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Hi all,

I am making a first trip to big v June 15-20 with my son. We'll be at the V Dam Lodge. We're a bit nuts for smallies but my 15 yr old son will, and does, catch anything that swims. And usually a lot more than me! This is our first "learn to find fish" trip and we will likely not run too far beynd Niles or the narrows. Any advice on the types of spots and/ or search techniques for that area and time year?

Smallies, pike, big walleyes, eater walleyes and maybe even a muskie hunt are our goals, in that order.

Any and all info would be deeply appreciated!

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You can see what kind of replies you will get but if you are coming all the way from New Hampshire and have never fished Vermilion before you may want to consider hiring a guide for a day.

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Capt H,

We've already taken your advice and have guides for two days, though one is a day on Trout lake. Its likely well end up with a good handle on walleyes and fish for the frying pan but if our guide takes us far from the lodge well have to adapt what we learn to our area. I have a few dozen trips of casual fishing from a canoe in the B-dub & Quetico under my belt so I hope to feel at home on Big V though this will be a first all fishing trip and the first with all the bells and whistles of motor boat, GPS/finder, trolling motors, etc.

Are you an East or West ender?

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Eater walleye, the farther east the better. And read some of the old threads from last summer to get a feel for what was going on, even maybe go back a couple years. Cliff, Ace, MarkB all had good info on catching walleye. As I recall, Cliff's go to is a jig and minnow in fairly deep water, transitioning to leech or crawler as the minnow bite drops off.

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Del is right, I do prefer to fish deep water. Last year turned out to be the exception because the walleyes just were not there most of the time, but who knows this year!

I do usually start out with a jig/minnow in water that is 18' to 36' deep. If that is not working I will switch to a lindy/minnow rig. The later it gets into the summer, the more I will depend upon the lindy Rigs. I will switch baits from minnows to leeches, to crawlers, and then back to minnows as the summer progresses. I then will usually rely on a jig/minnow again when we get into late fall fishing.

Last summer being the exception to the rule, I also used a slip bobber rig a lot! Fun when it works well! I hate sitting and waiting if it is slow though!

Cliff

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Hi Kid,

The Bass and Pike fishing should be very good at that time of the summer. I have done very well in that area of the lake over the years. Your guide may be a livebait guy as many of the west end guys are. I'd recommend spinnerbaits and shallow running cranks and perhaps even some topwater action for both the Bass and the Pike. No need to go to far as both species and Muskies as well are well represented in Niles and the Oak narrows area.

Have fun!

"Ace"

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Thanks "G"

That's good news about Niles & Oak narrows.

A couple more questions... With Wolf bay being shallower than Niles would the fish staging be a lot different as I'd expect Wolf to heat up a lot faster? I also saw a sat. Photo showing current whistling through Oak narrows while a big algae bloom was on. Seems like Oak could be very river like in June and stacked with eyes?

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There are allot of locals that bobber fish for Walleyes in the narrows in the evening early in the season. Problem is there is always boat traffic in the area. Water temps should be fairly warm by mid to late June and most of the bass will have already spawned.

"Ace"

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Ace,

How about weed development differences between Niles & Wolf? Are the bigger toothy fish still going to be in the green stuff? Would there be an open water Cisco feed happening in June? I've seen that on Basswood in August at 10-15ft for pike.

And, from what I've read here so far, the walleyes are weed oriented on the west end. Does that hold true in June?

Thanks again to all of you for the info!

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K.K,

Many of the walleyes on the West end are also rock orientated!

Cliff

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Cliff,

Rocks in deep water vs shallow? Humps vs points vs flat transitions?

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K.K,

Rocks any where! Location of which rocks to fish many times depends upon the time of year though, but rocks almost always hold some walleyes on Vermilion.

Cliff

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Hi everyone I am new to the forum and get to vermilion a couple time a year.

