Update 11/23 - Mille Lacs '08 is Done

Hey, it's been too long without an update. Go figure. My last update was 11/9 (not 9/11, I can't figure out how to edit a thread title). I absolutely swear I'll do a better job next season with at least one post per week to update the conditions. Two a week would be an even better minimum.

Anyway, I packed all my stuff and closed down the cabin on Sunday, 11/23. It was a bummer of a day. The bays were frozen and there was 4-5 inches of ice in the channel at the cabin boat launch. I cruised half the lake just to check things out and didn't see any boats on Hennepin or Garrison so I don't think anyone else was out, either. Packing up and shutting down the cabin was a bummer. The '08 season was kind of tough fishing on Mille Lacs, but I was sure sad to call it quits.

Well what about the fishing? The season's all over but how was the late fall fishing? I didn't get out at the very end but I heard it was slow.?

The fall fishing, like most of the ‘08 season was really hit-or-miss. In terms of goofy weather, abnormal water temps, and difficult fishing, this season was almost exactly like ‘07. The weather was too warm for too long in October. The end of October was fishing like it was late September. At the end of October, which is usually the beginning of super-whopper prime time, the water temps were way too high but the fish were still showing up and there was plenty of action. Then a weather system rolled through on 10/26 with two days of huge wind. After the storm it was warm, warm, and warm for two weeks and the fishing was really dead for two weeks. The fishing didn’t get straightened out until mid-November when we finally got some cold weather and the water temps started to drop. Unfortunately, it was so cold that the lake iced up amazingly quick, especially considering that the water temps were still in the mid-40’s as late as 11/11 or 11/12. All the bays and landings were iced up by 11/22. I was amazed that a lake that big could be from mid-40s to un-fishable in such a short time.

Some good fish were caught this fall but none of the super duper monsters that we’re after that time of the year. But almost. We (myself or a guest) moved a 50-pound class fish three times from late-Oct. through mid-Nov., but couldn’t get them to bite. The closest encounter came near the end, 11/16. My guest that day and I started the day fishing the SE corner. We started on a little spot-on-the-spot location that’s part of one of the big community reefs. On that first spot of the day, we contacted a fish that was 50+ lb. for sure, possibly the biggest I’d ever seen. The fish followed my Pounder (white w/ chartreuse tail, Reeds custom color) and it was on the bait. It was less than a foot behind the bait and slightly under it. It went around on the first turn and then sank away out of sight. I’ve replayed that in my mind a thousand times and I really don’t think I should have done anything different, it just didn’t eat. It’s a game of inches, I guess. It was calm at the time but a big wind was forecast to pick up around noon, so we didn’t rest the spot long before going back for that fish. We went over the spot three more times, sometimes from different angles, sometimes with different baits. You already know how the story ends - we didn’t see the fish again. The wind started to roar and we trailered the boat up to Phil’s to hit Garrison and finished the day there, haunted by the big fish but unable to go back for another shot. At the end of a challenging season, that fish would have totally changed the legacy of the ‘08 season,….but it didn’t eat and it was a heart-breaker. But that’s fishing, I guess. I’m blessed to have seen such an amazing fish - what an amazing creature. Anyone who can’t handle disappointment shouldn’t be musky fishing.

Hey Paul,
So Mille Lacs had a down year. I was wondering how some of the other
Lakes you guide on did like Miltona, Mantrap, and some of the Bemidji area
Lakes did.

Sorry for the slow reply. I didn't fish any lakes other than Mille Lacs. Due to a pretty busy guide season I was really pinned down on ML and didn't get out and about much. When I did have free time that wasn't booked I was fishing Mille Lacs anyway. The '08 season was harder and required more focused effort than usual, so I was always scouting and testing different spots and patterns when I had time off.

Of the lakes you mentioned, I know Miltona had a good year and it was a normal year on Mantrap. The fishing on Mantrap always seems to be pretty consistent, without the huge peaks and valleys that can be encountered on other waters. Miltona was good this year. When ML slowed down there were a lot of guides that fished there and did well, but also brought a lot of pressure. From numerous reports, over and over, I kept hearing that Miltona was crowded.

Happy New Year