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I'd like to take my future wife out camping/fishing on Lake Vermilion. Can a person camp on any islands? Are there camp sites availble? I cannot seem to find much info on camping. Any help would be great. thanks

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There are a bunch of campsites, operated by the state I believe (someone verify). They are first come first served but rarely get much use. I'd check the State of MN and DNR websites for locations.

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There are several campgrounds in the tower area. McKinley Park and Hoodoo Point are a couple. I've enjoyed staying at McKinley many times when I need to charge my boat batteries for an extended stay. Shower went over good too.

The first come first served campsites are run by the U.S. Forest Service (I think). They are primitive....just a flat spot (if you're lucky) to pitch a tent, maybe a fire pit and a fire grate. Most are on the shorelines, but a few are on islands...for islands, I think there's a couple between Oak Narrows and Frasier Bay.

I have gotten so accustomed to using my GPS, that I don't use my paper maps much any more, but I think several of the nicer Lake Vermilion Maps show the campsites. Can anyone else weigh in on this?

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Here are some coords to free-- first come--first serve-- sites in between Oak Narrows and Frazer.

South Side of Hinsdale:

N47 53.778 W92 27.593

N47 53.998 W92 27.172

Southside of Smarts Bay by the red and green.

N47 53.523

W92 26.967

N47 53.561

W92 26.919

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Thanks for all the help. I'm still using maps. I'm coming from duluth. Whats the best place to put in near a few campsites? We plan on going next weekend, and give the eyes a try.

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Does anyone have a place I can view or purchase a map with free camp sites on it? I cannot find any info on the web. I need to buy a GPS! Email: [email protected] Thanks

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Find Hinsdale Island on the map. I believe there is an access on Frazier Bay, at least I saw a sign along the road.

There are several campsites on Hinsdale Island. Or there is the campground in wakemup narrows, near the east end of wakemup bay. It has a nice access around the corner.

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Yes fischer map co in virginia sells maps of vermilion that has all the remote sights marked. You can get one at fischer on chestnutt in virginia or on the internet. I think fortune bay has them and the vermilion food and fuel also

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There is a good landing in Frazer Bay. Hinsdale Island is right across the bay from the landing.

Most bait shops in this area will have good maps for sale.

Cliff

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Try McKinley Park. Wife and I just came back from 5 days up there and had a wonderful time. Susan, who is normally at the office was a great help for us, we were also first timers who will return in a couple of weeks for another stay. You won't regret the stay. Make sure you call ahead for reservations they did seem to be busy. Fishing was great, lot of good hard fighting smallmouth, and of course excellent walleye! Check out there website McKinleypark.net for more information. Hope this helps you out.

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Thanks everyone for your info! I'm trying to keep it a cheap trip. (She says we need to save for a wedding) We would both rather camp on a first come first serve site. Has that more wilderness feel. We went to Namakan last year and had a blast. (met mr. red fox, funny story) Again thanks a bunch!

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There are some wilderness spots in Bystrom Bay. You could leave Moccasin Point and be there in 2 minutes. Or if you are lucky you could get the beach spot east of the trout lake portage along that same shoreline but at the end of the bay....Dont go to the beach on the south side, cause thats where the speed boaters park to fill up on beer and save on gas.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
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