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Lake Vermilion 2017 open water fishing reports and related information.


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Hope that I can make it! My partner has been very sick the last few days and was diagnosed with Lyme's today!  Have to see how he is feeling by Friday!

Cliff 

Better bite today in spite of the miserable weather.

My guys boated 24 walleyes this morning and kept their limit of 16, 14" to 15" fish.

They also released a very nice 25 incher!

Cliff

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Sorry to hear that. I hope he feels better. I'm sure you will have a line of people volunteering for that seat in your boat if things don't work out. Good luck cliff.

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I do not think that I can change partners once we are signed up.

Cliff

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Yea, #5 says both team members must attend rules meeting unfortunately, unless you can find someone who attended the rules meeting also..

https://www.cityautoglass.com/walleye-classic/rules-and-regulations/

 

Should be a tough weekend, pulling for ya Cliff!

Is Ace in the tourney?

Look forward to the update!

Good Luck and stay safe!

 

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Not in the tourney this year, thought about it but decided to let somebody else win it this year. ;) 

The weather looks pretty bad.

 

"Ace"

 

"It's just fishing man" :cool:

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i got family with a cabin on vermilion, cant wait to try musky fishing there over the summer, awsome looking lake

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My respect goes to all who braved the weather for the tournament. I watched some of you from my deck when I went out for a cigar. We've been here 5 days now and only fished three times for an hour or two each. But, while they are not jumping in the boat, I'm impressed with the quality of the fish. I've been bringing home 15-17" fish each time. Here's to better weather and continued good fishing!

RLG

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Friday was an absolutely perfect day.  At least compared to the nastiness of Saturday.  We fished in and around Frazer bay and caught about 24 walleye on Friday, most of them 13-16" and nothing of any real size but we kept a bunch and had a fantastic fish fry on Saturday.  All of our fish were caught on pink jigs in 18-24 FOW.  Rainbows.  Saturday was tough sledding.  Fighting the wind all day.  We had to work hard for the fish we caught, but managed another dozen or so, same approach as friday but half the success.  By saturday evening I was begging for some rain instead of the wind.  We go the rain (more like sleet) and the wind stuck around too.  So we slept in today.  Be back next weekend.

 

Matt

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Headed up this weekend.  Just curious if the bait of choice is still rainbows/chubs?  Still getting fish in the 18-30 FOW range?  Thanks.

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I have been using chubs and pike suckers all week with good results.

14 feet to 34 feet.

Cliff

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Finally making it up this weekend to the cabin since January.  Looks like hit and miss weather conditions over the weekend, but I'm hoping to get some decent time in the boat...as long as the father-in-law isn't cracking the whip too hard ;) . That's good to hear about the success in Frazier, Matt.  Always seems like we are fighting for walleyes, but I'm hoping to change that and try a few new spots this weekend.  Hope everyone has a safe and good fishing holiday weekend.

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The walleye bite on the East end of Vermilion has been very good since the opener.

Some days can be a little challenging but we have managed to limit out every day out since the opener! Not to often that that has happened!

The average keeper size has been very consistent also. 14" to 16" fish most days out.

Getting a few slot fish also. 26" is our biggest so far but quite a few 20" to 23" walleyes too.

Lindy rigs with a glow bead and pike suckers has been my only presentation since the opener.

Fish are being caught in 14' to 33' depths.

Cliff

 

 

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Well, we didn't make it out as much as I planned, but still managed to get a couple hours of boat time.  My wife and I had better luck than usual so that was a good sign.  Her cousins that were up ended up limiting out, which was the most walleyes I've seen caught over a weekend out of her family's cabin.  We ended up losing a couple hours on Saturday when we had to bring my father-in-law's chocolate lab (Ely) to the vet for mastisis and luckily we were able to reach the Hibbing vet just before they closed as we were already driving for the emergency vet in Duluth.  Ely is doing much better, but we had to ween the pups about a week early.  I'm getting excited already for a long 4th of July week (first time staying at the cabin weekend to weekend) and hopefully spending at least a full day or two trying to find some new walleye spots.

 

Hope everyone had a good and safe holiday weekend.

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Fished Wednesday 5/31 on the East end. Stopped at many places and covered a ton of ground, burned lots of gas in the boat and got zero fish to show for it. Hadnt been on the lake since a couple days before Memorial Day weekend but we had groups of fish pinned down then. Checked those places first and the fish were almost non existent, if there were any left they were few and far between and had a severe case of lock jaw. Checked multiple near shore reefs and it was the same thing, just a few scattered fish that wouldn't eat. Even tied pulling cranks in pike bay narrows on the way in and that was also a no go. Seems like the fish must be in some sort of transition period right now and really spread out? Anybody else have similar experiences Wednesday? Sure was windy out there for a while!

