Mille Lacs update 8/29

[Paul Schlagel]

The last of the warm, stable weather of September has passed and the fishing was good. September was the warmest and most stable of the season, and it was no coincidence that the September fishing was also the best of the season (so far). A very strong front pushed through the Mille Lacs area this past Sunday and brought cold, crappy weather and really strong wind. But the fishing was great in the days before the front. Last Thursday my guest doubled on a 44" and 52" - Friday's guests put a *49"er in the bag - Saturday's guests boated a 46"er and lost another big one (50+) that came unpinned at the boat. Sunday I fished with family and it was a slow and nasty day on the lake; we spent the day in nasty conditions with only one follow for our efforts.

The game plan is still running around and hitting alot of spots and sampling until the fish are patterned. The days when the fish show up early have been an exception. We run less and stay closer the fish on those days. There's more discussion about sampling on the post for 8/31. The fish have been mostly on shallow rock, but the weeds and deeper rock have produced fish on the days when they didn't show up shallow.

Burning has put the most fish in the boat, with my favorite Spanky Baits 8" Fireball being the hands-down best producer. Topwaters and spinnerbaits have also moved a lot of fish and caught an occassional biter.

Before the front the water was still in the 66-70 F range, depending on location and time of day. The visibility has been great due to the calm conditions. I expect the water temp to be around 60-62 by the end of the week.