in similar depths as the last few weeks, but have been noticing the fish moving into slightly deeper waters. Expect this trend to continue as the summer progresses.
Jigging, shiners, or minnows of any kind of have continued to produce when coupled with live scope targeting. Walleye have also been caught on the mud flats and are starting to school up more.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs has been some of the best we have seen in 20+ years. Larger fish - and excellent caught numbers - are consistently reported by our guides.
In depths from 12-19 feet, a jig and a shiner/fathead are working well with live scope. Targeting fish with a perfect cast is producing fish on the majority of attempts. If you are spotting fish that appear to be a little more suspended, using a slip bobber and a leech works well.
If the sun is bright with a low wind, you will find walleye in shallow areas, approximately 7-10 feet, along weed beds.
Trust your sonar - if you don’t see fish, they are probably not there!
Thursday, May 23, 2024
This week’s report is from Dan Pfeifer, one of the guides with Mille Lacs Lake Guiding. Dan and fellow guide Ryan Wellcome won the Minnesota Tournament Trail event this past weekend on Mille Lacs. MLLG Guides Dave Askew and Bill Schneider also finished in the top 10!
Tournament fishing is different than our normal guide trips, however. Instead of catching high numbers of fish with the occasional trophy-size fish, we are looking to catch 5 of the biggest fish in the lake - quality over quantity. During prefishing and in the tournament, we caught fish from 8-22 feet of water. Mille Lacs has an abundance of walleyes from 14”-25”, but we found that weeds in 10-14 feet of water were holding larger fish. Mille Lacs has weed lines scattered along the North shore and in several of the bays along the West and Southern shore.
Once we located areas with weeds using our side scan, we used forward facing sonar to find the fish hiding in the weeds. Often, we are able to determine the size of the fish with forward facing sonar and target our casting to those larger fish. We used a combination of jigs and shiners, jigs and plastics, and a bobber and leech. A bobber and leech is pretty consistent anywhere on the lake, but in the weeds, a jig that is cast out and worked aggressively back to the boat is very effective, too. When it breaks free from a weed and shoots forward, walleyes can’t resist it.
If you are looking to catch a trophy walleye this Memorial Day weekend, give the weeds a try. If you move to the inside of the weedline, you have a chance at a trophy smallmouth as well.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
We had an incredible bite on Opener under the northern lights. This time of year, it’s hard to beat the evening bobber bite for fast paced walleye action. For the evening bite, our guides are setting up on rock piles and break lines in 17-19 feet of water. On the business end, we use small jigs and medium leeches. We also have experienced a good jig bite throughout the day.
We are using 1/8-1/4 oz jigs and spottail shiners at a wide range of depths. At low light periods, we are pitching the jigs into 6-10 feet of water and, during the day, 15-20 feet in the sand and mud to rock transitions. We are also catching Smallmouth Bass on the jigs and shiners.
Depending on the area of the lake you're fishing, the water temps are in the upper 50s to low 60s. The weather has been stable this week and is expected to be consistent throughout the weekend, so we will continue to utilize a one-two punch of bobbers with leeches and jigs and shiners.
The first person to contact Mille Lacs Lake Guiding after reading this report using the word "walleye" will receive a Mille Lacs Lake Guiding coozie to keep your beverages cold while you're on the lake!
Thursday, May 9, 2024
As I submit this fishing report, I think in just a few short days, Minnesota fishing opener will be here!
We will be launching the boat at midnight and utilizing the lighted slip bobber with a bright orange or red jig with a leech. Depending on where we are seeing fish on the sonar, we usually have our jig depth set to 14 inches above the bottom. It is important to utilize sonar to find fish, but what we turn off our electronics as we believe the pinging from the sonar may cause the fish to become skittish. Utilizing power pro braid fishing line is an important technique that we use to get more immediate hook sets.
If you would like to book a fishing trip with one of the staff at Mille Lacs Lake Guiding, we will put you on trophy Walleye with some of the best equipment on the lake!
Fishing on Mille Lacs has been outstanding! The evening slip bite continues to produce the best numbers, and if you're going to utilize this approach, it's important that you have at least a pound of leeches. The fight is very busy for the last four hours of daylight, so make sure you're prepared.
During the day, the fish are transitioning deeper, and we are seeing more fish found in the mud flats. Don't be afraid to utilize your sonar and forward facing as much as possible to define schools of fish. Once these fish are found, they are easily able to stay on when you pitch from a distance.
