This weeks Mille Lacs Lake fishing report covers walleye fishing locations and techniques, as well as the current ice conditions.
A big topic in the last fishing report was the prior snow creating slushy conditions on the main lake. Shortly after that report a severe cold front pushed through, which hardened most of the lakes slush pockets. The good news is that most of the trouble slush is now gone, unfortunately we are still behind as far ice ice thickness. This week I measured most areas between 13" and 17", with a fair amount of packed snow on top. Most of the slush that I'm finding at this point is typically related to an active crack, or freshly drilled holes. If you plan on taking out a permanent house, consider putting it up on blocks.
As far as the walleye bite, the bite's been good this week. Last week I had reported that most of my time had been spent on the rocks and gravel bars. While the rocks have been good early, it seems that they have now gone to more of a mid-season morning/evening bite. The gravel bars have also been producing fish, but they seem to be spotty. If fishing the gravel I would recommend going to the tops of the bars and fishing wherever you can find some larger rock. The best bite this week has been on the mud flats. Excellent fishing was taking place for us on the edges in 28', all the way out to 30' and deeper. Hot techniques included 1/4 oz rattle spoons jigged aggressively, and set lines with small shiners. The walleyes ranged in size from little fish in the 6" range, all the way up to 26".
Happy New Year!
Good Luck Fishing
Ryan