I used to fish a lot of other lakes with my father but when he past on it wasn't the same and found other interest. I have my own family now and have been trying to teach them the love of the outdoors and fishing but need to teach myself again as well. I have had fair luck fishing for walleye trolling shad raps but don't typically use live bait and jigs. My question for cliff or others is do you have a preference on minnows? do you think that one kind work better then the other or jigs/spinner colors?

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Lunderful,

Welcome to HSO!

In the spring I prefer Fatheads or Rainbow minnows on either a jig or a Lindy Rig. The mood of the walleyes will usually tell you which works best on any particular day.

As the water warms I will switch to leeches and then crawlers on these same rigs.

I will also use spinners or a Lindy rig with a small floater later in the summer.

Last summer I had good luck using slop bobber rigs also. leeches or a crawler worked best on these rigs for me.

Cliff

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At what water temp do you start switching to leches or worms?

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minnows and crawlers on opener then leeches when water hits in the 50's

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minnows and crawlers on opener then leeches when water hits in the 50's

I agree! Then back to minnows in the fall when the water cools off.

Cliff

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Fished today with my wife's nephew and his young son.

We boated 31 walleyes and 3 jumbo perch. Kept the perch and our limits of walleyes. Nothing big though. No slot fish as they were all males.

Caught fish in 12' to 42' of water. Used mostly Lindys/minnows as they were very sluggish and would not hit jigs very well.

Fun day and great to be back on the water!

Cliff

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Thanks for the input MarkB on bringing the glass. We had a great day. Broke a little ice. Caught a lot of fish. We had 3 slot fish today as well. 22,24,25" . I really appreciate all the updates throughout last week. full-26775-45573-image.jpg

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Caught 6-all too big! 20" smallest 27.5 biggest. Handed the rod to my wife and she had a blast catching the biggest one!

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Thanks for reports guys. It sounds like pike bay was as busy as ever. My dad was up but couldn't get the boat out cuz the rails were still up. I'll be up next weekend to kick off my season. It's also my four year old sons birthday and he's talking about wanting to go fishing in the am...win, win.

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Anyone have any updates on the West end of the big V?

Cigar Man

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The ice on Head O Lakes Bay should be gone now. There was some ice yesterday morning but it was getting moved around. Wakemup Bay had some ice yeserday afternoon. But I think you can navigate up to Norweigen Bay and the narrows from the Landing at this point.

Only 7 boats up in the area of Black Bay on Saturday AM. It was kind of nice and peacfull up there wink

Good Luck

Steve

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HEY everyone This seems to be a great forum that I've been following and i have a few questions about vermill Do ya think that the fishing in pike bay will get better in the next week or so, or are the fish already dispersing back into the main lake? I fished by the river on sunday and it sure was not as good as it was last year! Does this mean that they are done spawning? or have they not really got into the mode yet? We had water temps from 47-50 degrees there on sunday. I do see sun in the forecast for the end of the week to.. Thanks for any responses!!

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I think temps need to warm up a bit. With the light winds the surface temps climbed a bit. As soon as a slight breeze kicked in the temps started dropping. Looking forward to next weekend.

good luck

Steve

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I also fished at the river for a while on Sat. There were plenty of fish there but just to many boats there to fish it well as most of the fish were in a very small area.

If the fishing in Pike Bay turns out like last year it should just get better for two or three weeks!

Cliff

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Thanks for the updates on the West end fellas! i'll be there on the water 5/23. Walleyes will have probably spawned by then, right? Any ideas when the crappies may start spawning? the kids love that!!!

Cigar Man

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I have seen lots of Big Walleye photos from the west end and even a few from the east end. Been catching lots of smaller fish with a few nice keepers mixed in. Jigs and minnows and jigs tipped with soft plastics have been very effective for me. I'm also getting a lot of action on a splitshot rig with a minnow. Most of our best fish have been coming pulling crank baits. Minnow baits on a bottom bouncer have also caught some decent fish.

I'll be going west the next couple days and will most likely be trolling cranks, but one never knows until you get there.

"Ace"

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