Vermilion Ice Reports 2021/22

[BrianF]

I’m loving the new Skandic.  That sled is the ice equivalent of a Suburban. 

[JerkinLips]

My every other week trip to Vermilion was delayed a day due to recovering from the Super Bowl. There was 33 inches of ice so I needed the extension on my Ion auger. The water came up 2 inches in my skid house but I didn't run into any slush on the lake. The 3 roads were plowed out from McKinley Park but they quickly drift over with high winds. With 5 inches of snow predicted for Friday, drifting will be a problem.

 

Fishing was very good, especially for late season. Most of the eyes were 9-13 inches but I did catch enough 16-18 inchers for a meal. 18 inches was the biggest I caught, but I did lose a big one that spit the hook as I tried to pull it off the bottom. Never had that happen before. My best catch was hooking the forceps I dropped down the hole 2 weeks ago using my wife's fishing magnet.

 

Beautiful (but cold) being on the ice late in the season. The moon was awesome Tuesday night. A ton of snowmobile trailers were heading up north Thursday night so there could be a lot of them running around on Vermilion. Weather doesn't look the greatest this weekend but if you venture out, good luck and be courteous to others. Jerkin Lips

[SkunkedAgain]

Is that one of those fishing magnets that people use to find old things in the lakes, like that guy in Florida that fished out to assault rifles?

 

If so, how do you like it?

Edited February 20, 2022 by SkunkedAgain

[JerkinLips]

17 hours ago, SkunkedAgain said:

Is that one of those fishing magnets that people use to find old things in the lakes, like that guy in Florida that fished out to assault rifles?

 

If so, how do you like it?

Yes it is one of those fishing magnets.  My daughter and boyfriend had one that they like using so my wife got one.  She used it on the Stuntz Bay and Hoodoo Point docks in the summer and picked up a few pieces of junk in those areas.  She used it once in the boat while I was fishing and hooked a couple of odd pieces of metal but no valuable tackle.  I picked up these $3 forceps pretty quick in my ice fishing hole so it has a ways to go before it pays for itself.

[BrianF]

Look whose coming to dinner…

[Pat McGraw]

Brian,

 

Nice one! Can you please share depth, bottom, bait, time of day info?

 

Thx

[BrianF]

Pat, whities on Vermilion seem to like being right on the deep transition lines from hard bottom to deep mud.  Where you see a deep rock/gravel reef on the topo map drop into an even deeper hole, there’s going to be whities cruising off the deep break around that hole.  They will cruise up shallower in low light periods, but during the day it’s best to be deeper - say 28-35’ - right on the break  where the mud starts.  They’ll cruise thru both on bottom and suspended high in the water column, often in pairs.  Just gotta watch the electronics and adjust your presentation depth when you see them.  
 

Whities are weird in that they will hit all sorts of lures.  We’ve caught them on #5 Rippin Raps and jig/plastic combos.  However, day in and day out our ‘go to’ is a small spoon (e.g., Tumbler) tipped with a euro, waxy, or a pink Gulp crappie nibble.  We sometimes tip with a plastic bug imitations and they will eat that just fine too. 
 

Whities are like any other fish in that they bite better at certain times of the day than others.  Low light periods are probably best, but we catch them at mid-day as well.  I’ve never had success catching them at night.  Regardless of the time of day, most whities will just look at your presentation and cruise on by, while others will swim over to inspect the bait and can be coaxed into biting.  We like a slow lift to trigger a following fish.  If they lose interest and swim off, let the bait freefall for a few feet and you can often turn them around to begin the slow lift process again.  Bites are subtle and your rod will just begin to load as you continue to lift. 

We love fishing for whities and now that the walleye season is closed won’t have that distraction to tempt us away! 
 

Hope this helps. 
 

BrianF

Pic is a fish we released from yesterday morning

[ozzie]

Love to fish for whitefish in the summer!  Fun fights!

[muskie-mike]

I see them surfacing in the summer but cant seem to catch them...

[Pat McGraw]

Brian,

 

Great insight. Thank you. I have limited experience with them. Just started targeting last year. Similarly have found using a buckshot on steep breaks to deep water has worked. Thanks again. 

 

Pat

[JerkinLips]

Was up Saturday PM to Monday noon to finish the walleye season and remove the house.  When I drilled the holes in my house the water came up 4½ inches up from when I was last up 11 days ago and came up to just below the top of the floor.  The water gushed out from under the house and covered the bare ice around the house with 4 inches of water.  Made for wet fishing and removing the house.  There wasn't much additional snow up there but the recent high winds caused heavy snow load from drifting.  When you break through the snow there was water/slush below.  You may find areas like that around the lake.  My brother-in-law kept his portable house on top of the snow that we packed with snowmobiles and stayed dry.

 

Fishing was still very good.  Most eyes were small, but there were enough bigger fish for a meal, including the pictured 19 inch that I caught at the very end of my fishing.  It took a while to get this fish into the bottom of the hole 34 inches down.

