2021 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports

[shamrock7]

Sorry Didn't push for specifics. I know that they spent some time in the evenings trolling shad raps and the like in 8-12'.

[delcecchi]

Oh, sorry. Thought maybe you were guiding them.

[shamrock7]

With my schedule....time for guiding....now that's funny

If I could just train that forklift to put boats in by itself, I would have it made

[delcecchi]

Hey, if Google can do a self driving car, what's the big problem?

I guess I didn't watch carefully enough who was posting...

[airnuts]

Only managed 2 walleye keepers on the bars in 20 fow!

Any suggestions?

[tbetts1000]

The past few days I have been marking fish on every normal structure but getting them to bite has been tough. This evening I went out to a 15' hump in Big Bay and the fish were piled up but again wouldn't bite. We spent 2 1/2 hrs trying to get them to go. Half crawler and leeches were tried with limited luck. When the sun "hit the trees" the bite was on and it was some of the best fishing on the year. Nothing big, 12"-15" very aggressive fish.

[PSU]

Hi folks,

Been awful quiet in relation to updates on walleye fishing? I am assuming it is pretty slow, but coming up Thursday-Monday and would sincerely appreciate any insight!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

PSU,

The bite has been pretty decent once you locate fish that are willing to bite. Take a lot of locator work some days to find those walleyes. Once you get into a school that is willing to eat a lindy with 1/2 crawlers is still my go to presentation.

The biters can be as shallow as 10 feet or as deep as 30 feet depending upon the location.

Early morning until around 10:00am has been the prime time for me. I do not fish the evening bite very often though.

Cliff

[Fish Head]

Just curious... If anyone was out fishing walleyes Sunday morning and was able to get on the fish. Saturday I found a spot with a deep hole next to a rocky reef and I did real well with a jig and minnow. Lots of fish with size too. Biggest walleye was 25 and best smallie was 20.

Sunday morning I went to the same spot, same jig, and all I could get was 2 little rock bass. I tried moving down farther in the hole, up on top, off the sides, tried a crawler... Nothing going. Than I hit several other spots on my way back, but I couldn't get anything going. Did anyone figure it out and get on fish Sunday morning?

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Sunday was a tough bite for me also. Only boated 9 walleyes and a bass that day!

Monday and Tuesday were very good bites again. Boated about 20 fish each day with the majority being very nice fish and about 4 slot fish each day.

Largest was 23-1/2 inches.

Cliff

[Tominator692]

Sunday was great for me. Caught 15 Walleye. Biggest was 19" and 4 real nice keepers. Worked a wind swept shoreline in 24 to 32 feet of water with a jig and minnow.

[redlabguy]

Too windy to fish Saturday, but I've been a little surprised that 1/2 crawler Lundy rig is still producing the most fish most of last week and today, too. With the recent south wind, I've been finding good walleyes on the south shore lines just below the rocks, usually 22-24' . I'd like to know if other folks are getting fish with minnows and jigs. I love fishing jigs, but can't beat success with the good old night crawler rig.

RLG

[Cliff Wagenbach]

redlabguy,

We fished a jig/minnow exclusively this morning and boated my clients limits of 15" to 18" walleyes. They were all caught in 32' to 40' of water close to the rocks or in the rocks like your fish.

[redlabguy]

Thanks, Cliff. I'm sure it's pike suckers. I'll give it a try.

RLG

[Jack Stasney]

Fishing was good on the NE side for our fall trip. Caught a bunch of walleyes with 23.5in. being the best. A couple of small mouth got into the mix with a 18.25in being the nicest. The northern took the cake though. Managed a 41.5in. Here is a couple of pics.

[Klinger]

That is a beauty of a northern. The look on both of your daughters face is priceless! Thanks for sharing.

[Klinger]

Good to hear you got into them Cliff !! I will be giving it a try this coming wknd. Lower water temps should make those big females put on the food bags !! Good to see some fishing reports again !

[Jack Stasney]

Thanks! There actually my cousins kids.

It was her first trip to Vermilion. She actually teared up when her Dad and I explained to her that fish like this don't come by everyday. It was great.The fish lives to be caught another day.

[Silver Scale]

Great pics. Kids and most adults always have a smile when holding fish. Really nice pike and thanks for putting her back.

[MN BassFisher]

Has anyone been out icing on Vermillion yet?? I've heard some reports of shotty ice conditions on the West end of the lake but it's been pretty quiet otherwise. Are those ice conditions (7-8" of ice, then 5-6" of snow/slush on top) pretty consistent across the whole lake?

[JerkinLips]

I finally made it out on Vermilion this winter. Fished alone on Friday (6 walleyes and 8 perch) and with my brother-in-law on Saturday (6 walleyes and 8 perch combined). Walleyes - one 20" slot fish, five eaters (14-17½") and six dinks (9-12"). Fished in 28' and most walleyes were caught on rainbows on a plain red Gatsuma hook. The eyes showed no interest in sucker minnows. Best times were 3pm on Friday and 8am Saturday (caught the tail end of the morning bite). Had 18" of ice and found very little slush (some on the plowed road out of McKinley Park, a big patch on the east side of Cherry Island on the snowmobile trail, and a little by shore under deep snow). Barely anybody out on Friday, but tons of people out fishing on Saturday with the warm weather.

[Fish Head]

I thought I would post a report here and revive this thread since it's titled "Fishing Reports". I went out Saturday in the afternoon for a just few hours. I found a lot of males willing to bite. There were a lot of small fish mixed in too and no slot fish at all. They were all caught on a jig tight to bottom. I was missing some bites, so I put a stinger hook on. What I found was the 14-16" eyes were being hooked on the jig, and the 12-14" eyes were caught on the stinger. It was a beautiful sunny day!

[SkunkedAgain]

We fought through ice on Head O Lakes, scrapped the paint off of our props, but made it through on Friday afternoon. Saturday and Sunday were tremendous days for pulling perch raps. We caught more slot walleye than I've ever recalled in my life. The whole weekend we only caught two eaters, and they were just below the cutoff. Otherwise, we seemed to catch lots of thick ladies. Most of our walleye were either 21-22" or 25-27" Several of us pulled in 27" pigs with one 29 1/2" super mama on Sunday evening. What a weekend. I would have loved to have a few more eaters, but I'll take hungry big girls any day of the week.

Ice was mostly gone from Head O Lakes and Wakemup by the time I left last night.

[BartmanMN]

Wow. Great West end report. Nice weekend.

[guidemane]

Hey Skunked,

Were you trolling in Head of the Lakes or Wakemup most of the time? I'm going west tomorrow and maybe half a day on Thursday as well. Not really interested in finding keepers, just looking for the big girls.

"Ace"

[Hawgeyes]

Guys, any reports for East end of the lake? How has the late ice affected the fishing? Thank you in advance.

[neptune]

What depths have been working for trolling cranks? I haven't done that much for eyes but thinking about giving it a try.

[SkunkedAgain]

We were in shallow areas pulling raps

[Cliff Wagenbach]

Hawgeyes,

The walleye bite has been good on the East end. I have been fishing mostly with minnows on jigs or lindys. I have found walleyes in depths ranging from 6 feet to 42 feet.

Cliff

[Reid Saarela]

Hey guys, I will be heading up to vermilion memorial weekend and am going to be targeting walleye and possibly some crappies. I was wondering if you guys have any tips for me. By the way I will be spending some time on both ends of the lake. Thanks!