fishing reports Summer 2016 Vermilion fishing reports, Etc.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Finally got my boat in the water for the summer.

Sure was great being on the water again!

Spent most of the day checking water temps. and looking for walleyes.

Water temps. in Big Bay ranged from 51 degrees to 54.6 degrees depending upon where I was.

Checked mostly deeper water as that is where i prefer to fish.

Saw lots of walleyes in 27' to 36' of water!

Should be a very good opener if we do not get a bad cold front on opening day!

Cliff

 

 

[vermilionfox]

Have a great opener Cliff!

[delcecchi]

Guy on TV was talking about a big mess out in Colorado or Missouri heading in this general direction.  Supposed to bring rain to us.  Just checked the radar and it is just into southern MN and coming this way.  We need the rain so it's ok. 

Hope it doesn't mess up the opener. 

[SkunkedAgain]

It can't mess up the entire summer!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The forecast does not look very good for the opener so far!

Cliff

[RoosterMan]

I would say this about the forecast. After being up at the lake this last weekend.  I will take the rain and snow over the smoke.  We need some precipitation up here.  After all it is opener and rain and sleet are part of the deal. Right?? 

[SkunkedAgain]

If the weather deters a few of the Mille Lacs crowd from making the four hour drive, then all the better.

[OhioVike]

AMEN!

[guideman]

I'll have my entire family up this year and I'm not even worried about catching enough Walleyes to feed everybody.

I totally agree with Cliff, it's going to be a great opener. Water temps in Pike bay were almost 60 degrees a couple days ago but now it's in the low to mid 50's. The latest weather report wasn't really that bad. most of the rain chance is for very early Saturday, with a chance for some sun later in the day.

Have a great opening day!

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man"

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The weather forecast last night now looks a little better for Sat!!

Cliff

[Nix769]

Looking at the forecast this morning might be able to ice fish....

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Well, the weather was as nasty as predicted! Woke up to 1/4" of snow covering the deck and dock!

We had 10 to 15 mph NW winds and scattered snow flurries all morning!

The water temp. had dropped to 49.5 degrees from an average of 52 degrees a few days ago.

The good news is that the fish that I had found earlier in the week while scouting were still there and they were hungry!

We boated 24 walleyes in 3 hours and kept our limits of 16.

Most of them were 13" to 15" males as expected. We did boat one nice 19-1/2" fish which the youngest fisherman caught.

All of our fish were caught on lindy rigs baited with rainbows.

They all came out of 25' to 33' of water in a sand/mud transition area.

Many of them were coughing up may fly larvae.

Good Fishing!

Cliff

[redlabguy]

Thanks for the great detailed report, Cliff. And here's to you and your crew for getting out there despite the conditions. Some obligations are keeping me off the lake until Thursday or Friday, but I'm sure looking forward to it. 

See you on the lake,

Redlabguy

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Redlabguy,

Be sure to stop and say hi if you see me out there!

Cliff

 

[PSU]

Heading up tomorrow, can't wait! As always, thanks for the reports and if you are on Smart's Bay (island closest to Frazer) say hi as we spend quite a bit of time on the dock!

Andy

 

 

[Wheres_Walter]

I'm headed up this weekend.   Had to sit out the opener because my wife tricked me into getting her pregnant 9 months before opening fishing a few years ago, so my kids birthday gets in the way some years.  Which is fine for now, because in a few years he'll be up there with us! 

Sounds like the weather was awful but the fish cooperative on the opener?  Lets hope the mood of the fish stays consistent, because it looks like a beautiful weekend coming up!  Traditional early season haunts and presentations?  Rainbows?  Shiners? 

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The walleyes were in all of the traditional early spring spots all weekend.

I used Lindy rigs with rainbows,creek chubs, and fat head chubs.

Jigs and minnows were also working well for many.

Lots of smaller males biting but plenty of eating size fish also.

Cliff

 

[Reid Saarela]

Did anybody here  what happened with that runaway boat today by potatoe island? We saw it from a distance. 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I went out and talked to a couple of guys after the show was over.

A guy fell out of his boat while starting it and it must have been at at least half throttle as it continued to run in circles for at least an hour!

The guy was lucky that there was at least one boat close to him as he did not have a life vest on!

They threw him their boat cushion and then pulled him in their boat as soon as they could get to him without getting hit by his boat!~

They finally managed to get along side of his boat and one of the guys jumped in his boat and shut it off.

Very lucky guy!

A good reminder to wear your life vests!

Cliff

[Reid Saarela]

Glad to hear everybody's ok!

[PSU]

Agreed, glad they are safe!

We seem to be doing well in the morning with rainbows and Lindy's. Any suggestions for late morning and mid day for walleyes?

Depths and presentations would be welcomed!

Andy 

[SkunkedAgain]

In my second year of sporting a fancy self-inflating life jacket, I was proud to wear it all weekend. Many times I was up at the cabin before I remembered that I was still wearing it. Many people don't think about how much harder it is to swim and stay afloat in all of the cold weather gear we were wearing this past weekend. Life jackets are very important, especially when wind, alcohol, slippery decks, and all of the other factors at opener are in play.

Opening weekend for our group was a mixed bag. Northerns, LM, and SM dragging raps in traditional post-spawn locations on Saturday. Sunday we moved further into the lake and had luck with jigs and rainbows along breaks. We even came east to Frazier and caught the biggest perch that I've ever seen. Fun times as usual.

 

Edited May 17, 2016 by SkunkedAgain

[Cliff Wagenbach]

PSU,

During the mid day period I usually have my best luck slow trolling or drifting, (.5 mph), with lindy/minnows or lindy/leeches in 29' to 36' depths in the mud or mud/sand transition areas.

Later in the summer I switch to crawlers on a lindy.

Cliff

 

[ProGuideEyes]

Hey guys , hows the bite been this week on the east side?? Opener was good for us , lots of smaller fish 10-12'"s  Have the warmer water temps turned them on anymore? We had 49/50 degrees most everywhere saturday. Thinking of trying some cranks on random shorelines to see if we can find some bigger, active fish. Any suggestions??  Thanks!!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The bite has remained stable all week end.

Mostly 13" to 15" with an occasional 15" or 16" in the keeper range. A couple of slot fish also.

Cranks should be working. Plan to try some myself today!

Cliff                                                        

[ProGuideEyes]

Thanks Cliff!! Let me know how it works out for ya today!! Have fun and thanks again! 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Tried cranks the other day with very minimal results!

Still catching a lot of walleyes using rigs and jigs. Minnows, leeches and pork crawlers are all getting hit!

17' to 33' depths all over the East end of the lake.

Cliff

[redlabguy]

Trust Cliff. He's right. On my "opener" today, I found them at 25-29' with rainbows on a lindy rig. They are biting light- sharpen your hooks! And they are running small but there are nice eaters to be caught.

RLG

[Wheres_Walter]

We got up friday and fished hard friday and saturday.  the daytime hours were not very productive, we'd pick up 1-2 here and there.  But the evening bite was great for us on Frazer Bay.  We caught a lot of 12-15" eater sized walleyes on pink jigs and rainbows.  All fish were caught between 19-25 FOW.

[redlabguy]

WW,

You did better than I did over the weekend. I fish Frazer, too and found it slow Saturday and Sunday AMs. Hard the get the eaters. But I did not go out in the evenings because of company. Glad someone did well here!

Dick