 

By Monday a second layer of ice had formed around the house which created a 3 inch layer of water between.  One 16 inch walleye started swimming into this layer before I was able to pull it back.  An 11 inch walleye swam into this water layer when I tried to release it back into the hole.  I wasn't able to  free this fish back into the lake until I had removed my house and pushed it down into the hole.  It swam away eagerly.

 

Minnow supply was a problem all winter except this last weekend.  My 2 brother-in-laws and I each bought a dozen chubs from different stores and I ended up leaving food on the ice for the crows and foxes.

 

If you venture out on Vermilion to fish other species good luck.  I am switching to lake trout fishing now.  And enjoy being on the lake in late winter when the days are longer and the sun much warmer.

[SkunkedAgain]

I took an uncharacteristically long snowmobile ride yesterday afternoon, from the west end to McKinley and back. I'll say this...the lake trails are in phenomenal shape and the off-trail riding on the lake is fantastic. The deep snow is a hoot and there is only mild slush in spots. Get out and burn some 2-stroke if you can.

 

On my ride I discovered that this little deer fed some hungry wolves the other night.

Edited March 7, 2022 by SkunkedAgain

[leech~~]

2 hours ago, SkunkedAgain said:

I took an uncharacteristically long snowmobile ride yesterday afternoon, from the west end to McKinley and back. I'll say this...the lake trails are in phenomenal shape and the off-trail riding on the lake is fantastic. The deep snow is a hoot and there is only mild slush in spots. Get out and burn some 2-stroke if you can.

 

On my ride I discovered that this little deer fed some hungry wolves the other night.

I think it's going to be a tough winter for the Deer this year. 

[JerkinLips]

9 hours ago, leech~~ said:

I think it's going to be a tough winter for the Deer this year.

Doe and a fawn walk by our place in Soudan in the middle of the day looking very week.  Need a quick melt to reduce the severity but the 2-week forecast doesn't look very good.

[leech~~]

46 minutes ago, JerkinLips said:

Doe and a fawn walk by our place in Soudan in the middle of the day looking very week.  Need a quick melt to reduce the severity but the 2-week forecast doesn't look very good.

The Wolves are going to be eating good!

[Wanderer]

This a month old news but sounds optimistic.

2022 WSI

 

Hope they make it!

[smurfy]

the DNR has a winter severity index i watch closely.......yea its getting up there in the tough range really quick!!!!!!

[SkunkedAgain]

It's tough for me to walk in the woods. The deer have to hop through it.

[Wanderer]

2 hours ago, smurfy said:

the DNR has a winter severity index i watch closely.......yea its getting up there in the tough range really quick!!!!!!

Yes, getting worse!  This is as current as they have.

WSI_Cty_Map.pdf

[leech~~]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Yes, getting worse!  This is as current as they have.

WSI_Cty_Map.pdf 707.19 kB · 3 downloads

 

Dang, doesn't look good up there. The Moose and calves are going to be easy pickings in the arrow head! 

[smurfy]

3 hours ago, Wanderer said:

Yes, getting worse!  This is as current as they have.

WSI_Cty_Map.pdf 707.19 kB · 9 downloads

yep, same one i looked at this morning!!!!!

[Pat McGraw]

What do you all think the chances re one will be able to still get around via sled next weekend? 

[JerkinLips]

1 hour ago, Pat McGraw said:

What do you all think the chances re one will be able to still get around via sled next weekend? 

Lots of snow left in the woods and on the lakes.  The warmer weather next week shouldn't take it down too much.  Walked a couple of miles on Burntside Lake Thursday and Friday and found good, firm snow cover in most places.  In a wind-protected bay I did find 1 foot of water/slush under a few inches of light snow on top, so be careful along shorelines.

 

Regarding the WSI, I continue to see deer wandering around Soudan in the middle of the day looking very stressed.  I also saw lots of deer fur stuck in the snow drifts on Burntside Lake, proof that the wolves are eating well.  Think it has been a very severe winter for the deer and moose.

[BigVTim]

Does it seem like the snow cover is a healthy level this year? Sure would help to have a nice thaw to get some water in the lake and bring water levels back up to only slightly down vs severely down. Fingers crossed we have a wet next few weeks before open water crappie starts! Otherwise we will be fishing black bay in waders!

[SkunkedAgain]

We are still 1.5 months from the average ice out on Vermilion! The lake will still easily be navigable this weekend. The sun hasn't even come close to working down the snowpack on the lake yet.

[BigVTim]

Yes, we have some time to go. How is the snow pack though? Does it seem average or above average?

Edited March 17, 2022 by BigVTim

[SkunkedAgain]

I would say it was 2ft of powder on the lake before the current melt started.

[Raven77]

Unless there is more snow and cold weather coming, the party is over for snowmobiling.  We rode from the Landing up to Melgeorge's on Saturday.  The lakes were deep slush and the trails were really patchy with a lot of exposed dirt and rocks.  I'm ready for open water!

[SkunkedAgain]

That's disappointing but not surprising about the lake conditions. I know that they are call for a few inches tomorrow. I was hoping to still get up there one more time but definitely am not interested in getting stuck in the slush. I'm happy to ride on the ice though