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2017-2018 Vermilion Ice Conditions and Fishing Reports


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I believe one of them goes out of the fortune bay resort landing. Haven' been out on it this year so not sure how far out it goes.

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Typically the road is plowed barely outside of the bay.  Haven't take the sled there since December so I don't know what it is like this year.

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It surprised me, but Fortune Bay does rent fish houses.  Just check their website out and look under Marina.

 

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Saturday turned out to be pretty interesting. Got an early start and had lines wet at the butt crack of 930. Went to drop the first line, reached into my minnow bucket and found maybe 6 minnows still attempting to swim. First walleye came on my only sucker so had to head back into town for minnows. Final tally: 5 whities or tulibee, still not 100% sure which one they are yet but the biggest was 18", 4 dink walleyes, 3 jumbo perch (biggest was 14), missed a few on both rattle reel and jig. It was slow but down sizing my jig and watching the water column allowed me to find enough fish to keep me entertained.

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I'd like to thank everybody who comments on this forum and helps plow the roads. U guys r a great help!!! even tho we didnt do well. I think it was just 1 of those days 4 us that no matter what we did we weren't gonna have success. A buddy n myself ended up going out of McKinley Sunday. Ended up trying 3 different spots n only caught 3 baby eyes in 16 fow around sunset on a plane hook with a shiner. We ended up getting the truck stuck 3 times (drives fault) n the Coleman stove didn't work. We did eat tho.

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Not the best time of the winter for walleyes on Vermilion. They usually slow way down after January most winters.

All I have been getting the past couple of weeks are mostly small fish, and not very many of them!

Cliff

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We fished Sat/Sun, hole hopping with spoons mostly.  Between us, my buddy caught two mid-20"ers.  Lost another nice one.  I caught exactly zero walleyes, some baby perch, and was red-hot on rock bass.  lol   Had walleyes come up and look, but no bites.  The difference between his getting bites and my not getting bites may have been that the fish were line shy??  My buddy was using all 6lb flouro, while I had 10lb braid with a 2' flouro leader of 10lbs.  I stripped all that off when I got home, so ready for our next trip up in a couple of weeks.  Sunday was cold with that wind!  brrr...

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Heading up to the Big V this weekend and the following weekend...finally! I haven't been able to get up yet this winter. We will definitely be doing some fishing but with the Walleye bite being slow this time of year that will force us to likely try some new lakes! My father in law usually only fishes on Vermilion in the winter and hasn't had a real bang up day before so I'm going to try to get him on a Panfish bite somewhere in St. Louis county so he can, hopefully, have some steady action.

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Hello, First post here. Seems like I'm in the same position as a lot of first time posters - heading to Vermilion and looking for pointers.

My wife and I are staying at a rental cabin between Oak Island and Niles Point. I'm bringing fishing gear to walk out from the cabin. There are some islands not far and some small reefs. Would it be best to hope for a walleye? Any chance for perch or crappies?

Thanks in advance!

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nickeleye, yes, in that area of the lake there is an excellent chance for small perch (4" to 6") just about everywhere you go.  Larger sized ones are hard to find, but they do exist.  Very few crappies in that area, so I would not expect that, particularly if confined to walking out.  You have a chance at a walleye on the island points and small reefs to which you have walking access.  This time of year, your best shot will be early and late in the day.  Have holes drilled in depths between 28 and 20 feet on those island points/reefs prior to dawn and dusk, then hole hop around during the prime bite window.  We have a 4 minute rule per hole.  Usually, half your walleyes will show up within the first minute of your first drop and 80% within your first two minutes.  After about 4 minutes, your just waiting for one to swim around randomly into below your hole and that could take a long time.  Smaller spoons worked better for us than larger spoons last weekend.  Tip with a minnowhead.  Hope this helps!  Good luck, you should have the area to yourself.

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Thanks very much! Your last sentence is the best news and was one of my biggest questions. I figured the area would either be packed or empty... and I like solitude.

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8 hours ago, MN BassFisher said:

Heading up to the Big V this weekend and the following weekend...finally! I haven't been able to get up yet this winter. We will definitely be doing some fishing but with the Walleye bite being slow this time of year that will force us to likely try some new lakes! My father in law usually only fishes on Vermilion in the winter and hasn't had a real bang up day before so I'm going to try to get him on a Panfish bite somewhere in St. Louis county so he can, hopefully, have some steady action.

I fished Myrtle Lake a few days ago with some friends and the crappie and bluegill bite was very good for us.

