Minnesota Pro Tip of the Week: For Mille Lacs muskies, staying on top of the tullibees

By Matt Treno

Favorite waters: Lake Mille Lacs

Years of guiding experience: 15

While the muskie bite has been it’s normally slow self on Mille Lacs this fall, the tullibees aren’t shallow as they are most years.

Either way, the draw is the same. We fish muskies this time of year on Mille Lacs for the chance at an absolute behemoth!

It’s tullibees that give Mille Lacs muskies the chance to grow to large proportions. And it’s the unseasonably warm weather that has kept tullibees largely out of the shallows and out in deeper water, arout 25 to 30 feet deep.

So that is where we are concentrating. In fact, we are using our electronics to locate the highest concentrations of tullibees and we are fishing where they are thickest.

Bait wise, we are using deeper running crankbaits that allow us to get down 7 to 10 feet if we are fishing in 20 feet of water or 12 to 15 feet down if we are over 30 feet of water. We’re also using large plastic baits such as the Bulldawg and just letting that sink for a good 5 to 7 seconds to get down deeper in the water column.

Good luck out there. While fishing may be slow this time of year, the results sure can be worth the effort!

Treno is a multi-species fishing guide on Lake Mille Lacs, concentrating on muskies and walleyes. He operates Matt’s Fishing (www.mattsfishing.com). Contact him at (612) 619-5690.