|
|
Posts: 148
Location: Northwest Wi. | I've been fishing the S/E corner of Mille Lacs almost every week since late summer and have not even seen a fish since Aug 24th. I was wondering if its just me and the crew having bad luck?? It seems everyone I talk with is also not seeing anything. Has anyone put a fish in the boat on Mille Lacs within the last month or so?? I hope so... |
|
| |
|
| just curious....how can you keep fishing it if its that bad? i would get so bored and just not interested... i would lose my mind not seeing/catching a fish in that long of a time period especially on mille lacs.. i had 1 follow on Sat, still plenty of casters and guides on the lake, some people still have to be catching and seeing plenty of fish |
|
| |
|
| When the walleye fishermen are struggling to catch fish, you know there is something wrong. Baitfish Bonanza. Perch explosion, and a recent tullibee hatch have anglers scratching their heads. The best walleye reports have come from out in deeper water, you bet that is where the majority of the muskies are as well. Many of the walleye fishermen recently are coming in with a goose egg trolling rapalas in the shallows and that is during the full moon period of October? The fish are out there, but very hard to pattern when they are holding in deep water of a 132,000 acre lake.
Edited by Baby Mallard 10/14/2008 1:02 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 148
Location: Northwest Wi. | Steve W-Im not complianing ,,just wondering ,thats all. I've got a weekend place over there so its kind of my home water. Also the weather has been nice!! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 1169
Location: New Hope MN | I'm going tomorrow... I was 1 for 1 (44") this summer on the big pond. I kept hearing the troubled reports, but thought I'd give it a go. |
|
| |
|
Location: Twin Cities | I'll be up there this weekend, track day at BIR and some fishing and hopefully grouse hunting. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 203
Location: Minnesota | Was on Mille Lacs with Steve Jonesi all day on Oct 14th (Full moon) with NOTHING at all to report about... My brother and I were throwing out 11" Curly Sues, Mag Dawgs, Mag Helidawgs, Super DCGs, and DCGs... We called it quits sometimes after 9pm... Steve was very PUMPED about the day... but the gods werent smiling upon us... Hope you all have better luck and bring back good reports... |
|
| |
|
| Walleye fishermen are starting to catch some fish up shallow now trolling raps. Maybe the muskies will get going too? Your best bet is to be there when the tullibee spawn. Timing is crucial. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 201
Location: Stevens Point | Boated a low 30s exactly 2weeks ago, almost to the hour. had her hit on a 12" depthraider on a figure eight. fat fish, no fin clips so we think it was not a stocked fish. That was the only fish we saw that weekend. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 134
Location: (South of the 218) | I can't speak for the Muskies out on the Big Pond but I was out on a launch out of Eddy's last weekend for a Bachelor party. I'll tell you that we were fishing 28-29 feet of water from 6-10 P.M. and all night I kept seeing 4-6 inch "baitfish" coming up to check out our floodlights. It was pretty cool but I would guess that those Pig Muskies must be filling their bellies day in and day out in DEEP water.
out
K
Oh yeah, fishing walleyes (caught 20) - first one was 25" - after that - a bunch of "dinks" - most of the time I was daydreaming about grouse hunting and Muskie Fishing - not drowning leeches. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 118
Location: Minnesota | Fished Milacs the last 2 days, boat one fat 45 incher, saw several others, lost one big one, and caught a couple fat pike. Those fish are eating very well to say the least! It seems people are getting the word that the fish are on the rocks, yesterday there were 5 boats on indian point alone! Water temps ranged from 40-42, toolies are up, snagged a few.
Attachments
----------------
 mille45.JPG (109KB - 70 downloads)
sak40mille.JPG (118KB - 61 downloads)
nov11mille.JPG (169KB - 65 downloads)
John 37.5.JPG (36KB - 64 downloads)
|
|
| |
|
Location: Twin Cities | I've heard some favorable reports lately too, nice going guys, great looking fish! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 193
Location: Mayer, MN | Looks like fun Dan and Corey! Healthy looking fish.
Jason
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 118
Location: Minnesota | Oh it's always a good time in the elements! |
|
| |
|
Posts: 148
Location: Northwest Wi. | Thanks for the report and photos. Its good to see that the fish are there. Hard to get a pond report. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2089
| Water temps are between 40 and 42. Cisco are still up on the rocks shagging. They are on the high spots during lower light and off the edges during the day. It's a buffett on the rocks. She's only a cast away! Steve |
|
| |
|
Posts: 219
| Steve,
What do you think the chances are she will be open this weekend, and be able to launch somewhere.