Crappies averaged 10" to 11" and the gills were also nice.

Waxies and minnows as bait.

Cliff

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Alright guys. Change of plans. My group is concerned about lake travel. After consulting a snowfall map we've decided to stay south of the line that runs from basically Duluth to Lake Winnie area. Were coming from Wisconsin and don't know anything about MN lakes. Rather not do Mille Lacs. Looking for something a little smaller. Not asking for spots. Is there a lake within and hour or two to the north or east of the cities that fishes strong? Looking for panfish mostly with some walleye mixed in. Thanks. 

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I'd concentrate on the buffalo/annandale area just northwest of the metro. There's a ton of good lakes. Clearwater, Pulaski, pleasant. The list is long. 

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Mielkez,

I thought that the area you are now targeting was supposed to get the most snow from the coming storm.

Cliff

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Thinking about bring my wheelhouse up there tomorrow far a day of fishing and spend the night any new reports 

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Pulled my house a couple of days ago, but there are still a few fish biting at some spots. Very slow for me!

Good roads out there yet as we plowed them after the last snow.

Cliff

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Caught 17 walleyes on Friday, but all were dinks except for two 15".  Caught 6 more Saturday, all small again except for one 16".  Also caught a 12 inch perch, 3 eelpout, and 2 tulibee.

Considering the snowstorm prediction for Sunday, I pulled my house off the lake and parked it back in the garage for the season.  LOW next week, then onto lakers the following weekend.

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Cliff - much more than the 4-6" they were predicting.  It was a tired drive back to Blaine late Saturday night, but would have been a much tougher drive back Sunday.

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Figured I should report back...

I fished prime time on Saturday morning and Saturday evening. No action. It didn't help that I forgot to grab the vexilar on the first outing, but it didn't help to have it on the second outing either! ha! Marked a few but couldn't get them to bite. Used a GPS chip to punch some holes over structure, but when I came back with the vexilar, they weren't quite as deep as I hoped.

Thanks for the pointers BrianF

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nickeleye,

Thanks for the report!

Lookers but no biters seems to be the pattern the past couple of weeks. Common for this time of the winter on Vermilion!

Cliff

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Quick report from last weekend: Fished a couple midlake reefs in big bay and the walleye seemed to be non existent aside from a few dinks, although, the action was pretty decent. Jumbo perch, tullibee, and a few crappie kept me busy. From hearing other people’s late season reports along with my experience last weekend it seems like a lot of the walleye have moved to different types of structure, perhaps shallower?? I’m not sure, but had very few marks that appeared to be walleye.  

Edited by Reid Saarela
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Ended up going to Vermilion anyhow. Camped all weekend and did okay. Handful of walleyes each day, many whitefish and a few pout. Went in search of some panfish on Saturday using the 360 off my boat and found an ice school of perch in some flats. Yeh m sure fishings been better but we caught enough to feed ourselves all week. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Is anybody still fishing? Is there still ice? I have been following This Thread all winter living vicariously through you guys. We lost our ice a month ago and Indiana.

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Still tons of ice! Did not see anyone out fishing today when we took the sleds over to trout lake portage to do some fishing. Probably not worth the effort of drilling tons of holes through 30 inches of ice to stay on the elusive crappies.

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Reid,

Find ant trout?

Really have to get lucky and find the right spot for crappies with this much ice that is for sure!

Hope to get out after them in a week or so once this snow drops down!

Cliff

 

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No open water except right below the pike river dam.

I had 30" of ice yesterday when I was out fishing! 6" to 10" of snow/slush on top.

Cliff

 

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With a forecast for below freezing for the next 10 days, not gonna be melting much ice...

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. 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. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   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...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
      Nice fish. I moved to the Sartell area last summer and just thought it was windy like this everyday up here? 🤭
    • Rick G
      Crazy windy again today.... This is has been the norm this spring. Between the wind and the cold fronts, fishing has been more challenging for me than most years.  Panfish have been moving in and out of the shallows quite a bit. One day they are up in the slop, the next they are out relating to cabbage or the newly sprouting lilly pads.  Today eye guy and I found them in 4-5 ft of water, hanging close to any tree branches that happened to be laying in the water.  Bigger fish were liking a 1/32 head and a Bobby Garland baby shad.   Highlight of the day way this healthy 15incher
    • monstermoose78
    • monstermoose78
      As I typed that here came a hen.  IMG_7032.mov   IMG_7032.mov
    • monstermoose78
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    • monstermoose78
      Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!!
    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
    • monstermoose78
      How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
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