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Labor Day Strategy - Vermilion


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We're going up for Labor Day this year.  Our trips have always been in early August.  Any advice on how to approach walleyes that time of year?  Are crawlers usually still the bait of choice?  

Edited by Hockeyboys
Mistake
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I am usually fishing lindys with crawlers or minnows at that time.

15' to 30' depths on reefs and a few shoreline spots.

Cliff

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If you have the gear to troll Rapala's, sometimes deep 25-35', I have found this approach to be very productive and even a fun change of pace for walleye fishing.  Plus you don't have to worry about keeping bait alive.  

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OhioVike , I couldn't agree more. Trolling #9 shad raps in the main lake has always been a very productive presentation for late summer early fall. You also catch a better average fish when trolling.

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man"

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Pick out a flat, any flat. When i was up 2 weeks ago i caught eyes on every flat i trolled.  Some were 20-21 feet some were 26-28'. I'm a fan of lead core.  I prefer using #4-5 cranks. Obviously not everyone has this set up, but if you are looking to try something very effective,  I'd suggest it.

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Like James I prefer main lake flats for most of my trolling however deep breaks off of large main lake reefs can also be very productive at times.  I like the #9 raps because they will run at 18 to 20ft without using leadcore or any other special tackle. I do use line counters however most of the time long lining gets the job done. I prefer shad or perch pattern baits because you typically catch mostly Walleyes and not Pike. Hot colors will catch Walleyes but you also catch more Pike.

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man" 

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I too will be heading that direction in a couple of days with one other family camping at Hoodoo Point. First trip ever to Vermilion was the weekend after opener this past spring and the lake was gorgeous but fishing was tough...sounded like everyone we talked to that weekend was having a tough time. Really hoping the fishing is better this time around since I'll have my boys along. Really appreciate the insights you guys have been willing to share here! Anyone interested in sharing reports over the weekend feel free to PM me and I'll pass along my contact info. I'll be happy to share whatever is (or isn't) working for me. Will be up there Wed to Mon.

 

Jason 

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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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