BGS Bass Fishermen on Mille Lacs 2015

June 1, 2015  |  Scott M. Lepak

The Barna, Guzy & Steffen bass fishing team of Bill Huefner and Scott Lepak was back at it for the first time in 2015. Bill and Scott were joined by Bill’s brother Tom from Columbus Ohio. Tom was spending his last day before his official retirement on the lake. While Mille Lacs has had more than its share of bad publicity on walleyes, it remains a lake that offers monster smallmouth bass opportunities. The changes in weather systems and the cold water temperature for the last Friday in May made for prospects on Lake Mille Lacs that were as dim as the sky overhead. Using the theory that you can’t catch a bass while sitting in your office, we set out with our trusty guide Wyatt. It didn’t take long for us to discover that bass were not hard to locate because they were still sitting on their spawning beds. Unfortunately they were not budging off the beds to attack anything we put in front of them. As dedicated catch and release enthusiasts, we discussed the fact that it is hard to release a fish that you don’t catch. The day produced two smallmouth and one rock bass and one loon that appeared to want to spend the day next to our boat. The best fishing of the day occurred later when Bill and Tom both landed nice walleyes between a hoagie bun at Buzzie’s on the Bay.
Better fishing days are ahead as Bill and Tom headed north after lunch for a few days fishing in Canada. The bass will be off their beds soon and back to their usual aggressive behavior.