Mille Lacs vs Lake of the Woods

[friendly]

I have fished all of the lakes mentioned. I got tired of slow times and low limits. The last 7 years I have gone to SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH DAKOTA. Glacial lakes, awesome fishery for big perch, walleyes and pike. Cheap housing and no pressure. Message me if you want info...

[JeffB]

There are no lakes worth fishing in the North Dakota, South Dakota prairie pothole region. Just look at any 30 year old map and it will show you there is hardly any water in that area. Just a couple sloughs with the locals fighting over hammer handles.

[eyeguy 54]

going to mille lacs is just going fishing. upper red and LOW are adventures!

[Bureaucrat]

To clarify from earlier, I have never done well on LOW. I get into endless amounts of cigar sized fish, but have rarely seen a fish that would yield a decent cheek. If you're an action fisherman, LOW is your place. If you'd hold out for fewer fish with a lot better chance of size and age structure, Mille Lacs is the way to go.

[friendly]

There are no lakes worth fishing in the North Dakota, South Dakota prairie pothole region. Just look at any 30 year old map and it will show you there is hardly any water in that area. Just a couple sloughs with the locals fighting over hammer handles.

Opps JeffB, you are correct!

[CaptainMusky]

To clarify from earlier, I have never done well on LOW. I get into endless amounts of cigar sized fish, but have rarely seen a fish that would yield a decent cheek. If you're an action fisherman, LOW is your place. If you'd hold out for fewer fish with a lot better chance of size and age structure, Mille Lacs is the way to go.

I think you seriously need to either find better resorts on low or you need to be a better fisherman. No disrespect but seriously mille lacs isn't even on the same class as low. On our worst trips we have always caught several slot fish. On a few occasions we caught some behemoths including our last trip last year where we caught multiple 24 to 26 inch fish and capped it off with a 27 and a 32 inch slob!

Haven't fished red much but have fished mille lacs and good luck finding fish over 28 out there. Lots of 22 to 26 but anything over that is super rare and a 30 is unheard of.

[TruthWalleyes]

There are no lakes worth fishing in the North Dakota, South Dakota prairie pothole region. Just look at any 30 year old map and it will show you there is hardly any water in that area. Just a couple sloughs with the locals fighting over hammer handles.

Yep, and they're usually fighting each other with them slough sharks. Something about guys from SD and ND hate northerns.

[Stick in Mud]

If the amount of forage in Mille Lacs this fall is any indication, the bite out there will be back to "normal" compared to years past. The last few years, Mille Lacs was incredible through the ice.

This year, probably not so much. Go (farther) north, young man, go north!