Mille Lacs Lake
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Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Reports
Stay up to date with the latest fishing reports from Mille Lacs Lake. Reports are submitted by local anglers, fishing guides, and our team of fishing experts.
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Smallmouth BassTechniqueDrop ShotSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureReefDropshot worked well with a hazedong shad along the 8-15' breaks near spawning flats. Fan casting spark shads also got some nice sized fish.
Omnia Community MemberBronze AmbassadorSpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueUmbrella RigsSeasonSpring (Pre-Spawn)StructureReefCruising bottom with the Minnesota rig
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueNed RigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureBoulders
Slow crawl.
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueUmbrella RigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureBouldersFun Weekend. Fish all over the place and are kinda tough to get to eat depending on the day. Did catch a few on the A-rig. I actually use the Hover X from PFI but the quad is awesome to!
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueSpybaitsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureBoulders
The smallmouth are easily 80% done around the lake. Many fish are post spawn and are fairly tough to catch. I’ve been throwing Feider flys, spy baits, and perfect Ned’s. I have been finding most of my fish in 8-12ft around larger boulders or good gravel to larger Boulder transitions, some boulders had fish stacked on them and some didn’t. I still haven’t seen a giant mayfly hatch yet this year but some of the boulders are starting to get green algae of some kind growing on them making it a little tougher to fish bottom contact baits. I do believe the fish tend to stay away from boulders that have that growing in abundance on them. Soon will be in a full summer swing!
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueHard Topwater (Popping)SeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureRock PileWhat a great time to be out on Mille Lacs. The topwater bite is on right now and it is hard to beat. There was a big mayfly hatch the day previous to my arrival. I worked the west side and found areas just off the shallow rock reefs that these fish were actively feeding at the surface and if you put a bait anywhere near them you were getting bit. So many quality fish too. 3.75-5lbs was average. I also rotated to a hair jig, and switched my usual black to the brown color to match the mayfly. Again quality fish on the hair jig but the topwater was too much fun to pass on!
SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueNed RigsSeasonSpring (Post-Spawn)StructureBouldersMost of the boats were up shallow, flogging the medium-sized fish that are on beds, but if you're willing to work the first drop there are big fish to be caught. It's a mix of pre-spawn and post-spawn fish at this point, but more and more big fish are post-spawn. Look for areas with smaller boulders and irregular contours in 12-18 feet of water. The small finesse baits in natural colors caught all the bass, and also caught an absolute ton of accidental walleye while targeting the smallies; most fish seemed to be feeding on insects and craws. A tightlined GLF flat cat was the most fun way to catch them, and fish were caught on small (2.5") tubes and marabou jigs as well.
- SpeciesSmallmouth BassTechniqueFinesse Hair JigsSeasonSpring (Spawn)StructureBoulders
6/11 & 6/12 Mille Lacs is getting to be pretty fun right now. We’ve seen fish moving both up and down since Saturday & Sunday. Of course the fish are still on beds but due to the pressure - when you find beds in obvious areas it’s not worth your time to fish them. When they make big circles around they’re bed just from the site of your boat it always tells me those fish have been caught several times. Find beds that are not in obvious areas when bed fishing & obviously be responsible and leave them be after catching them, release them as gently and as close to there bed as possible. Getting on the transition lines from the top & bottom of the rock veins is key for catching pre and post spawn bass. Running a Feider fly , berkley stunna jerkbait, & a swimbait have been key for us catching these bass. Keeping your trolling motor on low and keeping my mega 360 and garmin livescope off & just fishing by site has been the biggest component to success when finding fish going up or down. Hope you guys blast them- in about a week will get a lot of post spawn fish that will be super tricky to stay on!
