A suckers' trip yields results

The four-day MEA weekend is a Minnesota tradition. A holiday without the stress and busy schedule of an actual holiday. By the time everyone rolled out of bed Thursday morning, I was heavily gauging interest in a day trip. Two of my boys took the bait. Joseph, David and I loaded up and headed west.

By mid-morning, we pulled into the market at Malmo on the northeast side of Mille Lacs. I topped off the gas tank in the Big Blue Lund as Joseph and David ran inside to gather armfuls of sugar- and meat-based products to get them through the day.

I made my way into the store and headed straight for the minnows. I scanned the three holding tanks, locking eyes with the 4-7-inch sucker minnows bouncing off the walls of their tiny world. As I pointed toward the tank, I turned to the cashier. "I'm going to need all of these," I said. Her eyes widened at my request. Fifteen minutes later, 54 hand-counted suckers, not including the boys and myself, were on our way.

We dropped the boat in at the Liberty Beach landing and pointed ourselves offshore. We bounced across the expanse of the lake. The waves, as always, are bigger on Mille Lacs than predicted.

Just off a promising rock-to-gravel transition, we dropped our first trio of suckers into the 49-degree water. We drifted sideways riding the swells of the giant lake, our lines surging and ebbing with the rhythm of the morning.

Shortly into our drift, the 6-inch sucker minnow 18 feet below began a nervous dance. His trembling telescoped up the line, through my St. Croix rod, registering with my hands and brain simultaneously. On cue, a solid thunk alerted me he was under attack. I peeled several feet of line off my reel and began a tedious count to 10. The line floating on the surface of the water shot off like a bullet, filling me with confidence. I clicked my bail closed and caught up with the weight of the fish. Lifting my rod to the sky, I connected with our first smallmouth.

It fought in short, deliberate bursts. Its strength took me off guard. I lifted hard against the tempest, the bass conceded nothing. After several minutes and one complete trip around the boat, the fight ended abruptly as the bass surfaced and Joseph buried it in the net in one swift motion. Short but incredibly stocky, the bass weighed 3 ½ pounds. It was clear these fish were on the feed bag, gorging themselves in preparation for the long winter ahead.

Minutes later, my second minnow was in big trouble, brutally attacked by another smallmouth. As its full weight settled into my rod, I immediately understood this fish was different. Unmovable. Each time I worked it off the bottom, it torpedoed back to the depths. The fish refused to relent. After several minutes, we both began to tire. I worked the fish with caution, slowly but surely gaining ground. With a final flurry, the bass rocketed out of the water, her massive frame silhouetted against the rolling waves. Her next run brought her too close to Joseph's reach. We gathered around the massive bass and marveled at its dimensions. From every angle, the bass bulged. We snapped a couple of quick pictures, thanked her for the battle, and promptly returned her to the frothy water.

We bounced in the waves as midmorning gave way to midafternoon. Each drift produced several fierce battles with heavy-shouldered smallmouth bass and a good number of pesky walleyes also showing their affinity for large sucker minnows.

In the warmth of the afternoon, we struggled to pull the plug. Knowing in all likelihood this would be one of our last openwater trips of the year, we agreed on just one more drift several times. We battled several more massive Mille Lacs bass on our last drift, deciding reluctantly it was time to head home.

Besides ... our 54 suckers were gone.

Bret Baker is a lifetime resident of Cloquet. He is a proud husband, father, educator and outdoorsman. Bret began guiding fishing trips when he was 16 years old. Today, in his 40s, his passion is to introduce people to the tremendous outdoor adventures our region has to offer.