Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

2017-2018 Vermilion Ice Conditions and Fishing Reports


Recommended Posts

Hello ohfisher - it was nice meeting you also.  Sorry I didn't have more time to visit but I was anxious to start fishing after a late start due to looking for my missing wallet (thought I had left it at Walmart the night before, but found it had fallen in one of my bags).

Had good luck fishing Thursday, catching 10 walleyes in 6 hours fishing before quitting after getting my limit of eaters.  Also caught the 25" slotter shown in the picture.  Friday-Saturday was another story as I caught only 5 walleyes, including a 23".  I think that the reason the action dropped so suddenly was the increased vehicle and wheel house traffic in the area.  Many trucks were plowing roads and around their houses, and other were pulling houses out.  The good fishing lasted longer that I expected, but when I come up again in 3 weeks, I may have to venture away from traffic in my portable.

IMG_5375.JPG

IMG_5410.JPG

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thinking of going out today out of Stuntz. Anyone know of any known issues or think I should be giving it more time before driving out with the F150?

Thank You.

Marc Plaisted

Edited by Salo Island Family
Link to comment
Share on other sites

SHOULD NOT BE A PROBLEM GETTING TO YOUR ISLAND NOW WITH YOUR f-150.

CLIFF

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone traveled through the Oak Narrows yet?  The west end entrance didn't look very safe right after Christmas but I didn't have time to check it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Headin up tomorrow, looks like the weather will finally give us a break.

I need to do some fishin! LOL

Any tips, for walleye fishin, depth, bottom composition, bait, techniques, flats, drop-off's, etc.?

Thanks

Jim

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Walleyes are being caught in depths from 14' to 35'.

Shallow fish are biting best in the early am and late pm.

22' to 36' depths can bite at any time, you just have to be there when they turn on! I have had my best luck from 9:00am to 1:00pm.

Dead sticks with pike suckers or rainbows have been my best bait.

Small jigs with crappie minnows or a minnow head. I have been getting more fish to come in if I jig 2.5' to 3' off of the bottom.

Cliff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, after getting 9" or 10" of new snow last night the easy traveling conditions on Vermilion are now over. Combine this deep snow with the very hard drifts under it from earlier and there will certainly be a lot of stuck vehicles out there! We will probably also start to see a lot of slush show up! :(

Cliff

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/11/2018 at 10:55 AM, Cliff Wagenbach said:

Well, after getting 9" or 10" of new snow last night the easy traveling conditions on Vermilion are now over. Combine this deep snow with the very hard drifts under it from earlier and there will certainly be a lot of stuck vehicles out there! We will probably also start to see a lot of slush show up! :(

Cliff

Hope my fish house isn't stuck in the slush when I come backup January 18.  Only blocked it up 5".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JL,

If your heat is off and no one drills holes close to your house you should be ok.

I had to move my house and a friends house just before the snow because they were starting to flood! Sure glad we did that before the storm!!

Good road plowed out as far as Birch as of yesterday! If you see the guys plowing be sure to stop them and thank them with a $20 (thank you) donation!!!

Cliff

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never leave my heat on and all of the houses surrounding me leave their holes open, so I will see on Thursday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello! I am wondering if anybody would be so kind to offer some advice/insight on ice fishing Lake Vermilion. We have summer fished there for the last 3 summers but are interested in pulling up our ice castle fish house and staying a long weekend. We have bet ice fished there. Any help would be appreciated. Ice Conditions? Where to go out of? I see a lot of people fish Lake of the woods or Red Lake but we love Vermilion and would like to try it. Thanks for your time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kohlerpeet,

Welcome to FM!

Best landing is at McKinley Park by Soudan.

Plowed road there now.

Fish 21' to 36' depths .

Small jigs and dead sticks are both working. Rainbows or chubs as bait.

Fish have been biting all day off and on.

Cliff

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice for ice fishing on Vermilion would be to avoid high traffic areas.  I always believed this before, but this weekend seemed to validate that theory.

On Thursday my neighbors in our ice fishing village decided to plow roads, driveways, and parking lots all around, and I only caught 4 little walleyes.

Friday I planned to take my portable out to an isolated spot, but none of my village neighbors were out that day, and the fishing was very good.  I caught 14 walleyes that day, including 21" and the pictured 26" and 24" slotters.

Saturday I thought that maybe the fishing was just picking up so I fished in my permanent again.  Caught only 2 walleyes while my neighbors proceeded to have a big family gathering with many vehicles going back and forth.

Love fishing in my permanent house, but the next time it starts to get busy in the neighborhood, I am moving out with my portable.

 

IMG_5739.JPG

IMG_5781.JPG

  • Thumbs Up 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Same here.

Thursday was a good bite and the weekend bite was mostly a bust!

Cliff

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cliff, did you have a lot of vehicle traffic around you on Saturday?

Maybe the bad fishing on Saturday was just the weather conditions, although Saturday was beautiful weather-wise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful weather on Sat and Sun. but plenty of traffic!

No traffic today but still a very slow bite this morning.

Could just be the weather change!???

Cliff

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clifford, how is the slush out there? I have slush in front of my home and looking at sled tracks they are turning color also.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jerkin, you are absolutely onto something. Back when I used to put a permanent out in the south metro, I made sure to fish as many weekdays as possible. Weekends were always worthless, no matter the conditions. Luckily vermilion is big enough to get away from it all!

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The slush on the west end is terrible. Same goes for fishing. Fished about 20 different spots, from shallow to deep, different bottom structure and could only catch perch-a few were nice size.  Beautiful wknd to sit on the ice and fish!  Did stop in and introduced myself to Raven77. Nice to meet him! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did see some slush out side of the Stuntz Bay Landing today.

Probably will soon show up out of McKinley Park too.

Cliff

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, OhioVike said:

CG, Where did you run into the slush?

Wakemup, Partridge River, Head-O-Lakes, Richie Bay and down into Norwegian Bay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, CigarGuy said:

The slush on the west end is terrible. Same goes for fishing. 

The west end is just awful for fishing. It's really too bad.  My in-laws live on that end and I've been trying to learn that lake for years and I come up empty handed more often than not. The few times I've found some fish, they're usually too big to keep.  Best bite I've found is a guy can get on some nice bluegills, which is fun, but.....

The dynamic differences between the East and West end of Vermilion is a perpetual head scratcher.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.