Minnesota, Mille Lacs, Trolling - Walleye Fishing Report at IDOfishing.com

This big girl gobbled up a
#8 Shad Rap

There isn't a whole lot more that I can add to Brad Juaire's report on the open water trolling. His advice and summation is dead on. Aside from giving out the exact coordinates of where we have been getting fish, his direction will put you on fish. Whether or not they are active is another story. Open basin trolling is a lot of fun! You have to have the frame of mind that you are only going after trophy fish. You cannot go at it with the mindset that you are going to boat a number of slots. If that is how you gauge your success of a trip, this kind of fishing isn't for you. This is hunting. Plain and simple. The fish you are after here are large roaming nomads feeding on baitfish that show up in large schools to eat at the massive bug hatch buffets going on in June and July. Follow the food chain is the best advice I can give. Bugs hatch out of the flats and some out of the rocks. Wind blowing across these areas will give you a good starting place. You have to see the fish to catch these fish. So a good graph and knowing how to read it is important. Hiring a guide is a great way to learn this type of fishing.

Jon with one of our first
fish...a 24"

This weekend was a lot of fun for me. I got to fish with my buddy Jon Jordan, which never seems like we get to do enough of. Jon possesses a wealth of knowledge of the lake, and comparing notes on fishing styles and baits is always fun! We had another mission to accomplish as well as finding big fish for an upcoming tourney. We had to break in the new to me Warrior! When I got to Farm Island on Friday evening, Art and Kevin had her out front and ready to go! She is a sweet looking ride! But with any used boat..you have that feeling in the back of your head..."What is going to go wrong???" Well the long and short of it....NOTHING! It ran great! I hooked up the X-25 and the Lowrance mapping unit when I got to the cabin and I was ready to go!!! Jon showed up bright and early Saturday morning, and we dumped her in. A turn of the key, and the 200 EFI grumbled to life! We were off to the Flats to start "Hunting!"

Cheesy Graph picture with a
fish

Every flat we encountered had a number of people on them. Some your normal Weekend Warriors and others were fishing the Hunter's Point Tourney. Smaller fish were being caught on the flats, as were a lot of "Tweeners." Tweeners are fish between 18"-28" that have to be returned to the water. Many of the fish we get while open basin trolling are Tweeners. But there are also a lot of over 28" fish living amongst them! We would move from spot to spot around the lake and search for these fish that you see on the graph. Early in the day, these bigger fish were belly to the bottom. Remember what I said about the food chain? These bug hatches rely on the warmth of the day to get going. When that happens, the bugs will make their way to the surface to do their mating, egg laying and dying in short order. Bait fish will follow and feed on these bugs upwards to the surface. In doing so, they are opening themselves up to the jaws of hungry walleye from below.

Jon with a 26" tagged
fish

With all the bright sun and calm water, we opted for chrome baits. Both sticks and Shad Raps produced. Jon made a comment that in that calm water, those chrome bills on some of the big sticks we were using were like a light sabre going through the water. We took fish pulling boards, lead core and long lining deep diving cranks. We would go through areas showing large numbers of fish. If they were not active, we would drop icons on our GPS and visit them later in the day when the water temp rose. During our ride around the lake, we got to check and see if all the pumps worked in the boat. We went through a mental checklist and learned what swithes were for what...and everything worked! Both motors ran well with no issues at all! So I will be spending a lot more time up on the Lake nailing down this ever changing pattern and "Hunting" the "Big Girls of Summer!" Thanks again for putting up with me this weekend! I sure enjoyed it! Lip Ripper and Stacie came trolling by as well...look below to see some extra pics..