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Following a long tradition here's the place to exchange Lake Vermilion open water fishing information for the 2023 season.

Hey guys, I am looking to keep busy this winter and am starting to make my own tackle. If you have any old Do-it lead jig molds you’re no longer using please shoot me a message and let me know what you have and how much you’d like for it. I can pay shipping costs. Thanks in advance. Tony

Hey guys I'm trying to make myself a new dark house. I would like it to be 6x6 or 6x8. The one I have right now is a 4x4 and it just isn't working for me anymore. I need a new one but it has to be light enough to be pulled by my snowmobile or four-wheeler. I've seen some built out of 2x2 boards and some out of old insulated garage doors. Any building advice or floorplans would be great. Thanks

Anyone? We’re fishing the Bemidji Chapter Muskies Inc tourney tomorrow. Can’t sleep tonight of course so I may as well post. I haven’t seen ANY of the lakes we’re allowed to fish (5) through a muskie fisherman’s eyes yet. My partner is new to the area and has at least some time on the water. We’re at least both on the board for the year though. He got a 47 and I got a 22! We’re keeping an eye on the deep water bite but with the sudden warm up and wind coming the switch to the shallows can’t be ruled out! We’d just like to boat one anyway. Hoping the dinner afterwards is cool. Here’s to new experiences!!

I picked up some baby beaver lures they look like an animal swimming. What is the new lures you guys have picked up?

I am starting to collect more and more Muskie lures. What is everyone’s go to colors for fishing muskies in MN?

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Opener 2020 tomorrow - anyone here going out? Heck with the full moon tonight this weekend should be really good. If I get to spend some time out it’ll be in central MN. The river maybe, or Alexander. Shamineau is on my list this year as I’ve never fished it at all. Plenty of lakes to try. I’d like to see what you guys are pulling in this year! Hear some stories or good advice! I hope to have some to share.

Hi, I already use squarebill cranking and am looking for a good normal Crankbait. What is the best one?

Has anyone caught any muskie/musky on any of the Horseshoe/Sauk River Chain of Lakes this year?

2013 Ranger 1850 This is the cleanest 2013 multi sport fishing boat that you’ll find. Powered by a Yamaha 150 four stroke, this is a great performing boat. The interior, exterior, motor and trailer are in awesome condition. Features include: Ranger Custom Trailer w/spare tire. Yamaha 150 four stroke. Minn Kota 80 Terrova trolling motor w/iPilot. Lowrance HDS 7 & HDS 5 depth/fish finders. Onboard 2 bank battery charger. Large Livewell. Bait Livewell. 12+ rod locker. AM/FM/CD Stereo. 4 swivel seats. 2 flip on seat. Snap in carpet. Ranger custom travel cover. Swim ladder. Ski pylon. Removable bow cushions Built in cooler Interior LED courtesy lights Lots of storage I’m sure there are things that I’ve missed in the above list of options. This is the perfect fishing boat, and can easily double as a family runabout for skiing, tubing and cruising around. Boat is located in Detroit Lakes MN. Please call or text for more information. 701-371-509nine

