Jeff Hanson's Guide Service

Mille Lacs Lake Fishing Report:

5-10-08 Opening Weekend:
We had 16 on saturday, 9 on sunday. Fishing was slower than the usual openers we have become accustomed to. The weather was cold and nasty and the water was 42-47 degrees. As things warm up this week, the bite will improve and I look forward to another good bite this year...

5-18-08 Week 2:
O.K. here's the report from this week:
Water is still pretty cold as we are 1-2 weeks behind schedule.
Some fish are starting to transition to deeper water but most are still shallow and close to shore.
Leeches under slip bobbers on the shallow rocks in 4-10' is best...Still lots of really nice 19-24 inchers!!

5/27/08 Memorial Weekend:
The bite is picking up and the fish are starting to transition to some deeper water. We are catching fish at shallow and mid-depth (5'-15') rocks bobber fishing. 17'-20' lindy rigging in the sand is catching fish and even lindy rigging the deep water flats in 25'-30' is starting to produce fish. Leeches are still the bait of choice. Fishing is slow in the mornings when it is cold, and the afternoons have been the best time of day. Alot (20-30/day) of nice 20'-24' fish is still the norm w/ smaller keepers mixed in there...
-Jeff

6/2/08 Week 4:
Mille Lacs walleyes are dispersed now to almost everywhere in the lake. As a guide this makes my job a lot easier! This past weekend my customers and I caught fish using multiple methods in multiple depths. Using lindy rigs on the mud flats was awesome on sat. afternoon and sunday morning for big fish! We had several fish in the 24"-27" range. Using slip bobbers on the mid-depth rocks also provided action w/ more of the fish being in the keeper (under 18") range... Others I spoke with also reported fish on the sand and deep gravel bars during the day. The evening bite has been good on the shallow (8-12') rocks using slip bobbers from 8:00-9:30 pm... The water temp. is now in the high 50's, getting over 60 yesterday afternoon and the bite is only going to get better!

Fishing Report: 6-11-08
Fishing is nearing the "peak" summer bite in the next couple weeks. Water temps are still in the high 50's and walleyes in Mille Lacs are dispersed to all of there summer locations now. We are catching fish in deep water on mud and gravel flats. Even the open water trolling bite has heated up and some people have really put the hurt on them out in "no man's land".
On the windier days, the mid-depth rocks are putting out slot fish by bobbering and the evenings have continued to provide fast action in 6-10' on almost any rocks.
Smallmouths are in the process of making nests and spawning. I watched a 20" smallie for 10 minutes the other day as she brushed out a nest w/ her tail and chased off any other bass that got close to it. In a couple weeks these bass will have finished the spawn and set up on shallow rock reefs providing anglers with the exciting mid-summer bass catching action...
-Jeff