Taking a newbie fishing/camping

Hey guys,

Next week Wednesday(7-1) through Friday(7-3) I’m taking a good friend of mine fishing on Mille Lacs for his first fishing experience. My parents had a place at Northstar and I’m very familiar with the Lindy/Bobber/trolling cranks for walleyes on the flats (shermans, 7mile, resort)

It looks like we’ll be staying in a tent at Agate Bay(cheaper than fishers?… recommendations welcome.) What I’m not familiar with is the East side and fishing out of my 14ft with a 15hp rather than my dads Ranger. My plan is to lindy/bobber/troll the flats/breaks right in front of Agate Bay, because of our limited boat size. If its calm I might head out to 3-mile. My question is do you guys have any tips for me on where & how to fish around Agate Bay, mostly for walleye but also for small mouths and northerns? I’m bringing a muskie pole and lures for a contingency plan if the waters are too rough,I’ll just head to the calm side of the lake and cast for muskie/northern.

I’ve been reading all of the fishing reports on here and when its said the walleyes are moving out to the mud does that mean they are moving off the shoreline breaks out to the flats? My main concern is not getting too far out from shore in my little boat…

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated, I’ll update with (hopefully) numerous pics of huge fish lol…

Head straight out and fish agate bay reef. That’s my old Mille Lacs stomping grounds. Comes up to about 12′ (If I remember) and runs roughly north and south. Pull cranks or bobber up, especially in the evening. Pike and muskies right on the reef as well; pull big cranks during the day.

As Lundojam said, Agate bay reef can be good and there is good structure around Doe Island. If the wind kicks up trailer down to Isle or Wahkon Bays. There is a lot of structure in and right out front of both.

Trolling cranks on the shorelines in not a bad option either. Good way to cath a mixed bag of fish.

Agate bay reef is a long series of rock piles out a mile or so into the lake. Most people will be anchored up bobber fishing these rocks. You can certainly troll these areas, but if there are a lot of boats corking, this area can be a pain to troll. If you come out of Agate Resort 50 – 100 yards or so (looking for 10-12 foot of water) and turn north, you can troll all the way up to Fishers Resort and back and catch a mixed bag of fish along the way. It’s one of my favorite trolling runs on the east side. You may even see me there on your visit. Red Ranger with a big Rottweiler up front.

A run to any mud flat is a minimum 7 miles out. You would probably be happier to trailer over to the west side areas you are familiar with and go from there.

Been a lot of years since I tented on Mille Lacs. When I did I liked to get a spot on or near the lakeshore with electric and water. Not every camp spot will have these. Worth the extra coin IMO.

Have fun,

-J.

Exactly as Jon and others have said, there are a wealth of reefs along the East side. Flamingo reef is also a nearby place to pull cranks or do some power corking during daylight hours as it is mostly a deeper reef that can hold walleyes all day long. For smallies pick just about any reef in the 6-10′ range and cast Rapala Shad Raps, Scatter Raps, the new Shadow raps and you stay busy all day long.

Will

Thanks for all of the advice guys! It’s supposed to rain Wednesday and Thursday so my buddy should have a fun first tenting experience!

As far as tackle goes, I have a few shad raps, will probably pick up both a scatter, and shadow rap. Got the bobber and lindy poles set up and ready to go…

I only have an old lowrance that shows how deep it is, not the newer one with gps built in… I have an app that gives me my gps coordinates, so I think I’m gonna buy a paper map of Mille Lacs and do it old school. There is not a single good picture of the lake contour on the internet….

I’ll be looking for ya Jon! I’ll be in the little blue tiller!

Side note: I’m finally picking up a trolling motor this weekend! No more rowing to the next spot!

If you’ve got a smartphone (assuming you do since you are already using apps) I would buy the Navionics app. One of the best $10 you’ll ever spend if you love to fish.

Will