2021 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports

[Cliff Wagenbach]

The bite was good again today.

Boated 12 walleyes, 9 jumbo perch, and 2 nice pike in 4 hours this morning by myself.

Cliff

[LunkerBaitCo]

How deep? Minnows/crawlers?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

How deep? Minnows/crawlers?

They came out of 23' to 26' of water using a 2' lindy,#2 hook and pike suckers as bait.

Cliff

[LunkerBaitCo]

Many thanks! Coming up tomorrow...hope we don't get blown off the Lake!

[Tominator692]

Many thanks! Coming up tomorrow...hope we don't get blown off the Lake!

The wind is a very good friend of Walleye fisherman. I have had my best luck fishing in the wind. Be sure your trolling motor batteries are fully charged!! Good luck!!

[MarkB]

The weather and the fishing have both been fantastic this past week. Unseasonably warm days have kept water temperatures in the upper 50's even getting back to the low 60's mid-day on some days. We have found a smorgasboard of species in the areas we have been fishing: crappies, northerns, jumbo perch, and walleyes. We have been using rainbow minnows exclusively with a #4 Gamakatsu wide gap, 3' leader, green bead, and 1oz bouncer. Most of our fishing is C&R and, so, I miss alot of hits that should be caught! I'm always fearful of a gut hook so I don't give them much time once I feel them grab the minnow. And that has been a problem of late! We are getting lots of hits but alot of the fish are just grabbing and holding on without taking the minnow in far enough. An off the wall guess is ~50% hooking percentage. My wife does much better . The areas we fish now are the flats adjacent to deeper holes. It really doesn't make a great deal of difference if the flats run 20', 25', or even deeper. I think the key is finding an area where there is deeper water(a "hole")that backs right up to a shallow reef. We aren't catching any fish in the deep water or the reef but lots in the shallower(flats) water surrounding the hole.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[muskie-mike]

Finally had a good crank bait bite,caught six to 21 1/2 inches in 10-12 feet of water. Also got 20 jumbos to 12 1/2 inches in 3 feet of weedy water..

[james_walleye]

How did those weed perch look? Do they ever have worms on V?

[muskie-mike]

They had a few worms but if I see any externally under their throat I don't keep them. Sometimes you will find the worms in walleyes too....Didn't find more than two or three per fish at most,easy to see and remove.I'm talking about the white worms the size of a bb...

[Jack Stasney]

Had a great weekend on the Big V. Friday and Saturday the bite was a little slow, but we managed. Then out this morning the crankbait bite really kicked in. Caught fish anywhere from 12-32 feet. Fish seem to be spread out at all depths. Finding the bite depth was key, and it was hard to find a lot of them in one place, although that changed today. Tried for some grouse in the afternoons, but that didn't really pay off. We did see some birds though.

[Finnish Flash]

The boat is out for the season, which stinks! So I now am just able to fish off the dock. Caught this 45 inch muskie off the dock today. Also caught a 30 inch pike and some nice perch.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Way to early to be pulling the boat Darin!

Cliff

[Finnish Flash]

Cliff,

You got that right!!! There is a story behind it though

If you need a fishing partner one of these remaining open water weekdays/weekends give an e-mail.

[Fish Head]

I'm glad to hear several good reports...finally! I couldn't make it to the cabin this weekend and (of course) the bite picks up. I'll be up on Thursday. I hope the bite continues.

[Captain Acorn]

I didnt have my best weekend up there but nothing to complain about. Got into them pretty thick Friday morning using lindys with rainbows and pike suckers (thanks for the tip on the suckers cliff). 15-18 fow was our best fishing. Then friday night and saturday morning were though but managed to get into some saturday night & this morning with crank baits running about 20 fow running about 2.6 mph.

[LunkerBaitCo]

Found wallys much shallower than expected on jigs and pike suckers and jigs and crawlers, East end, this past weekend.

