Mille Lacs update 7/18

[Paul Schlagel]

Wow, what happened to summer? I'm home for the weekend after fishing through some pretty crappy weather this past week.

Monday clients got a 46"er. Tuesday's trip was cancelled because of lightning and thunderstorms. We were chased of the lake a couple times and then quit just in time to avoid some serious lightning that went on and on and a huge downpour rain. Wednesday was super rough with wind in the 25 mph range. The unsettled weather seemed to slow down what had been two weeks of of hot, nearly can't-miss fishing, and were skunked - zero opportunites. Thurday was very encouraging. I thought the unsettled weather would have the fishing screwed up for a few days but we had quite a bit of action, with three opportunities and even an opportunity during daylight hours. A client had a grab on a Bulldawg close to the boat but didn't hookup. Later on, around midnight, there was another fished missed while we were slow-rolling blades. An hour later another fish was missed on blades. It was a bummer to have great guys in the boat who fished very hard and very well in crappy weather and we didn't get on in the net; those guys sure deserved a fish.That's fishing I guess. Friday I didn't fish.

The cool weather has water temperatures slowly dropping. Temps were around 66-67 Thursday and the same Friday. I've been nervous for some time now that the falling temps would mess up the fishing, but so far it seems the temps haven't thrown the fish out the weed pattern that's normal for this time of the year. As long as the fish keep cooperating I won't worry about the temp gauge.

The Mille Lacs tournament is going on right now as I write this update. The update on the MAC site said that only 13 teams are fishing. There was some attempt to spin the story about the bad turnout by blaming the economy, the poor weather, and poor fishing. All but the part about the economy seems like BS to me. The fishing has been good for the people that have been out and know where to fish. The people that only know how the fish the north end or Malmo or Sunset Bay are probably frustrated, but there's been great fishing elsewhere. The part about the weather also seems like BS - I've fished that tournament in horrible weather and there was a full field or close to it. The economy has made a difference. I'm sitting this one out because the recession has affected my family, and my tournament partner's family as well. Yet, the PMTT seems to be doing just fine with lots of teams showing up for every tournament so far. The MAC has had a few missed steps getting off the ground and probably picked a bad year to start a new tournament series. The MAC might be a flop. That would be too bad because the MMTT was absorbed by the MAC and Paul Hartman ran great tournaments. The photo-and-release format is the only way a tournament should be run. It'll be a bummer if the MAC goes under. If it does I hope the MMTT gets going again.

Whew, this one was long-winded. To make a long story short - don't worry about the weather and go fishing. Good luck.

[Sam]

Is the clarity still low in places?

[Paul Schlagel]

It was impossible to tell what the water clarity was like this past week. It was so rough and rainy and overcast that it was close to impossible to see into the water for follows, ever with good polarized lenses. I don't worry much about water clarity on Mille Lacs. The blooms are never heavy enough to make a difference. I think when the clarity is reduced it bothers the fishermen more than the fish.

[TrevorB]

Bloom? How could anything bloom with this cool weather? It'd be nice if we got summer weather again rather than fastforwarding to Sept.

[Jim]

Back to the original post that mentioned the tournament, it looks like the bite was not bad. Considering there was such a bad turnout there was a bunch of fish caught. Also that conditions were horrible and that the tournament is fished during the day. I can't imagine how much better the catch would be i there was a night tournament in July. At least in July anyway, the night fishing is better. It would be cool if there were a night tourney.

[BBushy]

Hey Paul,
It's been awhile since I posted on this sight. Well so far this summer has
been frustrating too say the least fishing in the DL area and Park Rapids area.
I've been on fish and some big fish I just can't get any hookups untile last night on an area lake I cought my personal best musky a 53.5 on a topwater
lure. It just felt like a topwater night low light and some mist and a good chop on the water. Man do those big fish have some serious power.