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| As we all know, muskies will be in the shallow sand on the north shore in the summer months on Mille Lacs, as well as a million musky fisherman.. I spent alot of time exploring other sand areas last year with minimal success. Is there a specific reason that the fish relate to north shore sand and not to other sand areas of the lake? Did I just not put enough time into the other sand areas and the muskies were probably there? I guess if I could understand why they are on the north sand it may help me to figure out if I am wasting my time or not with other sand areas??? |
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Posts: 2089
| Josh,
Last Summer I took a couple clients to Carlsona for lunch. There was an old timer sitting at the bar. He saw us and asked how the muskies were doing and if the cisco/tullibee were up yet. This was Summer I thought to myself, cisco? He went on to explain that the cisco move shallower looking for cooler water/more oxygen and the muskies follow. Later that afternoon, while fishing the sand, I saw something that kinda crystalized what we had talked about at lunch. I looked down (in about 2' of water) and saw a low 50's with a cisco t-boned. Just laying there in the sand. The next day, further down by Wealthwood, I look over the back side of the boat to catch a glimpse of a 48ish swimming just 6" below the surface with a , you guessed it, cisco t-boned in it's mouth. I'm not a biologist, but it makes sense to me.Hope this helps. Steve |
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Posts: 79
Location: S.E. Wisconsin | In any body of water the north shore water will be warmer, this may be where the most active fish may be in the lake. Not familiar with ML but there have been many articles wrote about sight fishing sand flats, personally I have never got a fish to strike or follow that I have seen first, I have convinced myself that they are there to digest a meal in warmer water or they have spotted me also. Hope someone can prove me wrong....I also convinced myself that the fish in this lake dont eat in water shallower than 10ft in bright conditions and feed on suspended bait fish and only use the shallows to "relax". Maybe try the deeper areas out or adjacent to the sand. |
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Posts: 79
Location: S.E. Wisconsin | Maybe I was wrong about the warmest water....is this because ML is so vast that the warmest water could acually be elsewhere on the lake because of the wind???Interesting???Im planning a trip next year.Sorry Steve I think we were posting at the same time.....Im a idiot.....always will be!! |
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Posts: 2089
| Demon,
I have heard from many sources that they're using the sand for digestion. Makes total sense that they eat a little deeper and digest up shallow. I never see baitfish up on the sand either. I really don't think they're "hunting" on the sand, but fish are caught on occassion. An incredible lake with a lot of idiosyncrasies, that's for sure. Steve |
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| I have also heard that they are up there digesting whatever they chose to enjoy for a meal. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but it's a reasonable answer. The fish that are there can be caught, but I hear you mostly get lookers. On a trip to Mille Lacs last year, most of the fish caught were at that end of the lake, in fairly shallow water. There were dozens and dozens of dead tulibee floating around the lake at that time, and some people mentioned the Muskies may have been feeding pretty heavily on them, then digesting them in the shallows. Who knows for sure? |
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| So where is a good place to fish ML early this June? Still the north end? |
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Posts: 66
Location: Minnesota | Along with the other hundreds of boats but hey it is what it is. The whole lake is good.
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| Fish only move shallow to digest.......
Fish don't feed in less than 10 feet of water.......
They are moving to the warmest water........
Fish are uncatchable when shallow......
are you guys talking about MUSKIES ??????? |
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