I have been dreaming of a Mille Lacs smallmouth trip since ice out this spring but with the unseasonably cold weather it just kept ending up on the back burner. So when good friend Chris Winchester aka CatDaddy mentioned he had this past friday off I figured my stars had finally alligned. I have made a couple of trips to the pond with mild success chasing the famed sumo smallies of the lake, so this time Chris had the reigns and I was along for the ride. We hit the lake right at the legal fishing time of 6am and were greeted by heavy fog BUT the wind was nonexistant and that meant calm seas. So we launched and were off to the first spot. We started shallow looking for bedding fish but with the cooler than normal water temp the fish were not locked on to the beds and were pretty spooky. After only finding one willing biter Chis had us off to the second spot of the day.
Chris' 20 3/4 Mille Lacs Lake Smallmouth
Spot number two had us out a bit deeper looking for staging fish in the cooler water. Only three cast into it BINGO Chris struck gold with a MOMBO 19 incher.
Corey's 20 3/4" Mille Lacs Lake Smalmouth
This would prove to be the pattern for the day and tubes, lizerds, and the good old BFT Ringworms were the lures. Mainly we worked rock, gravel, and sand transitions in 5 to 7 feet of water. I am still in awe at the size and numbers of these fish. Any tournament angler has heard of sitting on a school of "cookie cutter" 2 pounders but how about a school of "cookie cutter" 4 pounders!!!!! We weighed and measured alot of these fish with most fish being 17 to 20 inches and BURSTING with eggs! Here is a pick of my longest fish at "20 3/4 but also the smallest belly of all the fish we caught she weighed out at 4lb 11oz on the digi
Mille Lacs Lake Smallmouth DOUBLE!
With lots and lost of quality fish comming to the boat it was only a matter of time befor our first double came in.. and then the BIG tripple came next. I want to give a big thanks to the big guy, CatDaddy for bringing me along on this trip I truly had a blast and hope to get to go again. For those of you who have never been to the pond chassing SUMO SMALLIES.... Its time to go. And for those of you who have tasted the action.... Its time to go back!!!! good luck and be safe
OH YEAH!!! the other guy is Ben, NICE JOB BEN!!! he he he
Awesome fish guys!I know I was sure tempted to fish for those instead of slot eyes when I was up this past weekend.It was pretty awesome seeing those big fish cruising in the shallows.
-------------------- Dean Marshall - Everts Fishing Resort
Located Below Lock & Dam #3 near Red Wing, MN!
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Ouch Bomber!!! John they look as though they will be spawning hot and heavy within a week or so. There were a lot of fish in the bays on beds already but they were not locked on them. We were able to get a couple of beds but it was very time consuming. All of our fish were found on rock / sand transition areas. I had not fished any of these spots for a couple of years but like other places the smallies are very habitual and once you have a spot they dont change. i would say the fish on the south end will move in this week if the sun would warm the water a little. I did not see any sign of a largemouth on a bed. Chris
-------------------- "CROSS THEIR EYES"
Chris "catdad" Winchester
I was up on wed. and again on sunday. Big difference between the two days. On wed. caught a lot of fish, all prespawn, 5-7 feet. Didn't see much on beds. On sun, there was a large influx of fish in 2-3 feet of water, saw many males trying to herd the females onto the beds. Caught quite a few fish that were already spawned out, although there were still many prespawn fish cruising the breaks. The bed fish were very tough to catch. Not sure what will happen with the colder weather this week. It will prob. put a hamper on any more spawning activity for a few days. Either way, the fishing has been great so far.
Sumo Mille Lacs Lake, MN Smallmouth Bass!
Re: Sumo Mille Lacs Lake, MN Smallmouth Bass!
