I'm camping father hennipen over memorial day weekend,  what pattern should i expect?  I am assuming mostly spawn to post spawn?  Don't really want to pester the ones on beds but would be curious to what others do that time of year.

12 hours ago, DropShotHotShot said:

I'm camping father hennipen over memorial day weekend,  what pattern should i expect?  I am assuming mostly spawn to post spawn?  Don't really want to pester the ones on beds but would be curious to what others do that time of year.

Hey man! Funny.. i've camped there at Father Hennipen on Memorial weekend before! I've also brought my boat and attempted to fish.

 

If you're chasing smallies around Memorial outta Father you're going to need to make a run because Isle Bay is kind of a dead zone for smallmouth. It's very weedy and more known as a pike/largie/walleye spot. If the weather permits i'd make a run over to Cove bay in the south end or Twins Bay over on the east side. You SHOULD be able to find spawning fish in those spots. If the wind is terrible  you may want to trailer over to the spots. Cove bay is pretty protected and sorta close to Father so it's a spot i'd check out. You may be able to find spawning fish around then.. it entirely depends on water temp. I'd just read fishing reports leading up to memorial to see if the spawn is going on or no.

 

The mayfly hatch could be in full swing around Memorial, which makes the fishing kinda miserable because they get THICK. So be prepared for that. If the mayfly hatch is going you may want to bring some hair jigs and some super light tackle. 

 

You can have a great plan for when you go camping/fishing at Mille Lacs and then that plan can be totally destroyed by the wind/weather conditions. 

Thanks, i aggree that you take what that lake gives you