fishing reports Summer 2016 Vermilion fishing reports, Etc.

[Wheres_Walter]

Dick,

We fished morning, noon, and night.  The only time on Fri/Sat we got a consistent bite was 730pm to 930pm.  The rest of the day was basically just us sitting on a boat enjoying the weather and a couple beers and drowning minnows.

Matt

[Wheres_Walter]

Will be back up this weekend.  Last weekend we caught fish on pink jigs and rainbows in 25+ FOW.  Anything changing in terms of depth or presentation?  Are the eyes hitting leaches yet?  Thanks.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Mostly the same bite yet.

Leeches are starting to catch fish!

Cliff

[JerkinLips]

My story last weekend was what a difference a day makes.  Friday I caught 8 walleyes including the 22" pictured, a 12", and the rest were 14-16".  The next day and a half I didn't catch another.  Caught fish on both chubs and rainbows, but nothing on suckers.

[bassbouncer]

I was out by myself this afternoon and ended up catching ten slot fish from 19-26" on the west end. Leeches on a rig 18' of water. Lots of fun. 

[Esox62]

Shhhhhush!!!

[Wakemup52]

Found plenty of smallies this morning, 61 water temp on spinner baits near rocks.

[bassbouncer]

23 hours ago, bassbouncer said:

I was out by myself this afternoon and ended up catching ten slot fish from 19-26" on the west end. Leeches on a rig 18' of water. Lots of fun. 

Nothing but lots of boats tonight. Zero fish. 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Very poor walleye bite for me this morning!

Covered most of my spots in a complete circle of Pine and only boated 4 walleyes and 2 bass!

Slowest bite of the season!

Cliff

[delcecchi]

Say it's not so!!!!   Mighty Cliff has struck out (well, almost)

[redlabguy]

It's good to get the reports, even when not so good! Thanks, Cliff. It makes the rest of us feel like we are not so unworthy of our efforts. I've taken Mark's advice and have had some fun (not today) going shallow. Slip bobbing on shallow rocks is a boring, but effective way to get some nice, big fish!

Dick

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Dick,

We even tried slip bobbers this morning! That is how we got on of our walleyes and the 2 bass!

I think that the bite has turned into an evening bite this week.?????

Cliff

[Wakemup52]

This morning was slow for me as well, no walleyes and didn't find as many smallies.  Spinner bait seems to be working still, largest today was 17". Nothing too great but still fun to catch. Heading back up to Vermilion on Friday, can't wait to continue to read the reports and hopefully next weekend will be even better.

[james_walleye]

Got out yesterday morning for a couple hours. Caught fish in a couple areas. The common theme was deep mud transition for us. The first spot was loaded for about an hour in 30-31' before they vanished. The next spot was 21-22'. Lindys and chubs were the ticket yet. 

[delcecchi]

I would request that fishing reports, especially from occasional reporters, tell which end since they are so different it seems.  

[Wakemup52]

Del,

I was thinking this weekend of starting a thread specifically for West End reports. Your post prompted me to actually go and post it. We'll see if it gains traction- I will certainly put any reports I've got out there.

Jared

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Jrod,

Excellent idea!

Fishing, and catching, was better this morning !

Thanks Mike for the tip!

Boated 16 walleyes and a pike in 3 hours. Kept 6 nice walleyes. 17 inch being our largest.

19' to 26' depths.

Cliff

[james_walleye]

Mine was east. 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Decent bite this morning despite the rain and drizzle all morning.

Got our fish a little shallower then usual for me! 12' to 22' was our best depth today.

Sand bottom.

Bait rigs with chubs worked best.

Boated 18 walleyes and 2 jumbos, kept 8 walleyes between 14" and 15-1/2" plus the two perch.

Released a 20-1/2" and a 23" walleye.

Water temp was 61 degrees.

Cliff

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Did well on walleyes again this morning in the shallower sand! 14' to 25' depths.

Boated a total of 40 walleyes plus 3 nice jumbos.

24-1/2 inches was our biggest walleye this morning.

All were caught on lindys with shiners or chubs as bait. Tried leeches for a while but not many hits on them.

Did hear that leeches were working well under bobbers in the shallow rocks though!

Cliff

 

[Cliff Wagenbach]

There was a large hatch of may flies floating in Pike Bay this morning! Pretty early!!

That hatch did not have an effect on the Big Bay walleye bite today though!

My guys boated 37 walleyes with 11 of them being slot fish that were between 20" and 23"!

Thought that I must have gotten lost and ended up on the West end!

Lindy rigs with shiners in 22' to 32' caught every one of our fish!

Sounded like the other guides were also having an exceptional day also!

Cliff

[redlabguy]

It was an exceptional day on Big Bay. Lindy with chubs at 24-32 near rocky reefs earned dinner and then some. But no slot fish. I was missing a lot of bites though. I bet I lost a dozen minnows to short hitters! Letting them play with it helped but nothing really worked. I need to rig some stingers for those finicky times.

Dick

[Cliff Wagenbach]

RLG,

We missed a lot of fish also today. Finally went to crappie sized minnows and started to catch more of the biters.

Only 2 slot fish today!

Cliff

[redlabguy]

Smaller minnows is a great solution - that's why you're a go-to guide! 

I fished my home turf- Frazer Bay- today and found the same pattern. 28-35' water near a rocky reef. Three slots and 3 keepers and I still lost a few on the way to the boat. But I didn't find the numbers I found in Big Bay. Had to work hard if you can call fishing working hard.

RLG

[Cliff Wagenbach]

RLG,

Sometimes a lot more fun if you have to work for a few quality fish!

I can not afford that luxury on most days!

Cliff

[Lunderfull]

I saw your earlier reports and bounced around looking for some fish yesterday and this morning couldn't hardly get a bite tried leaches and shiners with Lindy"s. heading out again to try a few other spots.

[redlabguy]

Try a rocky reef or rocky shore that slopes down into 30' of sandy and or mud. There are a lot of these! I haven't found tons of fish in these locations but have found nice sized fish either on the slope- 24 to 30'- or in the flats near the reef. If the reef you try doesn't produce, move on and try another. And you're right to use the lindy/minnow.

RLG

[hamboneco]

I am headed up to the north end of Trout Lake for 4 days of camping on the 4th of July with my kids and wife.  My family had a cabin there for many years which was removed in 1975 as part of the BWCA formation.  Will be seeking some walleyes but realize we will be catching mainly smallmouth.   Does anyone have a recent fishing report from Trout or want to offer any fishing advice, especially for walleyes?   Also, would appreciate some help in keeping that big wind down when we are there!

[partyonpine]

Hamboneco-

I might see you up there and you can push all the bass my way, love the north arm, anyways I have had my best fishing for Walleyes in front of oriniack(sp) portage south of the reefs in 25-30 feet in the summer.  Also if you have the kiddos with smallmouth should be on fire, but also if you are hard up for some fish to eat I have caught some great bluegills in the north end and have never had a problem catching big enough ones to eat. I don't keep them often but will always try to find the big ones every trip, my advice if you find the little ones shallow look for a deep weed edge or break and the big ones are usually sitting there.

[hamboneco]

Thanks for your Trout Lake response Partyonpine.  I have never fished the North Arm for walleyes---although my father did land a 28 lb. Northern there in 1945, after his return from WWII.   I will give the Orinak portage area a try.  And we too are happy to catch the smallmouth.  I don't know when the bluegills found their way to Trout Lake, but they weren't there in the 60's and 70's anyway.  My only recollection of blue gills from the "old days" is when we portaged over to Crab Lake (aka Chad Lake).