Bugs, bait, and summer walleyes on Mille Lacs
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Mille Lacs lake in central Minnesota is one of my favorite destinations for summer and fall walleye. A structure fisherman's paradise, Mille Lacs caters to a number of diverse presentation methods. During the summer, my preferred way to fish Mille Lacs is by pulling spinners rigged on bottom bouncers along and near prominent deep structure, such as gravel humps or mud flats. On a recent trip to the pond, we had the opportunity to see how Humminbird Side Imaging fishing systems performed in identifying the bugs, and the baitfish, that are concentrated in these areas, and then used our Humminbird units and some new Trigger X artificial baits to put some dandy walleyes in the boat. Read on to learn how!
Dr. Jason Halfen
Professional Walleye Angler
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Bugs!
Longtime fans of Mille Lacs recognize the importance of lake flies, mayflies, and other bugs in the summer feeding and activity cycles of walleye and smallmouth bass. On this particular day, we witnessed several small hatches of caddis flies occuring on the surface, and saw numerous clouds of pre-emergent bugs using my Humminibird 1197 Side Imaging Fishing System. Some of those images are shown below, with the bugs, and the nearby walleyes, highlighted. Note the small fish that are associated with the bug hatch on the Side Imaging screen capture.
Baitfish!
While walleyes certainly do key in on emerging bugs during periods of active hatches, they can get capture more energy to fuel their high summer metabolisms by eating the baitfish that are also present in these same locations. We saw several clusters of larger baitfish in the areas we were fishing. Based on the size, shape, and intensity of these returns, my guess is that these are schools of tulibee, rather than smaller baitfish like shiners or young perch. Note the difference in appearance between these baitfish sonar returns, and the tight ball of smaller returns from the bug hatch, above.
Dual beam (200/83 kHz) sonar, with Switchfire set to Max mode
Side Imaging (455 kHz) sonar, with bug hatch in the center of the box
Late June
Mille Lacs walleye
Down Imaging/Side Imaging sonar (455 kHz) split screen view, with school of mid-water tulibee highlighted
Walleyes!
As I mentioned above, I really enjoy pulling spinners/crawler harnesses rigged on bottom bouncers or on a 3-way rig for summer walleyes on Mille Lacs. I typically use 3-4 oz bouncers or weights, and run a 4' leader to my spinner rig. This summer, I have been running pheromone-infused artificial Trigger X crawlers with excellent results. My catch rates are identical (or better!) with Trigger X crawlers compared to real crawlers, and Trigger X crawlers aren't constantly beat up by the perch that are mixed in with the walleyes. Trigger X crawlers are mess-free, require no maintenance or cooling, and cost about the same as a dozen real crawlers. Pick up a pack and run them next to real crawlers....and see how long it takes you to switch all of your rigs over to Trigger X!
Here are some pictures from our recent trip. Scroll to the bottom of the page to enjoy a short YouTube video that summarizes our day on Mille Lacs. Enjoy!
