Author: Frank Ross

Dave Bentley displays the fruit of his walleye wisdom.

Dave Bentley, manager of Eddy's Resort on Lake Mille Lacs, spends every day either talking to people who have caught fish or trying to help those who haven't. If he isn't talking about fishing, he's out fishing. No question about it, when it comes to questions about catching fish on this huge glacial lake, Dave is the man to ask - so I did.

In a matter of weeks this walleye factory will be open for business, in more ways than one. Since early December, the lake has been a frozen haven for ice fishermen, living the life of "Grumpy Old Men," and enjoying winter's only option for anglers in the northern tier. Within the next couple of weeks, the lake will make its annual transition from a parking lot and small housing development to open water, and the search will begin. Where are the walleye and how can they be caught is the most often asked question for the novice fisherman or the veteran who hasn't tried to saddle this bronc.

After listening to Dave for half an hour, it sounded like a cakewalk, in a round-a-bout way. With the upcoming Cabela's National Walleye Championship and the MWC qualifier, scheduled for the weekend of May 18-19, I thought I'd take a run up there to see what the big boys were doing and maybe catch a few myself.

The first issue is always -when will the ice break up? "It all depends on what happens in the next couple of weeks. Traditionally, we look for the ice to be out by the 1st week of May, but if we get a real warming trend it could be out as early as the middle of April. Naturally, there have been a few years when it wasn't out in time for the opener, which is scheduled for May 11, this year. An early ice out will create conditions that are prime for a very good bite, a late ice-out and it could be a tough, slow bite," Dave mused.

Regardless of when the ice gives up the fight, one thing is for sure -there will be hundreds and possibly thousands of boats plying the waters of Mille Lacs, looking to fill their daily quota once the season opens. Those who know the fisheries tendencies will have a leg up when the bell rings for round one.

To say that Mille Lacs is a big lake would be an understatement on a par with noting McKinley is a tall mountain. Minnesota's second largest lake covers roughly 132,000 surface acres or slightly more than 200 square miles. The maximum depths rarely exceed 40 feet, while much of the main lake falls into the depth range of 20 to 38 feet. While the northern half of Mille Lacs contains most of the lake's mud flats, the southern portion of the lake offers more gravel and rock bars. All sides of the lake offer some shallow reef fishing. Deep-water angling takes place on the deep gravel and rocks on the southern end, as well as on dozens of mud flats in the north half of the lake. Shoreline break fishing on varied bottom types occurs all around the lake. The weed line can generally be found at 9 to 10 feet. With that much water, and so many square miles of water, the key to catching fish quickly becomes an issue of eliminating water.

Click to enlarge this map, provided by Fishing Hot Spots.

When tackling a large lake, a map is mandatory if you want to catch fish. Much of the detail has been removed from this illustration to speed up load times.

"Rocks, small rocks that is, and gravel are the key to an early bite," Bentley began. "A number of traditional target zones will be hit hard in the early days, from the North Shore sand areas to coves like Vineland, Wahkon, Isle and a bunch of others. The thing to remember is that the fish will be either in a pre-spawn or post spawn situation, depending on the water temperature, which is ideal at 52 degrees. It will vary from 42 to 52 during these early days after the thaw, so keeping an eye on the temperature will tell you a lot," he said.

"The males will be in pre-spawn mode, staging in the sand and approaches to gravel, waiting for the big females to come in and spawn. Once the females have accomplished this annual urge, they will either mosey out to feed and recover, or they'll move out quickly. That too is dependent upon the water temperature. Your possibilities for catching a big fish in the shallows will be effected by the fishes' speed of departure. If they are in a mood to hang around and leave slowly, you'll have a good chance of catching big fish in the same area as the males are holding."

"Back trolling will play a major role in successful presentations. No matter which option an angler uses -main motor, kicker or electronic trolling motor- the challenge is to maintain a position, in relation to the water that's holding fish, long enough to coax a bite. You'll want to use a long leader, from 4 to 6 feet. Some guys use 8 to 10 feet of leader, but I don't think that's necessary. With a 6-foot leader, a 3/8- to 1/2-oz slip sinker, a good swivel and a leech, you can catch fish, no problem. Use a plain hook, beads are optional. Sometimes they work well, sometimes not. It's the same situation for both bead and hook color. You just have to try a few and see what works best on any given day. Water conditions, clarity and cloud cover all play a role in color selection, so you have to evaluate that on almost an hourly basis. What works one minute may not work the next."

Dave Bentley shares walleye secrets with Ann Michael.

Dave paused, almost like he didn't want to give away a trade secret, then he undid the drawstring and the cat was out of the bag. "I've got a hot tip for you this year. The forage base is currently way down. A lot of anglers have gotten away from the 'minnow bite,' but I'm betting that this year it's going to be big simply because of the scarcity of forage. Lindy rigs work great for minnow presentations."

"When the wind blows, slip bobbers will be the optimal presentation, and anglers will be hitting the points hard. Anderson, Izatys, and Indian Point are phenomenal when the conditions are right. Wind blows the bait up against rocks and the fish follow, and slip bobbers are the easiest way to maintain your bait in a proper position to optimize the response."

The challenge will be catching fish that are keepers. The current slots are 14" to 16". Anglers can keep 4 fish from the lower slot and one over 28 inches. "Tournament anglers will catch a lot of fish in the non-keeper class, and handle a lot of fish looking for the right ones to take first place, which will be somewhere around 32 pounds for the tournament," he surmised.

"Mille Lacs doesn't have a thermocline, so fish have a lot of water to choose from. Some guys just can't seem to give up the mud, and they'll be out there when everyone else is working the gravel. Some of them will really pound the fish out there, but it can be real spotty. Tournament anglers are notorious for swinging for the fence, but on Mille Lacs mud, strikeouts are more plentiful than home runs," Dave cautioned. "I've never figured it out, some fish seem to spawn early and some late, and some may not spawn at all because the mudders catch big fish that have obviously not spawned, when it's past time for that to be completed. The big fish are all female, and it's hard to figure them out, but the mud guys are always out there trying to catch a tournament winner or wall hanger. A lot of anglers will hit the gravel early, trying to fill their smaller slot fish and then run out to the mud looking for that big fish over 28 inches. Other anglers think the exact opposite is the best approach, figuring that if they don't get a big kicker fish they're not going to win anyway. That's what makes it interesting, and walleye fishing on Mille Lacs is always interesting - especially in the early days of ice out."

For more information, check out our Coming out of the Ice Age.

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