The 2016 Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year Championship on Mille Lacs Lake showed me something. Those brown bass move and, if you aren’t a real expert at catching them, they can be hard to follow. I’ve always known I’m no smallmouth expert, and I guess I’ve always known that they roam. Sometimes though, a real-world demonstration helps to bring things home.
My practice wasn’t all that great, but I did catch a few good ones. In retrospect I should have marked more spots, especially shallow ones. Nevertheless, I left the dock on the first day with high hopes. But I only got about a third of the bites I’d been getting in practice. On the second day I got about a third of the third of those I’d had the day before.
At the time I thought that having Saturday off would be a good thing. My idea was that with relaxed pressure the fish would settle down and reload in the places I’d been catching them. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What actually happened was the exact opposite.
The smallies were on the move, and the day off just gave them more time to move and hide. My thinking about what happened was reinforced by some of the catches on the last day. For a lot of the guys, their weights went up. I’d guess that’s because they were fishing new spots and those spots were where the bass went when they moved off their earlier spots.
That’s my story, but the bigger story is the fishery at Mille Lacs. Unbelievable is the only way I know to describe it.
I’ve been to places where the smallmouth were bigger — the Buffalo end of Lake Erie is the most obvious — but I’ve never been to a place where there were so many between 4 and 6 pounds. I’m sayin’ they were all over the place. If I didn’t know better, I’d tell you they were born about that big.
To give you an idea of what that place is like think about this: At the end of the second day 35 pounds was what it took to hold down 49th place — in a field of 50 anglers. Mille Lacs is to smallmouth fishing what Falcon is to largemouth fishing, and I’d say it’ll stay that good for a while although how long is up to Mother Nature.
If you’re a recreational angler who likes to travel every now and again, I’d say you should plan a trip up there. Come next May or June when the bass are all up shallow and there’s no telling what a good day would be like. Your five best could easily weight on the heavy side of 30 pounds.
Yes, I know what I said. It is that good. Don’t wait too long, though. Fisheries come and go. Get there while the gettin’s good. But don’t use all your time planning the trip. Save some of it to post your fishing questions under this column.
The most important thing about this column is to help everyone catch more bass. It’s the reason I write it. And remember what your school teacher told you. There’s no dumb question if you don’t know the answer.