Minnesota - Mille Lacs Lake - Bass Fishing Report at IDOfishing.com

20-inch Mille Lacs Lake Smallie taken on a 3.5 inch tube.

Mille Lacs Lake in north central Minnesota is well known as one of the top walleye fisheries in the world. But this week my family and I took the 6 hour drive north to pursue one of my favorite species, the smallmouth bass. Monday greeted us with perfect conditions for chasing smallmouth on the big pond. The big lake laid down with very light winds and mother nature welcomed us with a high, sunny sky. We couldn't ask for better conditions to start the week.

Tim Zoucha with a personal best 19 inch Mille Lacs smallie caught on a chatter bait.

My father-in-law, Tim Zoucha and I went with a two-prong approach. He went with the slip-bobber and leech and I chose a variety of artificial baits including tubes, stickworms, inline spinners, and chatter baits. We soon discovered that the smallies much preferred the plastics over anything else, including the leeches. This was a bit of a mixed blessing because I love fishing plastics but I had hoped Tim would be able to kick back and enjoy a casual corking bite on this trip. But the live bait bite never developed for us so Tim got a lesson in pitching plastics on the rocky reefs. As anyone who has fished this presentation can tell you, that is going to result in a number of snags, and it did. After one too many snags I decided to put a green pumpkin chatter bait into Tim's hands. That did the trick. Tim ended up with his personal best smallie, this 19-inch beauty.

Carinsa Kuehl with her 19 inch Mille Lacs Smallie!

The rest of the week presented us with less than ideal conditions as the winds picked up and storms moved in and out of the area. On this 132,000 acre lake, a little wind can create a big problem, especially when you're trying to fish small plastics on light line. We did what we could to find calmer waters, moving away from the windblown side of the lake. While this often took us away from our preferred spots, we were still able to find some willing fish. My 6-year-old daughter, Carinsa even got into the act with this 19-inch smallie caught on a chatter bait. She needed a little help from her daddy because that smallie was trying to pull her rod into the lake, but she did all the reeling on her own and was thrilled when she finally landed the great fish after it had jumped out of the water about 4 feet from the boat. She still tickled about that fish and hopefully she'll get a chance to catch it again when it's over 20 inches!

Wade with a 20 and a half inch Mille Lacs Smallie!

As for me, I had one of the best few days of fishing I've ever had as far as the size of the fish I caught. The numbers weren't as high as some previous trips, but the size of the fish made up for it quite easily. I boated two fish over 20 inches with my final fish on Thursday pushing that 21-inch mark! What a way to end the trip! That particular smallie fell victim to a 4-inch, green pumpkin tube. I also had several fish in the 18 and 19-inch range with the majority of fish coming on tubes in natural colors. I did manage a 19-incher on an imitation flappin hog, also in green pumpkin. We primarily fished rocky reefs and rocky points which you can find fairly easily with the use of an electronic lake map and a good Sonar/GPS combo like the Lowrance LMS-520C. When fishing plastics for smallies I like to use a medium power 6'8" St. Croix Legend Elite spinning rod spooled with 8-pound fluorocarbon line. The setup is incredibly sensitive and allows you to feel the bass pickup the bait. That will help you set the hook before the smallie gets the bait too deep which will risk injury to the fish. Mille Lacs has a 21-inch minimum size limit and the best way to ensure the future of our fisheries is a quick photo and a gentle release. Best of luck on the water everyone!