Mille Lacs is experiencing its annual nearly lake-wide mayfly hatch, and all the bug hatch characteristics can be observed, but there are still fish to be caught!
Walleye that had been relating to shoreline breaks are now moving out to the main lake and are suspending. A telltale sign of the fish feeding on bugs. On calmer days, you’ll see walleyes rise up more, and with high winds, they tend to hunker down towards the bottom. 20-27ft main lake humps off mud/rock edges, gravel bars, and mud flats have been holding the most fish.
Secondary break lines 16-24ft have also seen those fish in transition. Dragging plastics over their heads has gotten aggressive strikes from hungry fish using 3-4in Rapala Mayor or Freeloader plastics with 1/8 or 1/4 VMC Sleek jigs and Hybrid Swimbait jigs. When faced with high winds, upsize to 3/8oz.
The bobber bite is still in full effect with leeches for those wanting to fish live bait.
Smallmouth are still biting very well on Mille Lacs. Ned rigs, swimbaits, and, on calm days, topwater are fantastic. Smallmouth are mainly cruising off breaks and on shallow flats on the north end of Mille Lacs. You can always find fish on deep boulders, but they have also been high in the water column, feeding on bugs. When you see bugs, that’s a good indicator to throw topwater on calm mornings and evenings or when the wind is down in general.
Tony Roach of Roach’s Guide Service
https://roachsguideservice.com/