Last summer was my first foray into the Muskie world. My 7 year old and I were out bass fishing (his favorite because of the casting) when he had a Muskie follow his bait to the boat. This wasn’t our first encounter with a Muskie. We’ve seen probably 8-10 in the last 3 years with one being a giant that was following my trolling motor while fishing walleyes. After that last encounter he wanted to give it a try. I picked up a couple cheap Muskie rods and repurposed a bass reel with decent capacity and an old round reel I bought for catfish. I also picked up a giant net that I could also use to fish 2-3 drunk adults out of a lake at a time. I spooled my sons reel with 60lb braid because of capacity and mine with 80. I then sent a text to Scoot to pick his brain and hoped he’d give me a little insight into the world of muskies. He came through and even let me borrow a few lures to get started. I had no idea what I was doing and he helped a lot and got me excited about it. Our first time out i am casting out one side of the boat and my son out the other. We are in the area of the most recent Muskie sighting our last time out. My son is pitching a top water that scoot sent with me and I’m throwing a spinner. About 45 minutes in my son yells there’s one following my lure but he stops reeling. When I turned around all I saw was a boil in the water. I asked him if he was sure it was a Muskie and I could tell by the look on his face that it was something big. He just says yeah and sits down on the bow of the boat. I tell him to get casting again and get her and he just says not yet. I’m just going to rest for a minute. We didn’t boat any muskies last summer but still had fun. It’s a nice change of pace once the water warms and walleye fishing slows. I caught a handful or northerns but they were all pretty small. It’s crazy how anything that hits your bait when you’re chucking giant lures and holding a pool cue makes your heart skip a beat. Our first time out I realized that old reel wasn’t going to cut it with the low gear ratio. It was a lot of cranking to get any blades going on the bait I was throwing but used it for the summer on the half dozen times we went out. This (kind of) spring I’ve been thinking fishing. I normally fish walleye with some bass and crappie mixed in but I keep going back to that dam Muskie! I decided I’m upgrading my reel and going to start the collecting of Muskie lures. I had seen prices of lures but quickly learned that they’re also very proud of Muskie reels. I am partial to Abu Garcia reels for some reason and picked up a Toro Beast reel to replace the old POS that I tried out last year with a 6.4-1 gear ratio. I’m thinking I’ll be a little happier with cranking this one than the old one. I dont really have any question of any sort or looking for any advice but this warmer weather has me thinking fishing. Just sitting here thinking about my now 8 year old hoisting his first Muskie and hopefully me getting my hands on one as well. Anyone else ready for some soft water? Also, I’m thinking that the hardest part about musky fishing isn’t all the casting and standing. It’s actually finding somewhere to store that dam giant net where you aren’t stepping on it or your kid is snagging it.

I've had an old rapala cd-18 since I was a little guy and the wife has hung it on the wall and won't let me fish with it anymore. Just wondering if anybody knows a store i can go find this at. I've been to the Cabela's in Rogers and owatanna both, sportsman's Warehouse in coon rapids and about every Walmart bait shop and gas station I've stopped at with no luck. Really miss using this lure as it is the most productive thing I've used outside a 3 inch red and white spoon.

Very interesting article regarding diets of muskies and other game fish. I was surprised that the percentage of walleye eaten by musky was as low as it was. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sports/outdoors/5040992-What-are-muskies-eating-in-Miltona-Local-lake-part-of-Minnesota-diet-study-on-four-major-game-fish

. What is your personal best Minnesota Pike? Were you targeting Pike when you caught it? Mine is 42" from a shallow lake North of me. It was very skinny for a 42" fish. I caught it while fishing for Bass on a spinnerbait. Water was very warm and unfortunately I wasn't able to revive it. I contrast that to a 42" Pike caught in Canada trolling. That fish absolutely stopped the bait on the strike. Learned a very good lesson that day. Always have a decent size net in the boat, the fish don't know what species you are after.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/watch-ice-fisherman-pulls-50-pound-fish-through-tiny-hole/ar-BB10DHtn?li=BBnba9I#image=4

Hey I was curious to see if there were any active fishing clubs near whitebear lake or forest lake

G'day guys, I've started up this post as I will be visiting Minnesota (to be specific the Stuart Lake in the Ottertail Lake area) and I would love to hook into some fish! I'm originally from the Netherlands, have lived in Australia for the last 8 years working as a fishing guide, I have moved to Dallas TX with my wife and now we will be visiting my in-laws in Minnesota. I would love to catch Musky, which I know West Battle Lake holds, and of course Walleye. I have been trying to look for areas that hold smallmouth but was unable to find any. I don't have a boat up there or anything so I know I will be in a massive disadvantage for musky but I will give it a try with waders. I would love to get as many tips as possible! Cheers!

So the weeks betwixt point and click and smoke pole deer hunting always have my ire up to get that last Musky Missile into my hands. Gotta scrub that slime into my glove until next year. Going to give the Mississippi below Falls a try here in a few hours. Might find it frozen, might find a spot to get in. I'll bring my boat because I'm an optimist, but I'll bet the kayak is where i end up. Wish me luck, otherwise I have a scheme on my mind for my favorite frozen central mn musky lake.

Hey fellas, I developed a free fishing phone app for my fellow fisherman. It’s called FishIQ. I broke down 10 species by their location based on the water temperature. So if you’re looking for quick pointers or interested on where to find other species throughout the seasons give it a try! Hopefully it leads to more fish at the boat!

