Smallie Nut

[fishrman]

Smallie Nut. If you have a love for catching large smallmouth then you have to put Mille Lacs on you "to do list" In my opinion ML is one of the top smb fisheries in the good ole USA. I say this after fishing all of the Great Lakes, Tenn River and some of the best smb lakes in the country. Some lakes are better than ML for the pre spawn and spawn, but for a year round fishery its the best in my book.

August is a good month, for we generally have stabile weather and hungry fish.

Gotta go fishing ...have a guide trip in 45 min.

Thanks Jim! I have heard the south side of the lake has more smallie type structure than the rest of the lake but the south side is a big area! Is there an area you think I should concentrate on more than another? I know I will need to look for and find the structure but where would you recommend I start looking? Thanks for your tips!

[Mark Benson]

Thanks Jim! I have heard the south side of the lake has more smallie type structure than the rest of the lake but the south side is a big area! Is there an area you think I should concentrate on more than another? I know I will need to look for and find the structure but where would you recommend I start looking? Thanks for your tips!

fishrman:

Without stealing Jim's thunder, the first thing I would do is too consider hiring him for a half or full day. He will show you spots in the area that makes the most sense for ya during the time you are there...

I think we inadvertantly met Jim one day on the south end. We were musky fishing and on our way into Wahkon bay and had to skirt in between two rock bars and Jim was on the inside . I felt really bad, but didn't think there was really any way around it and tried to sneak by without creating any more disturbance than was necessary. The guide was very pleasant when we went by and hopefully didn't have to paint a smile on his face.

At any rate, in the two seasons we have fished ML, we walleye fished, musky fished and smallie fished... The smallies were by far the species that saved our trip the first season... We had better fishing for our preferred species the second trip, the walleyes and surprisingly the smallies were a little off the second year in comparison to the first, but the 'eyes were better and the 'skies... well were just 'skies.

Lastly, I think there are many quality spots to stay around the lake, including Hunter's Point, the Red Door, Fisher's, McQuoid's and more I can't think of right off the bat here... We stayed on the north side in a private home and either boated or trailered and landed on any of the sides. There is a lot of smallie habitat on any of the sides.

Though we were there in the later part of July and it wouldn't seem like there should be a major difference, I am going to let Jim answer that because depending on the year, it really could be...

Mark

[fishrman]

I may have to change my handle to smallienut, kind of like that!
Thanks for the input. Jim does seem like a class act. We have exchanged some emails and he is helping me gain my confidence to get that 21 incher in the boat!
I am, now, officially coming up this Saturday and looking forward to the ocean you guys call Mille Lacs!