Anglers have worn grooves in the sand along the northeastern corner of the lake, but there are still plenty of big pike making it worth fishing. The edge of the sand is a great location, but search for fragments of cabbage for the best pike waters. The bays on the south and west ends are targeted heavily by muskie anglers but hold plenty of pike.

Nearly all of Mille Lacs is good pike fishing water and the parts you don't hear much about are some of the best. That's plenty of water, but the best things to look for are healthy weedbeds and abundant food sources. There aren't tons of huge weedbeds in Mille Lacs, but there are some adjacent to deep water. As far as food sources are concerned, there were plenty last summer. While it made fishing a challenge, the pike were very chunky and will with luck stay that way this year. A great way to cover tons of water is trolling spoons, crankbaits or even jerkbaits.

For more information on the Mille Lacs Area, visit www.millelacs.com or call (888) 350-2692.

PELICAN LAKE
St. Louis County
Northeastern Minnesota's cold, deep lakes are some of the best pike waters around. Many of the lakes in the Boundary Waters hold the biggest pike in the state, and other big bodies of water up in this area hold tons of pike. One that is often overlooked is Pelican Lake located near the town of Orr. With five public accesses on the lake, there isn't much difficulty getting to the area you want to target. Most are around Orr, but there is a landing on the far northwestern corner of the lake.

It doesn't mean anybody fishes on Pelican, but like some of the other lakes we've highlighted, the fishing pressure is directed at other species. With 11,500 acres of water and five different locations to get on the lake, there needs to be plenty of cooperation and sharing of the best locations.

While other anglers fight over the topwater, pike anglers can celebrate the fact that the entire lake is full of big pike. The DNR fisheries office found an interesting mix of pike from those over 30 inches to those around 20. It means there is a ton of pike and there's tension among anglers.

With so many pike in the lake, anglers should feel free to keep their limit of smaller legal-sized fish to eat for lunch. Toss on a small crankbait and cast around a weedline or use a simple jig and minnow.

For more information, go online to www.pelicanlakeresorts.com or call (800) 777-4690.

MISSION LAKES
Crow Wing County
Upper and Lower Mission lakes are two great bodies of water around Merrifield in central Minnesota. The lakes both receive a fair amount of fishing pressure but nothing like the larger, more popular lakes located nearby. As far as pike are concerned, Lower Mission Lake is an average lake with plenty of smaller pike. Upper Mission is a much better choice for serious pike anglers. Each lake has a separate landing with the Upper Lake landing found off County Road 109.

On the upper lake, the DNR fisheries staff found a ton of northern pike ranging from 19 to 38 inches with a 26-inch average. Three fish were longer than 3 feet, but overall there was a very good distribution of pike. Upper Mission is a good lake for numbers and there's a very decent shot at catching a trophy pushing that 40-inch mark.