"Hammerhead" wrote in message
m...
Thanks for the info!

Yes, fished it a couple years ago with a friend from the area. We
caught a few walleyes using Lindy rigs with leeches and a few bass
with just bobbers & hooks.

Problem with a guide is there are 4 of us, and that's usually too many
for a guide's boat. Plus, guides are expensive. We do plan on having
a GPS and buying a hotspots map.

We'll probably be on the South end of the lake.

Any suggestions on lures? Techniques?

I might be a little bit biased here, but if you're looking to "catch tons of
fish", a guide would be the most cost effective method of finding locations
and techniques. These guys make their living (or a good portion of it) by
knowing where the fish are and what is going to get them.

On a lake the size of Mille Lacs, you could spend days figuring out the
pattern. It could be pulling planer boards and crankbaits over the mud
flats, or drifting bottom bouncers/Lindy Rigs, or jigging the rocks, or any
number of things. With that much area, wouldn't it make sense to find
someone that is knowledgable about current conditions? Hire one, if even
for a half day, two of you go out with him and pick his brain, memorize the
techniques and not necessarily the exact locations, but the locational
elements that are producing. While you are going with the guide, the other
two can be out fishing as well. When done, get together and compare
results.

THEN, you and your three other buddies can attempt to duplicate the
successful methods, saving a lot of time, effort and frustration. If
fishing is your goal, then go on up there and have a ball. But if catching
"tons of fish" is what you're looking to do, a good guide can make all the
difference.

When you consider the amount of money spent on the average fishing trip of
this nature, isn't the cost of a guide, split 2 or 4 ways pretty cheap
insurance of fillets in the cooler?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com