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Smallmouth Bass, Mille Lacs Lake MN
by Sliderfishn on 06/17/2009
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I headed to my “home” water, Mille Lacs Lake, to chase its world-class smallmouth bass for the first time this year. As I looked ahead on my schedule I thought this might be my only trip to the “pond” in the month of June.  Joining me on this trip was a great friend, Bret, who is an avid walleye fisherman. While Bret does not fish specifically for bass often, he does enjoy catching anything that swims
Bret and I started the day throwing 3 to 4 inch tubes rigged on 1/8 ounce jigs. I thought that the smallies would not want to chase a lure with the water temps in the low 60’s. Boy was I wrong. Early in the day the fish seemed to want the lures moving, slow yet steady. We swam the tubes over shallow rocks, ranging in size from pebbles to softballs, sometimes bigger. Bret caught the first four bass, which were between 16-19 inches. As the boat drifted over a slightly deeper depression, Bret once again set the hook, this time a muskie rocketed to the surface and decided to show its size and strength by tail-walking across the top of the water. A brief battle and Bret gets her boatside. After three feeble attempts by me to land her, the line finally broke  I estimate that this fish was in low 40’s and around 20 pounds. I am really thinking that I need to start carrying a bigger net; this is the third ski to make it to my boat this year -- two muskies while chasing smallies and one while chasing walleyes.
We traveled up and down one side of the lake in search of a nice school of bass but never found it, so we decided to load the boat and trailer to the other side of the lake. After a short truck ride, we started in an area that has held early June smallmouth for me in the past. Almost immediately we I started a seeing smallies, not bedding fish, but ones that were holding to a certain object whether it was a rock, stick, or weed clump. These fish would spook as the boat drifted by, but would come right back to “their “ area which would cover an 2-3 foot diameter circle next to “their” structure. If you sent your lure to this area you got bite; if your lure was outside of this area you did not. It was that simple.
Shallow water sight fishing is a blast. Watching how fish react to you, the boat, and your presentation can teach you a lot if you pay attention to the little details. These small details can mean the difference between fishing and catching. We cover a ton of water looking for these fish but that is part of the game this time of year. The smallmouth spawn is in full swing so please leave the bedding fish alone as there are areas to fish without taking these incredible fish off of their beds. The future of this world class fishery depends on it.
Good Luck,
Ron
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Location
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Minnesota
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Water Body
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Lake Mille Lacs
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Species
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bass
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Water Temp
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60
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Technique
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pitching / flipping
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Sliderfishn
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A few more pictures
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riverfan
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Those are some awesome smallies 
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Riverfan Guided Bass Tours
IDO Field Staff
BfishN Tackle St. Croix Rods
Northland Fishing Tackle MinnKota
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Jack Naylor
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Awesome Ron, nice trip.
Jack
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USA- Home of the Free, Because of the Brave !!
Blue Max Taxidermy 30 Years Experience
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Aspire To Inspire, Before You Expire
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Brad Juaire
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Nice report Slider! Brings back some memories when I used to fish smallies on Mille Lacs - then I finally moved up to the big leagues and started fishing walleyes!   
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Brad "Grifter" Juaire
IDO Fishing Field Staff
IDO Hunting Pro Staff Director
brad.juaire@in-depthoutdoors.com
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Calvin Svihel
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Slider....do you try wacky rigs at all? Any fish on cranks?
Nice fish and report.
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Lip Ripper
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I was wondering when I would see that ugly mug reporting on Mille Lacs.  Congrats on a great day and some great fish. Nice read as I'm headed up there this weekend and might just have to fish for some smallies if it is nice out.  It looks like you had a great day of weather also.
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Lip Ripper (aka Rob Stenger)
GameHide Pro Staff /
Northland Concrete & Masonry
BfishN Tackle /
Stone Construction Inc
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Bret Clark
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Good job putting the smack down on some awesome Bronze backs Ron
Just ignor Brad, he is just upset because he is about to loose half his boat
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Bret Clark - IDO Ice Pro Staff
"Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway."
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Ben Garver
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 Great job Ron. I'm sure lookin forward to fishin for those things with you again sometime. I'll let you know when I'll be up. 
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Ben Garver
Bass Pro Shops Pro Staff
Salt Valley Guide Service - Guiding available on all Nebraska waters.
Call 402-890-3057
I say we work 2 days and fish 5!!!
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lowrance guy
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Those are still bedding fish you are catching. Thats why they come back to the same spot you spook them off. Not ripping on you for catching them but you just seemed concerned about cathing bedding fish. I have experienced them doing the exact same thing up there this year. Just becaseu there isnt an obvous bed there doesnt mean there isnt one. some have large dark doghnut looking beds and others are just smaller pebbles near a rock, or other object like you describe.
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Sliderfishn
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Quote:
Slider....do you try wacky rigs at all? Any fish on cranks?
They seemed to want a shaky head technique
No not yet
Even tried topwater
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Sliderfishn
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Thanks, I think
Sorry to hear about your half of the boat
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Sliderfishn
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Quote:
I'm sure lookin forward to fishin for those things with you again sometime.
Anytime
I love watching a walleye guy fight a real fish
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Sliderfishn
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Quote:
Those are still bedding fish you are catching. Thats why they come back to the same spot you spook them off. Not ripping on you for catching them but you just seemed concerned about cathing bedding fish.
Not necessarily, they will do that all summer and into the early fall when they are up shallow. And yes, I am always concerned about the fishery.
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Re: Smallmouth Bass, Mille Lacs Lake MN
