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The good and bad of Lake Vermilion


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FishinCT,

You are absolutely right about 10" walleyes not being eater sized fish!

That being said, I really do not think that there are many other fishermen that would keep that sized fish to eat either. Especially during this time of the year when 14"+ walleyes are very easy to catch even by the worst fisherman! Plus the fishermen at this time of the year are mostly "Hard-Core" fishermen who know how to catch decent fish and who know what a real "eater" walleye should be.

I have also seen summer tourists keep small walleyes to eat. I really believe they keep that sized fish because they are just not good enough fishermen to be able to catch decent fish! Many of these fishermen probably only get to fish once a summer in many cases.

I for one, would hate to deprive these people of the chance to catch and eat a meal of fresh walleye on their own. Hopefully they will become better fishermen over time and realize that they can do better!

I have never been a proponent of a minimum walleye slot on this lake and probably never will be. Although I was not in favor of the slot system we now have either! I certainly am now! It works!  "So far". :)

Cliff

 

 

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There is a new citizen/ stakeholder group formed last month to look at the Lake Vermilion fishery as a whole. This group is composed of 3 guides, 3 resort owner/ operators/ a lake biologist, local business owners local town officials and citizens on the lake. The first two issues we are dealing with is Stocking on Vermilion and Fingerling stocking the far west basins in particular, and the walleye slot. We will eventually expand to deal with any other issues that affect Vermilion. Wherever you stand on the fish slot issue it will be good to get your opinion to this group. we will be setting up a contact list and publishing our meeting info in local papers. This is not a study group but an action group that will get results to keep our fishery healthy. 

My personal opinion on the slot is that there should be a 12 inch to 20 inch harvest with a 12 in. minimum and we need to reduce the number of large  fish so allow one in the slot. I personally think 14 in. Is a better minimum but agree with Cliff that sometimes that is mostly what is caught. This is a personal opinion. 

There is a dye study out there by the DNR that we have never seen results on. These are fry reintroduced and was to be used as reproduction and survivability indicator. The results have never been released. Plus the number of reintroduced fry has declined significantly in the last few years. 

While we are considered a natural reproduction lake, millions of our walleye spawn are taken out and used elsewhere. All fisherpersons  On Vermilion are concerned of the health of our Walleye fishery.  The issues of invasive species, forage, bait fish, fishing pressure, predation, slots and other factors have been studied extensively. Our local economies can not and should not let our lake go down the path of a Mille Lacs scenario. Only by PROACTIVE  action will we be able to insure that we continue to be one of the best walleye lakes in Minnesota.

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13"minimum up to 20" and one over 20". I'm in if you need any input or help. I own a couple businesses in Cook and live on the lake. Have fished it for 45 years. 

Bill Nieters

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I was a night watchman at the hatchery on the Pike river for 7 seasons. The DNR puts more  fry back in Vermilion then the eggs they take out. In the lake 3-5% hatch rate, the hatchery 75% plus. One thing I never did understand was the stocking back rate is set years in advance. My question to them was why not adjust that rate on previous years test results. About 4 years ago I suggested a 13-20 inch protected slot for Walleyes on Vermilion. The answer was it wouldn't work. The committee formed on Vermilion is a very good idea.

Lonnie Johnson

Vermilion resident, 

Trout lake portage contractor, 

Guides league member 

 

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Doesn't Vermilion have spiny water fleas.

JUST WONDERING can DNR put Vermilion Fry into other lakes 

IF NOT.Then they could take all the fry from Vermilion and return it to lake.

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A 13-20 inch harvest slot was suggested by Lonnie.

Yes we have Spiny fleas. 

Sounds like a filter system will be put in at the hatchery for lake water. The DNR will then keep Pike river hatchery in operation. 

Fry are now treated to not spread VHS,we don't have that yet.

Let's all do are part and not spread any of the invasive species. 

Great time of year fishing and hunting.

Be safe. 

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I'm not out fishing enough to see people keeping the little walleye, so I'm a bit ambivalent. If it is indeed a problem then I'd be fine with setting a minimum cap. Stealing one of the proposals from above, I'd suggest an open slot between 12" and 20" (or 11"/12"/13", 18"/19"/20"/21") with an allowance for one over and one under the open slot. That allows people to take a small walleye if it's important to them but not in gross excess.

I've only been on Vermilion for a little over a decade but I've definitely noticed an improvement in the walleye fishing. I mostly fish the west end but hit Fectos when others insist upon it. I love how many mid-20" walleye I have been able to catch in recent years. It's a hoot and they do fight, they just don't jump and thrash like other species. I'm in favor of keeping the slot in general but tinkering with it every 5-10 years to eventually (in 30-50 years) finding the right balance. 

Edited by SkunkedAgain
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I like the idea of one over the slot, whatever that may be. I have seen several mid 20's walleyes floating belly up over the years and that just seems like a waste to me. Allowing one over would solve this problem for the most part I think. 13-20" with one over sounds like a good plan to me.

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Cliff, I would tend to agree with you about the type of fishermen out this time of year. Yes there are some nice fish being kept as well, but the only time I get up to the lake is in mid October every year. And I've seen the same thing year after year.

