Two vastly different weather days have proven why Mille Lacs Lake is ranked the No. 1 bass fishing destination in America this year by Bassmaster magazine. Whether sunny and calm, like on Thursday, or cloudy, windy and rainy, like on Friday, the Toyota Bassmaster Top 50 anglers keep topping the numbers from the previous day and, most impressively, from the previous year. That spotlight on No. 1 often attracts too much attention for a lake to handle. But Mille Lacs keeps rising to the task.
As you can see in the comparisons of the daily AOY Top 50 totals from the last two years, it’s the consistency that’s so impressive. Despite all the fishing pressure on this 130,000-acre lake located 100 miles north of Minneapolis, it continues to produce superlatively. Each day tops the next, if ever so slightly.
Friday was the best day yet in the now five days the Elite Series Top 50 anglers have fished here over the last two years. Never before have all 50 pros weighed-in a five-bass limit. Never before have the bass weighed-in averaged as much as 4.07 pounds. And for the second day in a row, there were 29 bags of 20 pounds or more. That matched the high mark of 2016, when 29 bags of 20-plus were caught on Day 3.
Finally, there’s this: A Toyota Angler of the Year race that’s coming down to a final day on the No. 1 bass fishery in the U.S. Based on the Day 2 standings, Brandon Palaniuk’s lead over Jason Christie has dropped to 12 points, and his margin over third-place Jacob Wheeler is down to 17 points.
It’s a near perfect scenario for the final day of the AOY Championship.
Day 1
9/15/16 9/14/17
Total bass weighed-in 243 248
Total weight 973-4 991-0
Average weight per bass 4.00 lbs. 3.99 lbs.
Big bass 6-1 6-1
Big bag 26-7 24-15
Limits caught 46 48
Bags of 25 lbs. or more 4 0
Bags of 20 lbs. or more 23 29
Day 2
9/16/16 9/15/17
Total bass weighed-in 248 250
Total weight 945-14 1,017-1
Average weight per bass 3.81 lbs. 4.07 lbs.
Big bass 6-0 6-0
Big bag 24-11 24-15
Limits caught 48 50
Bags of 25 lbs. or more 0 0
Bags of 20 lbs. or more 24 29
Day 3
9/17/16 9/16/17
Total bass weighed-in 238 ?
Total weight 959-13 ?
Average weight per bass 4.03 lbs. ?
Big bass 6-10 ?
Big bag 26-2 ?
Limits caught 45 ?
Bags of 25 lbs. or more 3 ?
Bags of 20 lbs. or more 29 ?