Mille Lacs Fishing Report & ATV Trail Report

As June usually goes, fishing has remained good here on Mille Lacs. Saturday night boasted our best launch trip thus far with 67 Walleye (way to go Captain Wyatt). Guide trips are also continuing to see successful days for all species with the Smallmouth Bass fishery remaining outstanding – numerous fish being in the four to six pound range.

Smallies – A little bit of everything you throw at them they’ve been eating. Dark colors remain the best choice. Everything from tubes, worms, or flukes to shallow cranks have the big ones biting. Fish are still fairly shallow in 4-10 feet on the edges or tops of rock piles. These fish are eating almost anything so any technique you prefer to fish is working. Top water action hasn’t been explosive yet.

Walleye – Walleye can still be found shallow on the reefs, especially on windy days. Anglers are finding deeper fish on the gravel and on the mud flats. Start in about 23 feet of water working to 26-28 feet until you find fish. Rigging with a leech has been successful in deeper water. The crank bait bite hasn’t really heated up yet. Bobber fishing on the reefs has been productive in the evenings, moving up shallower to the reef tops as the evening progresses.

Muskie and Pike – Action has been hot in the bays. Target reed growth and weed lines. DOWNSIZE this time of year, smaller spinners and buck tails have been producing. Cast the weed lines, cabbage beds and reed edges. Colors like black and orange or firetiger seem to be the favorite. 6-7 feet of water or even less is still holding good amounts of these fish.

ATV Trails
the ATV trails are in great shape. Weekends are seeing more traffic than during the weekdays. Intermittent rains help keep the dust down and add some mud for the more adventurous. The Driftskippers continually trim and maintain the trails and provide trail maps (available at our front desk). The trails are also well marked and we have convenient and easy access with close stops for gas and lunch!