I just get worried because the dnr data about recent hatches isn't great. Only 3 strong year classes in the last decade. That can only carry you for so long, especially considering two of them were in '06 and '07. Plus, the gillnet catch in 2014 was the lowest since 1994.

The creel survey data shows that 8-11" fish aren't kept as often as other sizes, which obviously makes sense. But there were still well over 5000 walleyes in that length group kept! And that's just the fish the creel survey actually saw. I've never been checked in October and there are still plenty of fishermen that time of year. I just think if we protected those fish it would be positive for the lake in the long run. 

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Keep in mind that about 80% of those 10" fish won't survive to be 15 inches.  In my humble opinion the Walleye fishing has been very good the last several years and I see no reason to mess with it.

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man

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I fish the Canadian side of Rainy Lake most of the time. Ontario only lets you keep walleyes between 13.7 and 17.7 inches (or one over 27"). I have fished there for over 40 years and the walleye fishing is better now than ever. I wish Minnesota would stop allowing harvest of dink walleyes. I think numbers of fish and size would increase just like it did on Rainy.

Does anybody really need to keep a 10-inch walleye?

 

I do fish Minnesota lakes too. Here is one from October on Pelican by Orr,MN. Released of course.

Rainy2015-10-7b.jpg

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I think zone 5 has one over 18 in the walleye limit.

But, I see Rainy is special, with slot, perhaps to align with us side

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I would like 14" minimum with one  18"-22" fish allowed.  Larger walleyes don't taste good enough to justify keeping them, and if a person wants a mount, they can get a replica.

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I myself prefer 13" to 15" walleyes for eating. Anything over 17" is just to big to cook well in a deep fryer unless it is cut into smaller pieces. Which brings me right  back to smaller fish again!:)

I do have to admit that for grilling an 18" to 20" walleye works best!

My real fear about being able to keep one or two fish in the current slot size is that smaller fish kept in the live well,.(maybe to long), will be thrown back when a keeper sized slot is caught. I can see that happening way to often if the fishermen are looking for bigger fish to keep to begin with.

How many years of keeping Vermilion's spawners to eat will it take to deplete our current healthy reproducers?

Cliff

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I'm actually of the opinion that there might be too many small walleyes in the sysem. When the walleyes are aggressive, it can be hard to keep the dinks off your line. I think it's a question of whether you want lots of numbers or a trophy fishery. I'd personally prefer a trophy fishery but the majority wants 14"-18" eaters. It's seems to be a tough balance for the DNR. 

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Just go west, young man and your wish for few small walleyes and mostly big ones will be a reality.

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A friend gave me something to think about when it comes to the walleye population on the west end. He said he believes that a lot of the Walleyes migrate east because that's where are the incoming rivers are so a lot of the population migrates and then just stays over there.

Thoughts?

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Not an expert walleye guy at all, but I would question that, seeing as how everyone says the west end has more slot size (aka "brood fish") in its population.

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1 hour ago, 10,000 Casts said:

A friend gave me something to think about when it comes to the walleye population on the west end. He said he believes that a lot of the Walleyes migrate east because that's where are the incoming rivers are so a lot of the population migrates and then just stays over there.

Thoughts?

That might be the biggest inlet but it's not the only one.

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A 13-20 inch harvest slot was suggested by Lonnie.

Yes we have Spiny fleas. 

Sounds like a filter system will be put in at the hatchery for lake water. The DNR will then keep Pike river hatchery in operation. 

Fry are now treated to not spread VHS,we don't have that yet.

Let's all do are part and not spread any of the invasive species. 

Great time of year fishing and hunting.

Be safe. 

Many years ago a test during spawn was done at hatchery. Female walleye that had been stripped of eggs were released all over Vermilion. They had tags marking the location released. I was told only a handful from the West lake made it back to hatchery the next Spring. A lot of the walleyes from the east lake made it back. 

 The other thing to think about a lot of the walleyes under 18" are males. Could some lakes have a shortage of males to fertilize eggs. 

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On November 9, 2015 at 11:54:11 AM, 10,000 Casts said:

A friend gave me something to think about when it comes to the walleye population on the west end. He said he believes that a lot of the Walleyes migrate east because that's where are the incoming rivers are so a lot of the population migrates and then just stays over there.

Thoughts?

20+ years ago the west end had all kinds of walleyes. What is happening now with mostly big fish and hardly any eaters is a fairly recent phase. 

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On 11/12/2015, 7:46:56, bassbouncer said:

20+ years ago the west end had all kinds of walleyes. What is happening now with mostly big fish and hardly any eaters is a fairly recent phase. 

Been like ten years.  I remember when it used to work to go sit on a reef with a bobber in the evening.  Been a good while since that would produce anything.  For a while, there were masses of gills on those reefs that used to have walleye.  Nice gills, but not the same.  

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I don't want Vermilion to turn into another Mille Lacs with only large walleyes left.  Small walleyes are needed to grow into larger ones, and provide meals for people that prefer the tastier small fish.  Could Mille Lacs problem have been caused by too many large walleyes eating walleye fry?

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The current thinking is that the Mille lacs problem was caused by cannibalism.   The west vermilion problem is thought to be poor survival for first  year, not  cannibalism.   All theories subject to change. 

Edited by delcecchi
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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • 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
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    • 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
    • leech~~
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    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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