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I didn't get a chance to get out but my friends were out this weekend and did really good both evenings on the perch. I'd love to see this perch fishery take off, more people should really target these hogs!

The SNOW is here!! There is about 5" in the driveway now and its still coming down! We are already seeing a few sleds coming through hopefully we'll see the groomers out this week!

Call me up for a great deal on winter lodging! We are only minutes from several great fishing spots!!

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Gonna snoop around Saturday afternoon on big bay with my 7 year old. I'm going to toss a few tip ups out. Any advice on the bait of choice right now for setlines? Could a person drive from moccasin point to the moose/comet island area without a worry?

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James,

Should be good going yet in that area.

As stated many times this winter,watch out for pressure ridges! They are very unstable. The one between Birch Island and Cherry Island looked worse than ever this afternoon!

Rainbows or small pike suckers are still working best for me on my set lines.

Cliff

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Not sure if you wanna try driving out from Moc point, most of the sleds are even going around on shore. Also there is a pressure ridge directly out from grubens bridge you'd have to cross, Its not that big and I know one guy who crossed it. If you really want to drive out to that area your best bet would be from right here at BayView. It was pretty easy going when I was out plowing our track.

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There is a pressure ridge all the way from Birch to Taylor island you would have to go all the way around from the McKinley area.. you may want to start from Bayview if you want to target that area. Or you can fish just about anything from Taylor and East by using the McKinley or Stuntz Bay landings.

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Was up in the plane today and just about all the ridges were active with multiple wet spots. Be very careful around them. Erik, you need to widen out your track and plow a turn around at the ends and you will get some plane traffic for burgers and such. Would have stopped today but no room to turn around, and was starting to get a little sunsettish...

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Will do, I stopped by for gas on Tuesday and wondererd why you were plowing out on the ice, makes sense.

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I'm just gonna take off with the sled from the cabin which is right around the point from bayview. I assume then I can get to moose n comet ok then. Thx for all the info.

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Well I gave it a try this afternoon. Had 2 nice runs on the tip up on the shelf I was fishing. I had the portable set up on the base of the break and was surprised at the number of big marks coming through, but disappointed at no takers. It's amazing the amount of untouched water out there. I would love to have a weekend without the kids to just pound the lake lol.

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Well I gave it a try this afternoon. Had 2 nice runs on the tip up on the shelf I was fishing. I had the portable set up on the base of the break and was surprised at the number of big marks coming through, but disappointed at no takers. It's amazing the amount of untouched water out there. I would love to have a weekend without the kids to just pound the lake lol.

Its the same thing I see all the time at different spots I fish, lots of fish coming through. Some will look at the bait follow it up but rarly take it. I've thrown every bait in my arsenal at them some nights. If you really want to be frustrated put a camera down.

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Thats pretty much what happened all summer!!! But you are right, Vermilion is untouched in the winter just take a ride around and look at all your favorite summer spots... no one is there or has been there.. all the reefs produce good fish this time of winter if you are willing to do the work and be mobile.... and somedays be it weather or moon phase or whatever, they just don't cooperate.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Going up here Friday for the weekend with some buddies. How far can you drive on this lake? Is the whole lake frozen? Any plowed roads or bridges over pressure ridges? Any info as far as ice conditions would be great! Thanks!

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The whole lake is frozen. 24 inches in most areas.

There are no bridges over any of the pressure ridges. Be careful around them as they are very unstable!

There are always a few thin ice spots at a few of the narrows. Most of the East end is drivable.

Cliff

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hey how thick is the ice up here? Im supposed to be coming up here with some friends this week and we were wondering how the ice is?

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Ice is still at least 25"+ and solid.

Landings may really take a beating by next weekend though!

Cliff

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Thanks Bart your neighbor was wondering! Im one of carters friends that have been up their a few times. I met u once.

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There is still snow in the woods at this time but that will also really get hit hard by next weekend. Temps in the 50s and possibly rain on Monday will take care of that snow also.

The lake ice will dry off and be good going for at least a week or longer yet.

Cliff

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  • 1 month later...