Hello again from Sunset Lodge on Oak Island! Hope everyone had a great week! Here in the Northwest Angle, things are about as good as they can be, the weather has been decent and just a few showers and storms to contend with. And the fishing has been good! The water temp was between 70 and 73 degrees this week. Stateside, anglers are finding that pulling night crawlers behind spinner rigs has been working well and catching walleyes. Depths range anywhere from 8 to 25 feet with hammered gold, copper, orange, and pink being the best producers. Areas to target are the flats and mud between Oak Island and Four Blocks, Little Oak, and Crowduck Islands. The South and East side of Oak Island has also been producing fish. Pulling crankbaits in 8 to 12 feet of water has also been working well. In Ontario, the Musky action has definitely been heating up! With numerous fish being seen and landed throughout the week. Reports of some larger specimens have been steadily coming in but the majority of fish being landed are between the 40" to 45" mark. Rock reefs and points seem to be the best bets for finding one of these giants. Casting bucktails and large spinnerbaits have been the best producers. Walleyes can be found among the reefs and rocky points in Bishop Bay, Tug Channel, Deepwater Bay, Monument Bay and Skeet Island. Big Narrows is also a good bet. Jigs with frozen shiners and fatheads in depths of 20 to 30 feet have been producing limits for anglers. Gold, pink, chartreuse, and orange are top colors. Hope everyone has a fantastic week! Come visit us soon at Sunset Lodge! Cale Albers ---------------------------------- The bug hatch is over! Fishing picking back up again. Up in Ontario, small reefs are all holding fish and the big reefs down in Little Traverse are all starting to have fish on them, too. The best fishing was in 22-26 feet right on the edge or top of the reef. Little Traverse is the place to be if it is calm enough to fish there. Otherwise, the reefs up by Skeet Island are all holding fish now too and you can get out of the wind. The best was a fluorescent colored jig tipped with a minnow. Jumbo perch are being caught along with the walleyes. On the Minnesota side, there have been boats all the way from Four Blocks down to Garden Island. Once again, fishing the edges of the reefs if pulling spinners. We took 9th in the Musky Bowl at Wiley Point this past weekend. Seen a lot of fish but they just wouldn't eat the bait at boatside. The winning team caught 5 muskys in the two days. You can already sign up for next year. It was a great turnout for the first year with 20 teams in it. Until next week good luck fishing! Forrest Huset Sunset Lodge

Selling 12x12 Muskie, Walleye, Bass decals. $14.99. Perfect for the boat or truck. The decals are printed on 6mm vinyl, UV protected and the art work is original. Message me if interested. Thanks.

Trolling for walleyes and my son caught this muskie-just shy of 50". I took a picture that didn't show the whole fish, my buddy is holding the full length shot.