Thanks Darren |
|
| |
|
| is that why most if not all the guides left the pond this summer/fall to fish other lakes that were kicking out fish? what is going on with the lake.
where are the muskies? harvest/delayed mortality from all the night cowgirl down their throats? what are some educated guesses as to what really is going on.
How can guys be fishing for days and weeks on end and not seeing any muskies?
|
|
| |
|
| TOO MUCH FORAGE |
|
| |
|
Location: Twin Cities | capt morgan - 11/18/2008 1:28 AM
is that why most if not all the guides left the pond this summer/fall to fish other lakes that were kicking out fish? what is going on with the lake.
where are the muskies? harvest/delayed mortality from all the night cowgirl down their throats? what are some educated guesses as to what really is going on.
How can guys be fishing for days and weeks on end and not seeing any muskies?
Maybe you should go fish it and find out what's going on?  |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2089
| Capt.,
At 132,000 acres, Mille Lacs is a different animal. Look at a map. Study the map . Now combine surface acres with water "volume" and it's pretty daunting. Fishing was tough this season because there weren't the #'S of fish on the "traditional" spots as there had been previous years. Why? The enormous perch hatch(DNR says they've never sampled the multiple year classes as this year), the VERY late spring and ice cover which retarded weed growth, the cool summer(did we have one?) , a boom in the tullibee(cisco) population, absolutely stupid pressure at times(fish move off,adapt). Ok, so go fish "open" water. Hahahahahahaha. Been saying all season that we're fishing 30K acres and the majority of fish are using the other 100K.Oh, and we cast .It can be pretty inefficient when fishing 100,000 acres of open water. 3 lines/person, then it would be trolling all the way. The lake takes care of herself. She needed a break anyway. I hear the next world record is gonna come out of Green Bay. Steve |
|
| |
|
| capt morgan - 11/18/2008 11:28 AM
is that why most if not all the guides left the pond this summer/fall to fish other lakes that were kicking out fish? what is going on with the lake.
where are the muskies? harvest/delayed mortality from all the night cowgirl down their throats? what are some educated guesses as to what really is going on.
How can guys be fishing for days and weeks on end and not seeing any muskies?
Lots of guides still fishing that lake, pressure is not down much |
|
| |
|
| funny, seems most of the well known guides were hopping around to every other lake but ML all summer. How do I know? I saw them fishing other lakes with my own eyes and other people saw them fishing other lakes too.
And pressure not down? bs. |
|
| |
|
| Just a question,,,Ive heard more people then Steve remark that the lake takes care of itself and Im not disputing that but if people belive that is true can we take those fish that are stocked every two years "3000" or so and use them other places where there needed,,such has jumpstarting Winnibigosish and we have been told that about 3 lakes in the metro didnt get there fish this year because of rearing shortages. |
|
| |
|
| I'm also jealous that guides get to fish everyday and I don't, but I don't attack them. What would you do? Fish a lake where you know you're not going to catch anything or go to a lake where you will? Wouldn't you do the same thing as a personal angler if you had the information?
Some guides didn't leave ML and fished hard through it all, what gives you more right to a lake or a spot than the guy who got there before you? Maybe you and Steve should put your heads together and find some new spots. |
|
| |
|
Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | I wonder how mad people would get if I listed the lakes that many of the "big name" guides fished this year. LOL... |
|
| |
|
Posts: 118
Location: Minnesota | Report is: Water temps at 36, Eddy's is froze up and temps are brutal! One pike for Dan's all day troll. Time to pull the plug?
Obfuscate Musky - I can name the lakes and several others if you need me too. LOL
You guys have to understand the business of being a musky guide before you rip on them. The bottom line is that they are getting paid to put clients on fish, that means they must exhaust every and all options to do such task. I am not a guide, but I have taken several guys out with me and worked my butt off to put them on fish. If the net gets wet on any trip, that is a successful trip!!!
Edited by W8N4SNO 11/18/2008 4:19 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 447
Location: Waconia, MN | Steve and Danno, you guys rule!
Danno, Corey tells me you were out today, let me know the 411, and Steve, I will be calling you tomorrow!
Scott |
|
| |
|
Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | Why all the negative attitude towards the guides that made names for themselves on Mille Lacs but are now fishing other lakes? Who ever said they NEEDED to keep fishing ML to remain a high quality, knowledgeable guide? If they are able to catch fish on other lakes, aren't they still doing what they are supposed to do, and maybe even showing some versatility?