It was a beautiful day on Lake Vermilion! Light breeze till about noon, sunny, and just a wonderful opening day. Lots and lots of boats were everywhere it seemed. My wife and I went back to the "spots" that I checked pre-season and the fishing was absolutely spectacular! We started fishing at 7 o'clock, I caught my first walleye at 7:03(my wife keeps track of things like this), and I had caught my limit by 7:20! We caught fish all morning using rainbows, 4' leaders, red bead, red hook, and a 1oz bouncer. The fish were grabbing the rainbow and, if you waited too long, they inhaled it! As a consequence, we missed lots and lots of fish by setting the hook to prevent them from swallowing the hook. Slow was the word of the day and the optimum speed for us seemed to be .3-.5mph. These were the nicest average sized walleyes you could ever hope for: largest-18.5", smallest-14.5", 14 between 16" and 18.5", 3 between 17" and 18". We kept a few for supper.

The areas where we caught fish were as I described in the pre-season lookaround. Mud flats with a maximum depth of ~21'. The fish were on steep shoreline breaks in 17' of water and deep water mud flats in 25'-35'of water. The fish we found in 17' were easy to see on the sonar, the deep fish, however, were not nearly as visible.

A friend of ours was with his grandson and son in a second boat. His grandson caught the walleye of the day, a 23" slot fish. His son hooked up a musky while trolling a rainbow and had his hands full for awhile. When the huge fish finally came up beside the boat, their net wouldn't begin to hold it and so they cut the line. Estimates as to length are purely guesswork, but 45" seems to be the consensus.

It seems everyone was catching fish from what we saw. If today is any indication, it certainly should be a banner season.

Good Fishing,

MarkB smile

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Hard to beat that report! But you others guys need to report, too. Sounds like a perfect day, Mark. I am envious. Mom's Day is keeping me home until we have our opener Monday. Thanks for the report.

RLG

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It certainly was a great day out there as Mark said! Lots of boats almost everywhere.

My boat is still in the hospital with a motor that refuses to start so went out in my Bro-in-law's boat with him and his grandson.

No trolling motor and a graph that only worked when it wanted to!

Still did great just drifting with lindys. 3' to 4' leaders, red or green glow bead, 3/4 oz. slip sinker and chubs or rainbows as bait.

Boated around 20 walleyes and kept 12 nice fish, 3 were in the 17" to 18" range. Largest fish was an 18-1/4 incher caught by Charlie's grandson.

All were caught in the mud. 31' to 42' deep.

Cliff

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Interesting that they were that deep. Thanks for the details. Another testimony of a perfect day. Again, I am envious! But glad I still have a mother to be with tomorrow. How about the guys who went shallow? Did jigs/minnows work?

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What pound test are you guys tying up your Lindy rigs with? Using flouro as well I'm guessing?

thanks

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Fished 4 hours or so (Pike Bay / Smarts Bay) and had 2 walleye (one cigar), one perch and Northern. Wish I could report better news.

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Sorry about your motor, Cliff. That's gotta hurt. If you're still grounded after Monday, I'd be glad to take you out next week.

RLG

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The beginning of my 2nd season fishing V got off to a great start. My brother in law and I started about 6. We had a run and gun approach until about 9. We hit one area that had a bunch of fish in about 16 feet. We caught a pair of 23" there. Again we didn't stick around there to long because we wanted to check other areas. The last stop was deep mud in around 35-38 feet. 10 minutes there yielded 2 15". We headed in and I grabbed my wife and 2 kids. 2 hours back on the deep mud and we had a dozen more in the livewell......all 14-15.5". We were using lindys with rainbows and fatheads. Red hook/red bead and chartruese hook/chartruese bead both produced. This evening the three of us dads took 5 kids in the pontoon bobber fishing. This yielded 3 keepers, 3 little guys, a 21", and a 24" for my seven year old son. Tomorrow morning I intend on hitting the area where we had the 23"ers more extensively and see what else we can come up with.

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Kept 3 eaters in the 14-16" range, one 22" slot fish and 1 small one. All in 25-30 FOW. I didn't see many other people catching them around us (many boats), maybe they were just stealth. Going to try the mud tomorrow as I wasn't able to get there today. Was a great day to be on the water!

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  • The title was changed to 2020-21 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports
  • The title was changed to 2021 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports
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