Researchers carefully hoist a huge muskellunge onto a boat. They record its measurements, identify the sex of the fish, scan an electronic tag implanted in the muskie and return it to the lake where, one day, it could take an angler’s lure and provide a long-remembered thrill. Collecting information and studying muskie populations allows the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to make well-informed decisions about how to stock muskie and manage harvest. “As anglers head into the muskie season that began June 6, they are enjoying opportunities that came about largely due to research-based management,” said Don Pereira, fisheries section chief. “Better information can lead to better fishing in a state that’s already a renowned muskie fishing destination.” The DNR studies muskie in a variety of ways, including looking into everything from muskie ancestry using DNA analysis to how well muskie grow and survive once they’re stocked in certain southern Minnesota lakes. The research builds on past work that identified how to best capture and rear a large-growing native strain of muskie, stock this strain into appropriate waters, and manage the harvest. “This large-growing strain is one reason muskie anglers are able to catch fish in the 50-plus inch trophy range,” Pereira said. “There are enough of these fish in the population that many anglers asked for the change to a 54-inch minimum length on muskie in most waters of the state, which is in effect this year.” Along with a growing interest in muskie fishing, research taking place around the state aims to fine-tune muskie management. Walker area fisheries: Using DNA to study muskie ancestry With the help of DNA analysis, researchers can trace the ancestry of individual fish, including muskie. The work has real-world management implications. “It’s a pretty cool concept. We’re starting to do more of it now on special projects around the state,” said Doug Schultz, Walker area fisheries supervisor. For one study, Walker area fisheries teamed up with Loren Miller, a fisheries research geneticist, as well as anglers who were shown how to collect muskie scale samples for DNA analysis. The study’s central question: In Baby and Man lakes in the Walker area, stocking of the less desirable Shoepack Lake strain of muskie ended in the 1970s. Now, what is the residual effect of Shoepack strain muskie on the current muskie population in these two lakes? “Strain” in fish is similar to heritage in humans: Fish from a geographic location of origin tend to have similar physical characteristics that may differ from those of other locations. From the 1950s to the early 1980s, muskie from Shoepack Lake were reared and stocked in several Minnesota lakes, even in lakes where a native muskie population already existed. It was later seen that the Shoepack strain grew slower and reached smaller maximum sizes than the Mississippi strain, which are native populations connected to the upper Mississippi River drainage system, including Leech Lake. The use of the Shoepack strain ended in favor of the faster growing and larger Leech Lake-Mississippi strain. On Baby and Man lakes, the study found that Shoepack ancestry declined to only nine percent, down from 13 percent in 1995. Yet, historical Shoepack strain stockings are still having an impact on size potential of some fish in today’s muskie populations. “This study could set the stage for future muskie management decisions on lakes with residual Shoepack ancestry,” Schultz said. “A study using DNA adds a new level of certainty about the effects of past stocking. That helps as we take multiple factors into account when making management decisions aimed at improving opportunities for anglers.” Montrose area fisheries: Tagging and recapturing muskie after new stocking Muskies were first stocked in 2011 in the Sauk River Chain of Lakes, giving anglers in the St. Cloud area a chance to fish for muskies close to home. For Montrose area fisheries staff, the stocking offers a rare chance to track the growth of a new fish population using electronic tags. “It’s a new fish to the system. We don’t really know what the growth potential is out there. It will be neat to find out,” said Joe Stewig, Montrose area fisheries supervisor. “Some of these fish will be marked, and we will then be able to track their growth throughout their lives.” Beginning in 2013, Montrose area staff started implanting electronic tags into muskies, work paid for through hunting and fishing license dollars and with financial help from the Hugh C. Becker Foundation through the St. Cloud chapter of Muskies Inc. After fish are tagged, the goal is to recapture some of these fish during fall electrofishing, when crews look specifically for these stocked muskies. “With continued funding, we’ll be able to use these tags to monitor the growth of this newly established muskie population,” Stewig said. “Using this method goes above and beyond the standard lake survey.” West metro fisheries: Tagging muskie to evaluate stocking efforts To study the effectiveness of muskie stocking in three Twin Cities metro area lakes, the DNR’s west metro fisheries staff is working on a muskie tagging project in partnership with the Muskies, Inc. Twin Cities Chapter and Hugh C. Becker Foundation. The study taking place on Lake Minnetonka, Bald Eagle Lake and White Bear Lake measures the survival numbers of year-old muskie, called yearlings, and smaller muskie less than a year old, called fingerlings. “All three lakes have high northern pike populations. So we normally don’t stock muskie in the face of that kind of competition,” said Daryl Ellison, west metro area fisheries manager. “But there’s an interest in it because they’re metro lakes.” The study results will help evaluate the DNR’s standard stocking ratio of one yearling per three fingerlings – important knowledge because yearlings cost more to stock than fingerlings. “Initial results seem to support the 3:1 ratio, but more study is needed,” Ellison said. “The study was showing some positive results for fingerlings in Lake Minnetonka.” Windom area fisheries: Studying Fox Lake muskellunge Fox Lake is Minnesota’s southernmost muskie lake, and was first stocked with muskie in 1999. Years later, electronic tags began informing an ongoing study on muskie in that lake. Each spring from 2011 to 2013, Windom fisheries staff counted, measured and weighed muskie captured with nets. They also implanted muskie with electronic tags, and recorded information about the growth of individual fish already implanted with a tag from a previous spring. Starting in 2012, muskie fingerlings have received electronic tags before they are stocked into the lake. To date, more than 1,200 muskellunge of varying sizes have been tagged in Fox Lake. “Through this study on Fox Lake, we’ll gain pertinent information on population abundance, growth and longevity of muskie,” said Nate Hodgins, Windom area fisheries assistant supervisor. “It will give us a good picture of muskie populations in similar size and type lakes.” Windom fisheries plans to use the data to help evaluate how Fox and perhaps other lakes are stocked in smaller, southern Minnesota lakes in the future. They will be netting muskie and updating Fox Lake population numbers every two years starting in 2015.