i've been thinking about this thread for awhile and living in the west metro of mpls. waconia is the largest metro lake(with the exception of minnetonka that was craved out) and has all the make up to produce trophy fish. (oxygen-forage base-cold water with springs)
milfoil is tough for fisherman but great for fish habitat and cover, and thus starts the food chain.
for me in these type of lakes ,,,after late june , it becomes about application, your not running a lindy rig through that.
BUT if a good wind blows in the same direction for a 1 + 1/2 day and troll in that direction , all the loose cut up milfoil will move in that direction , less weed hang ups.
BUT the main reason why i like milfoil is WINTER , because applications are more difficult in the summer , these fish survive to the winter and more years after,,,,
i mainly do winter tip up fishing(applications can be simple) , depending on snow pack (light penetration for plant growth(but the flip side is darkness for walleyes) you want light to keeps plants green,,,, drawing in sunny/perch type stuff but darkness for walleye wanting to visit that areas.
but my point with winter fishing on a lake with milfoil is pop a hole under 15' bait down recheck in 10 minutes if you bring up weeds , jus6t move about 5 yds one way or the other pop another hole , check again in 10 minutes for weeds.
i have a few videos on youtube.com that confirms this.
once into late june to august i'm working big surface lures for big pike-bass-musky. walleye application is tough with the exception of trolling with a constant wind for almost 2 days for crankbaits.
late fall in milfoil lakes ,,,when i see surface temps hit and hold for a day or two at 48*-49* it's big bass time in milfoil area. work those surfacebaits with 3/4 oz spinner baits and in line mepps musky spinners.
YES I LOVE MILFOIL !

I like it when they lower the lake levels in the fall to expose the milfoil so it freezes and dies. Not really a fan of the stuff. Size structure on panfish seems to go downhill on these lakes. Milfoil takes over, bluegill and crappies become stunted. I have zero scientific evidence to back this up though, just my experience on some lakes in northern WI.

Paddle through it once and report back to us.

I always thought that milfoil decreased the amount of fish in a lake. It takes over and chokes out the native plants reducing the food supply and bio diversity. Sure it can provide some cover and many people find it too much of a pain to fish so you may see better ice fishing results, but I think that is far from the norm. Your argument makes more sense from the standpoint of "It wards off other fishermen so I can take advantage of it in the winter". Just because you have a method that works for you does not mean the environment that you have adapted to is better than the alternative.

thats kind of my point A1t2o , once milfoil does get into a lake there isnt an alternative so one must adapt. and milfoil does not decrease that amount of fish in a lake , unless your talking about a max depth lake of 10' , and yes milfoil will choke that whole lake off but usually the only thing that survives in a lake like that is bullheads and maybe sunnies. the lakes i have fished with milfoil still has all the other natural plant life (cabbage-lillypads...) i would much rather find a nice patch of cabbage to work than milfoil , and i do when available , but milfoil is great for the forage base. thus the start of the food chain (besides plankton) ;)

quote : "Paddle through it once and report back to us."

i know many people that canoe/kayak through it for stealth fishing for largemouth , "guest paddler"

Anyone ever fish Rice Lake in Ontario? Pretty much choked with weeds but the yield of big panfish is legendary and attracts anglers far and wide. We primarily focused on bass however. Lots of milfoil there.