Lake Vermilion Fishing Q&A

[UofMBASS]

Anyone toss a jerkbait for the smallies on Vermilion? I know they're super craw-oriented, but I'm curious because on many lakes you can really fire them up on it unlike other baits.

[guideman]

Go Gophers!

Jerkbait will produce however this time of the season I prefer to use a soft plastic jerkbait over the hard bait. Early season is the best time to throw the hard baits but they will do the job at times during the summer.

"Ace"

[Death_From_Below]

Hello everyone. I'm an avid pike fisherman from colorado. I will be making the 17 hour drive to vermillion. I've seen a lot of info here about the eyes but I'm more interested in pike. I will be headed there in mid September for a shot at some big girls. We are planning to rent a cabin in pike bay and staying for a week. It seems like concentrating on the east end is probably a good bet? I have been pouring over lake maps and bathymetry data. We fish a lot of plastics in some lakes here that hold loads of crawfish. Is this a good tactic there. I've used plastics, swimbaits, cranks, blade baits, to catch pike. If you think something excels let me know. At this time of year would my best bet be on deep weed bed edges, mid lake reefs, or ambush spots around structure.

[guideman]

I'm sure all of those baits have caught you lots of Pike over the years but here on Vermilion spinnerbaits have caught me lots of 40" class Pike. I like 3/4 to 1oz spinnerbaits and in September a single colorado blade on a brightly colored spinnerbait can be a stone killer for large Pike. Hang a plastic trailer on it for a little more bulk. Windblown points, deep reeds and shoreline breaks on mainlake islands are good location and you can expect to see a few Muskies as well.

"Ace"

[airnuts]

Going to be up on Frazer Bay the last weekend of September to help my brother-in-laws dad close up before heading south for the winter. Haven't really fished up there before this time of the year. Curious what you folks recommend at that time when fishing for walleyes. Any suggestions deeply appreciated! Thanks!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Going to be up on Frazer Bay the last weekend of September to help my brother-in-laws dad close up before heading south for the winter. Haven't really fished up there before this time of the year. Curious what you folks recommend at that time when fishing for walleyes. Any suggestions deeply appreciated! Thanks!

Lindys or jigs with minnows!

Fish the steep, deep breaks and holes. 30' to 50' depths.

Cliff

[guideman]

Cliff got it pretty good. I prefer jigs and minnows myself but lindy rigs work great also. They get into very predictable locations and they are looking to feed.

[airnuts]

Thanks guys. See you in September!

[james_walleye]

Every single time I pull out a bulldawg on deeper structure for muskys I catch big pike. Fish from 36-40" and a few up to 41" this year

[Fish Head]

How have you been doing with the Muskies?

[neptune]

Cliff,

I saw in one of your other recent posts that you suggested crawlers still. Has the bite changed to minnows this week?

[steve b]

I'm coming to lake vermilion on September 18th for four days. How deep should I start looking for walleye and what is the best bait ? And Cliff my Mom wants to know if any one else has caught eelpout the summer other than her?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Steve,

By Sept., 18 the walleye will probably be hitting mostly minnows on either rigs or jigs.

I switched to minnows today on rigs and we boated 18 walleyes and 2 jumbo perch in 3 hours. 4 of them were slot fish.

All were caught in about 28' to 31' of water.

I have caught a few pout in 35' to 50'+ of water during the summer myself while fishing jigs/minnows for walleye.

Cliff

[steve b]

Do you remember when my Mom did we where fishing with you in june about ten years ago.

[steve b]

What is the best structure to fish musky on this time of year ? Rocks or weeds?

[guideman]

There is still good action along the weed edges so I wouldn't overlook those areas. I prefer islands over reefs this time of the season. You'll still find a lot of rocks to fish around the islands and you'll find points and saddles and larger boulders and even some grass, if you know where to look. You may also locate some cisos along the breaks.

"Ace"

[steve b]

Thanks.

[DaveZman14q]

What kind of advice would you give when targeting muskies this time of year? Is it too early to expect the ciscos to be staging off those steep breaks? Do you have a preference when it comes to weeds, islands, saddles, reefs, points?

Would I be better off casting towards the shallows or working deeper water such as underwater humps/points? Also, what do you think is more important when it comes to those cold fronts... slowing down the retrieve, downsizing baits?

[guideman]

Hey Dave,

I really like fishing islands, points and deep shoreline breaks this time of the season. I'll also hit some reefs and some weed edges and I always throw a topwater in the shallows no matter what time of year it is. I haven't seen much in the way of Ciso so far this fall. A few small pods here and there but no large schools or fish breaking the surface anywhere, at least I haven't seen any.

I like to throw cranks, Glittertails and single Colorado blade spinnerbaits in the cold water. I'm not a big fan of trolling because as everybody know's that trolling is for girls. When it gets cold and water temps slid into the 40's even I will spend some time pulling some cranks or some big rubber behind the boat.

Good Luck!

"Ace"

[DaveZman14q]

Hey thanks for the reply Ace!

You ever have any luck North of Pine Island this time of year? I usually only venture up there in the early months of the year.

[guideman]

Hey Dave,

I stay pretty close to home in the fall. Just to darn cold to be running all over the place, besides Big bay is only a short boat ride from my dock. I know of a few fish that have been caught up there trolling in the fall.

"Ace"

[ProGuideEyes]

Hey everyone, I am coming up to vermil for opener and wondering if anyone has any ice out dates for the last 4/5 years?? Any help would be much appreciated!!!

[Bigfatbert]

This year ice out was 4-18

2014 ice out was 5-13

2013 ice out was 5-17

2012 ice out was 4-2

2011 ice out was 5-1

I hope this helps you out for the last few years ice out dates.

Alan

[VermilionGold]

BigV Ice Out Dates

[ProGuideEyes]

Hey thanks a lot man!! Appreciate it!

[Dr. Bombay]

I KNOW IT'S STILL EARLY, BUT IF ANYONE GETS WATER TEMPS ON THE WEST END, I'D BE VERY INTERESTED!

THANKS!

DR. BOMBAY

[TrueNorth]

Is there any decent LM Bass action in Greenwood or Everett Bays?  

 

Thanks

[PSU]

Hello Friends:

I tried search for an old electronics posting from years ago but couldn't find it. Cliff, we discussed years ago on this forum our new Lowrance Elite 7 systems and you provided us with settings you felt worked best. I cant seem to find my notes or that old thread from years ago. Are you still using your Elite 7 and if so, which settings do you find best, i.e. ping speed, clarity, etc?

Thanks as mine seem to have reset over the winter

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

PSU,

I increase my ping speed to slightly over 50%. Other then that I run on Auto with my Elite 7., I also use 2X zoom when I get into water over 15 feet deep.

Cliff

[CaptJohnWis]

Guideman,

 

I am thinking of trying Vermilion in late Fall for smallmouth. A buddy of mine fished a tourney there a few years ago and said there were many 4-5 pound bass caught pre-fishing. He even caught a few muskie while bass fishing. Do you know if there is a website that shows weigh in totals for recent bass tourneys?

 

I mainly fish Rainy Lake but want to try some new places. Used to be easy to catch 4-pound smallies up here on Rainy but things have gotten tough now that the smelt have all but disappeared. Still bunches of 3-pounders though.  I fish Pelican in Orr a couple times a year just for a change of pace. Here is a bass from my last trip to Pelican in October. And a video from a short trip on Rainy yesterday.