It sounds like there are some real reasons as to why Mille Lacs is tough this year. Why should the guides beat their heads against the wall when they could catch fish and make clients happy on other lakes?
curleytail |
|
| |
|
Posts: 654
Location: MPLS, MN | CurlyTail - I don't think anyone is being negative to guides that didn't fish Mille Lacs this year. I just made a joke because I know the lakes that are much smaller they were fishing that are pretty much low pressure lakes and I made a joke about how pissed they would be if I started telling everyone on the net what lakes they were because you know everyone would flood them. |
|
| |
|
| i would go ahead and name the lakes anyways, those lakes had a huge increase in pressure do these guides pounding these lakes all day everyday, i would much rather fish mille lacs than the lakes they went to though, those are more # lakes and not too hard to figure out. and not nearly the quality of fish that mille lacs has to offer |
|
| |
|
Posts: 148
Location: Northwest Wi. | When I started this post I did not want everyone "Bashing" each other,,Just wanted to talk about Fish (or lack there of..) and Mille Lacs Lake. Thanks to those who submited reports, I put "The Shark" away for the season ,,Those frozen net photos are more than I can bare!! |
|
| |
|
| You have to take into account WHY they fished those lakes. Number one reason is because they had a place to stay at. They had a friend who lived there already. Saved them money. Number 2 reason is/was gas prices. Sure there are a ton better other lakes that they could have fished, but economically it didn't make any sense. The lakes they fished are decent lakes, but they don't even make my top 15 for best lakes in the state. By the way, those lakes got pounded this year, not a big secret. As a result, fishing was a little slow. Mille Lacs was actually pretty decent this year for the diehards. Some of the big name guides left, and the crowds followed.
Edited by Baby Mallard 11/19/2008 5:20 PM
|
|
| |
|
Posts: 670
Location: Otsego, MN | Baby Mallard - 11/19/2008 12:18 PM
You have to take into account WHY they fished those lakes. Number one reason is because they had a place to stay at. They had a friend who lived there already. Saved them money Number 2 reason is/was gas prices. Sure there are a ton better other lakes that they could have fished, but economically it didn't make any sense. The lakes they fished are decent lakes, but they don't even make my top 15 for best lakes in the state. By the way, those lakes got pounded this year, not a big secret. As a result, fishing sucked there this year. Mille Lacs was actually pretty good this year for the diehards. Some of the big name guides left, and the crowds followed. As a result, the fishing was pretty darn good on Mille Lacs. I fish wherever the guides are not at, which is getting tougher to do these days.
As a comment to your "fishing sucked there this year". I really don't believe guides are to blame for the fishing sucking.
I fish a large metro lake for 90% of my muskie fishing and there was a time in August when I saw a lot of these guides pounding the water, fishing doesn't suck because of guides. I sure didn't notice a difference and neither did many of the rest of us out there.
On most lakes the pressure is growing and it's not because of guides. Other factors like you mentioned gas would be a great cause. Also the sport in general is just booming!! Which has it's positives and negatives. The guides pounding these new lakes everyday is fine, the fish are there still, maybe they move off traditional spots due to pressure, well we just have to go find them. It's what makes muskie fishing the challenge that it is. |
|
| |
|
| really disagree w/ Pedro, how much can these lakes and fish take.....its not like a day or two a week, but day after day, all day and night, on those lakes we noticed a huge decline in # of fish caught now only by the guides but others that wanted to fish the lakes too... Pedro (LOL) |
|
| |
|
Posts: 697
Location: Minnetonka | Word up Pedro. It is, indeed, a booming sport... people are intentionally poking muskies in the mouth with hooks. <gasp> Guides or not... HUMANS are affecting the ECOSYSTEM. Oh well... the benefits of being a progressive muskie fishermen... not sweating the pressure.
Haha... winter must be here... the heated debates.
Hey... isn't there still like a week and a half left!?
Catch 'em,
Andy
Edited by Hammskie 11/19/2008 3:29 PM
|
|
| |
|
Location: Twin Cities | Hammskie - 11/19/2008 5:20 AM
Oh well... the benefits of being a progressive muskie fishermen... not sweating the pressure.
Wait, what? <gasp> adaptation? Say it ain't so!
I've fished around where the guides fish a lot and where there is a TON of pressure, I've still found plenty of fish in both size and numbers. Best year i've had yet, can't wait for this weekend!
Edited by JRedig 11/19/2008 3:27 PM
|
|
| |