[MarkB]

My wife and I continue to have phenomenal fall fishing! The past couple of days, the walleyes have seemed to be more scattered than the past couple of weeks. The bite continues to be "tentative" except for this one!! Fishing one of the flats that I described in an earlier post, this monster clobbered a BIG rainbow chub in ~20' of water this morning. The hit was more like a snag than a hit and the big walleye put up quite a tussle before coming to the net. As with the other 2 30+" trophy walleyes that we have caught this year, we left her in the net except for pictures and measurement. This old girl dwarfed the "hog trough" and my final measurement was 31.5". One note of clarification: I thought the "hog trough" only went to 30" and it does except for the additional inch that is NOT calibrated at the end of the trough . I probably won't bring that part up with my wife anytime soon. This walleye was held in the net for ~5 minutes and then released as good as new.

Here's some pics...

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[Steve Foss]

What a great year you both are having, Mark. Cool! Thanks for sharing with us.

[Captain Acorn]

NICE FISH MARK CONGRATS! I love that last picture seeing that it went back in. It doesnt get much better than that

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Mark,

That really was a HOG!

Cliff

[MarkB]

Thanks for the kind remarks Gentlemen...I forgot to tell an interesting anecdote regarding the release of this fish. Yesterday, in approximately the same spot, my wife caught a 15" walleye. She told me that she had hooked a fish and, so, I got up and waited with net while peering over the side of the boat. Eventually, the fish came into view and as I was reaching with the net, a HUGE musky took a swipe at the walleye and grabbed it going away!!! That fish appeared out of nowhere and I actually could see down the fish's throat! Well, it scared my wife to death and gave me somewhat of a start. Today, while releasing that big walleye, I couldn't help but think about that musky from yesterday. I'm not real sure if that musky could distinguish my hand from the back end of that walleye . I will guarantee you, that if a musky of that size grabbed your hand in a vicious attack like we witnessed yesterday, it would be the equivalent of a small shark attack as far as damage goes. It gave me something to think about.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

[Silver Scale]

Don't think you have to worry to much about a muskie grabbing your hand during a release. A struggling fish coming to the surface looks like an easy meal for them but a motionless fish laying on top does not. If it's still a concern you could wear a glove from protection. Just make sure it's not a bright color.

[ponzie]

The other day I saw a bear swimming across the lake, it got me thinking, If I wasn't paying attention and the bear climbed in my boat he could eat me. Gosh maybe I should go back to the city where it's safe.

[MarkB]

Good point ponzie! Based upon the number of pics of trophy sized walleyes that I have seen you post(and subsequently release), I would agree that the possibility of a bear climbing into your boat and eating you while you're not paying attention is much more likely..

Be very careful,

MarkB

[shurik]

Hey guys,

Some of my friends and I planned to fish Vermilion this friday and saturday. It's 15-25 mph wind in the forecast. Any recomendation? Any advice on fishing walleye near Mocassin point?

We are not pros, so please advise. Thanks.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Check the 25' hole just North of the Moc. landing. Also the 25 ft hole South of St. Paul Island.

or the deep hole SE of Swanson Island.

Lindys or jigs and minnows.

Cliff

[SkunkedAgain]

We got in a good fall trip over the weekend. We had good luck fishing jigs with minnows in 10-15' of water in the west end. We battled waves and wind to fish the east end on Saturday, working our way all the way through. We only had luck in one spot with the same setup. It was good to finally boat a few Vermilion walleye again.

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Skunked again,

You are certainly a brave soul to be out in that weather!

I have not been on the water for a week now! Getting with-drawl symptoms!

Cliff

[SkunkedAgain]

When you're a weekender, you can't pick and choose the conditions.

[Fish Head]

I was at the cabin Thurs-Sun and WOW was it windy!! We did okay with the walleyes, but not great. It would have helped if we weren’t fishing in a hurricane! We caught equal amounts with lindy rig and trolling cranks. Tolling cranks were a little easier in the wind. Best depth was 22-24, but some were 30+ FOW.