Just last week, we had a struggling fisherman message us from his boat in the middle of the lake. We gave out some quick pointers, and he immediately started catching fish! We're happy to help whenever we can.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs continues to be excellent. Fish are transitioning deeper into the 20-24 foot gravel beds and can be found all the way along weed lines in up to 10 feet of water.
With the heavy winds we had during the last week, it has been a challenge to consistently locate fish in specific areas. With the stable forecast, that should improve as we move forward to late June.
Shiners and leeches continue to be the bait of choice. We've also noticed that using live scope and a slip bobber with a nightcrawler has been working well.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs has never been better. Guides have been producing fish in similar depths as the last few weeks, but have been noticing the fish moving into slightly deeper waters. Expect this trend to continue as the summer progresses.
Jigging, shiners, or minnows of any kind of have continued to produce when coupled with live scope targeting. Walleye have also been caught on the mud flats and are starting to school up more.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Fishing on Mille Lacs has been some of the best we have seen in 20+ years. Larger fish - and excellent caught numbers - are consistently reported by our guides.
In depths from 12-19 feet, a jig and a shiner/fathead are working well with live scope. Targeting fish with a perfect cast is producing fish on the majority of attempts. If you are spotting fish that appear to be a little more suspended, using a slip bobber and a leech works well.
If the sun is bright with a low wind, you will find walleye in shallow areas, approximately 7-10 feet, along weed beds.
Trust your sonar - if you don’t see fish, they are probably not there!
Thursday, May 23, 2024
This week’s report is from Dan Pfeifer, one of the guides with Mille Lacs Lake Guiding. Dan and fellow guide Ryan Wellcome won the Minnesota Tournament Trail event this past weekend on Mille Lacs. MLLG Guides Dave Askew and Bill Schneider also finished in the top 10!
Tournament fishing is different than our normal guide trips, however. Instead of catching high numbers of fish with the occasional trophy-size fish, we are looking to catch 5 of the biggest fish in the lake - quality over quantity. During prefishing and in the tournament, we caught fish from 8-22 feet of water. Mille Lacs has an abundance of walleyes from 14”-25”, but we found that weeds in 10-14 feet of water were holding larger fish. Mille Lacs has weed lines scattered along the North shore and in several of the bays along the West and Southern shore.
Once we located areas with weeds using our side scan, we used forward facing sonar to find the fish hiding in the weeds. Often, we are able to determine the size of the fish with forward facing sonar and target our casting to those larger fish. We used a combination of jigs and shiners, jigs and plastics, and a bobber and leech. A bobber and leech is pretty consistent anywhere on the lake, but in the weeds, a jig that is cast out and worked aggressively back to the boat is very effective, too. When it breaks free from a weed and shoots forward, walleyes can’t resist it.
If you are looking to catch a trophy walleye this Memorial Day weekend, give the weeds a try. If you move to the inside of the weedline, you have a chance at a trophy smallmouth as well.
Thursday, May 16, 2024
We had an incredible bite on Opener under the northern lights. This time of year, it’s hard to beat the evening bobber bite for fast paced walleye action. For the evening bite, our guides are setting up on rock piles and break lines in 17-19 feet of water. On the business end, we use small jigs and medium leeches. We also have experienced a good jig bite throughout the day.
We are using 1/8-1/4 oz jigs and spottail shiners at a wide range of depths. At low light periods, we are pitching the jigs into 6-10 feet of water and, during the day, 15-20 feet in the sand and mud to rock transitions. We are also catching Smallmouth Bass on the jigs and shiners.
Depending on the area of the lake you're fishing, the water temps are in the upper 50s to low 60s. The weather has been stable this week and is expected to be consistent throughout the weekend, so we will continue to utilize a one-two punch of bobbers with leeches and jigs and shiners.
The first person to contact Mille Lacs Lake Guiding after reading this report using the word "walleye" will receive a Mille Lacs Lake Guiding coozie to keep your beverages cold while you're on the lake!
Thursday, May 9, 2024
As I submit this fishing report, I think in just a few short days, Minnesota fishing opener will be here!
We will be launching the boat at midnight and utilizing the lighted slip bobber with a bright orange or red jig with a leech. Depending on where we are seeing fish on the sonar, we usually have our jig depth set to 14 inches above the bottom. It is important to utilize sonar to find fish, but what we turn off our electronics as we believe the pinging from the sonar may cause the fish to become skittish. Utilizing power pro braid fishing line is an important technique that we use to get more immediate hook sets.
If you would like to book a fishing trip with one of the staff at Mille Lacs Lake Guiding, we will put you on trophy Walleye with some of the best equipment on the lake!