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F&F,

I fished on the 31st with clients.

I was only able to fish one area effectively with that nasty wind but we boated 27 walleyes and kept their limits of 12.

Lindy rigs with pike suckers at first but then had to switch to chubs on these rigs to get them to bite.

 9:30am to 2:30pm . 19' to 26' depths.

Cliff

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We got almost all of our fish this morning with lindy/leeches in 15' to 20' rocks!

They really pounded those leeches when they hit!

Cliff

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2 hours ago, Cliff Wagenbach said:

We got almost all of our fish this morning with lindy/leeches in 15' to 20' rocks!

They really pounded those leeches when they hit!

Cliff

Cliff, anything happening walleye-wise over by Wakemup Narrows and Treasure Island? My group is coming up in two weeks.

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The waddman,

Welcome to FM!

I do not fish the West end of the lake. Sorry!

I have heard reports that the bite has been good in the narrows area though. Probably turning into a leech and crawler bite in that area also.

I heard also that slip bobbering is working well there on the rocky shorelines and in shallow rock piles.

Cliff

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20 hours ago, Cliff Wagenbach said:

The waddman,

Welcome to FM!

I do not fish the West end of the lake. Sorry!

I have heard reports that the bite has been good in the narrows area though. Probably turning into a leech and crawler bite in that area also.

I heard also that slip bobbering is working well there on the rocky shorelines and in shallow rock piles.

Cliff

Okay Thanks Cliff. Recommend anyone else to get info from on the West End Sir?

 

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Waddman, there is a separate thread on the front page of Vermilion as few threads down from this one....

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Good stuff guys....How is the water level Ace? Normal or high? Like I said we are coming up June 17-24th and I hope the dock on our rental home isn't under water. Hoping we can get some walleyes in Black Bay or Norwegian Bay. Al Lindner loves to talk about using #7 or #9 Rapala Jigging Raps. He just casts them out and retrieves with a jerk motion. Anybody have any success with those on Vermilion?

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I know a couple of guides on Vermilion that have perfected the use of using jigging raps as you described.

The have had some very good success with them. Mainly in the late summer and fall though.

I am not one of those guys! I just have not been able to do well with them! :blush:

Cliff

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Thanks Cliff and Ace for all of your thoughts. I was just going to ask if minnows are still needed for walleye and I think Ace answered that question...

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I am still using minnows and leeches. I have had very limited success with crawlers yet.

Had a terrible bite yesterday morning using all three baits on Lindy rigs! 12' to 42' depths. Heard that the evening bite was much better though.

Cliff

 

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The Waddman,

  Welcome to Vermilion.  The only luck I have had with the jigging raps on the west end is catching the bottom.  I have always had luck with Lindy rigs as Cliff described.  Haven't  been up this year much due to work but you can find fish in Norwegian Bay but can be frustrating.

 

Don

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Water levels are pretty normal for this time of the year. You shouldn't have a problem with your dock floating away.

I caught my fish yesterday in the afternoon and I did get a couple on leaches although crawlers caught most of them.

Like Cliff said It might be a good idea to bring minnows along as you never know from day to day what will be the hot bait. With the warming water temps and air temps in the 80's coming over the weekend and into next week it's just to hard to keep minnows alive unless you have a bait well in your boat. I'll be pulling spinners on bottom bouncers as well as Lindy's over the next few days. The spinners work well when you find mayfly larva floating just off the bottom and I did see some yesterday in a couple of locations on the east end. ;) 

 

"Ace"

"It's just fishing man" ;) 

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
      I might have missed a guess, but here are the ones that I noted:   JerkinLips – March 27th, then April 7th Brianf. – March 28th Bobberwatcher – April…. MikeG3Boat – April 10th SkunkedAgain – early April, then April 21st   Definitely a tough year for guesses, as it seemed to be a no-brainer early ice out. Then it got cold and snowed again.
    • mbeyer
      MN DNR posted April 13 as Ice out date for Vermilion
    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
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    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
    • Brianf.
      Early bird gets the worm some say...   I have it on good authority that this very special angler caught no walleyes or muskies and that any panfish caught were released unharmed.        
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