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Hey guys,

I just had a question about lakes around the Iron Range area (specifically Virginia) and which ones would be worth fishing in the summer. I'm going up there to my relatives this summer and I can bring up a 16 ft boat with a 20 hp merc. I would like to fish some area lakes such as West Two Rivers, Ely, or one of the lakes on the Embarrass chain if any are worth while! I only catch and release and am just looking for lakes with good numbers of fish. I have done some research on the DNR site but I have more confidence in actual reports. Any info would be GREATLY appreciated!!! If you'd like you can shoot me an email at [email protected]

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Can help you with many lakes near Hibbing and Side Lake if that would help. It's still a reasonable distance from Virginia and could be a backup plan if your others don't pan out. What type of species are you specifically looking for?

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Foreverfish:

When in the summer will you be there? I have never fished it but I know that the WHiteface Res is probably the best walleye lake down this way. Lots of structure and lots of hazards so be careful.

Ely Lk has very good bass. You can also find decent crappies but you must search. Ely also has walleyes but it is an evening/night bite and you must be patient and search hard--the ones that are in there though are big.

Pleasant Lk has good pike and smaller crappies.

Embarrass Mine Pit--just outside of Biwabik has good sized rainbows and although they haven't been stocked for years, it also has lakers in it.

Gilbert pit has rainbows, brookies, lakers, bass.

Embarrass lake has good sized walleyes but you have to weed though little slimmers, bass, and crappies.

All in all my advice to you is, bring up some lake maps and explore. All of these lakes are within 20 minutes of Eveleth/Virginia so you could try one in the morning and one in the evening.

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Bohunk, I'm fine with catching almost any fish, but walleyes northerns and bass are my favorites. Also, I'd be interested in those area lakes if they have good numbers of fish in them! I don't mind a little bit of a drive.

Lakerunner, thanks a ton for the info! I will be up there sometime in late June/early July I'm guessing. I'm going to get some maps of the lakes you mentioned for sure and probably give some of them a try. I have no clue how to fish for trout in a lake though? Do you happen to know anything about West Two Rivers Reservior? I've fished it before and it was interesting but I didn't catch much.

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West Two Rivers--I've only fished once and that was in the fall chasing crappies. There are big ones in there but can be tough to find. It is a flooded reservior so be careful--lots of trees and stumps.

I hear that is has good northerns in it but I hate northerns so I haven't really gone there.

For the two pits lakes that I described, it is easy to fish them. I usually troll a smaller crankbait with perhaps a little weight along the shorelines--and I do good. They drop off really quick so your fishing a break even though you might be only 10-15 yards off shore.

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I would concur that Whiteface is a good start for walleyes, not for size, but for sheer numbers. Fairly easy to find the fish as well, lots of structure. In the Hibbing/Side Lake area, I would try the Sturgeon chain of lakes (Big, West, South, Little, and Side Lake). Big Sturgeon would be my preference for walleye and northern, while West and Side have a lot of panfish in them. Two other lakes that are worth noting are Shannon and Stingy Lakes. These are both smaller lakes and can be fished fairly easily in a day. Shannon gets very weedy in the summer and has a nice population of bass and nice size northern, while Stingy is better known for walleye, bass, and panfish. Shannon can be found southeast of Side Lake and is accessed from the Shannon Forest Road, while Stingy is southwest of Side Lake. Hope this info helps you out and enjoy your stay up here!

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lakerunner, thanks for the info and warnings on West Two. Also thanks for the tips on fishing the trout in lakes. With that technique do I want to be fishing the crankbaits about 10 ft down or more? Also what species is that technique for, rainbows, brookies, or lakers?

bohunk, thanks for the tips on lakes in the Hibbing/Side lake area. I think I might have to try out one of these lakes you mentioned but I'm not exactly sure how far away these lakes or Whiteface are from the Virginia area. I think Hibbing is west and a little north and Whiteface is east and north from Virginia? Correct me if I'm wrong...

Thanks again guys!!!

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Forever--you are correct as to where the approximate locations are. From my house (in Eveleth) it takes me just under 45 minutes to get to my buddies cabin on Side Lk.

The techniques that I gave you will target primarily rainbows and brookies however you might catch a laker or two. Lakes tend to be deeper but the lakes break soooo quickly, you might find out cruising by. These lakes are not known as laker lakes however there are a few in there and they are big. You'll mainly be catching "streamers" and the rainbows will be in the 16-20" range. With the equipment that you'd probably be brining up for fishing walleyes, northerns, bass I just excluded the techinques that you'd use for lakers--different set-ups. If you have cranks that run between 5-15', you'll do just fine on the streamers but you'll be fishing 35-50 FOW eventhough your only 10-15 yards from shore.

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  • 4 months later...

Hey guys,

The trip is less than a month away (June 15-17) and I'm starting to get excited! I'm going for 3 days and I want to try West Two Rivers for sure because it just looks so fun to fish. I also want to do some trout fishing in a mine pit but I dont know which one will give me the most action? Lastly, any advice on what lake I should go to on the third day?

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Northerns, L or S Bass, Eyes, Trout. Any of these species really I just would like to get into numbers of fish. I would just be fishing for fun too, I wouldn't keep any, I don't want to have to transport them.

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Try the Embarrass Mine Pit (also known as Lake Mine) near Giants Ridge. It has lakers, rainbows and brookies. You won't catch big lakers but there are a decent number in the pit. The rainbows and brookies can get to a decent size.

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casey,

Would I fish this lake by trolling cranks in the 10 to 15 foot depths or how do you catch them? (the streamers or lakers or both)

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You could go after the rainbows by trolling smaller Rapalas or spoons at different depths. The water is gin clear so if the fish are in the area they will see it easily.

There is always the old stand by, worm and a hook under a bobber. A worm with a marshmallow behind a Lindy sinker works too.

Lakers, depending on water temp, will likely be deeper. You could troll with spoons or vertical jig in deeper water. I have had good luck for lakers in a number of waters with white or glo 3/8 oz jig head and white/pearl Berkley Gulp.

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Thanks for the great tips casey!

I can't wait to try for some trout on our trip now! I just hope the weathers not too bad.

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st. marys is a very good large mouthbass lake,very shallow landing lots of 5-6 lb. fish a nice after dinner trip evenings are best

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2mw, thanks for the idea! That sounds like lots of fun one evening, what is the best way to fish this lake? Are they in shallow mid-June or out deep? Any more tips would be great! Thanks again!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Heading up to Virginia in about a week! Any current reports on the trout fishing on the Gilbert Pit or Embarrass mine pit or the fishing on West Two Rivers?

Any help would be great! Thanks!

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Well tomorrow is the big day! Any recent updates, reports, or tips!?

I will have a laptop up there so I will post results as the week goes on!

Thanks for any help!!

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Well it was a fun trip!

Monday we went to west two rivers and fished all day. Ended up with several nice pike all on spinnerbaits, they only seemed to bite in certain spots and others they seemed to not be there. Fun lake to fish with all the structure, especially the flooded timber in the upper stretches! Too bad we couldn't catch any fish there.

Tuesday we went to lost lake near vermillion. Caught a few small eyes and 2 very nice perch on bobber and minnows but not much else. Few other boats out there catching a few fish as well.

Wednesday we went to Dark lake by the town of Kinney. Had all the hammerhandles we could handle on spinnerbaits and a few nice gills on jigs, but nothing else to speek of.

Overall a very fun trip, the scenery on these lakes was almost as fun as the fishing!

Goodluck to everyone!

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