2022 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports

[Mike Hanson]

Got 5 small walleyes that were bunched up near an island in 30 ft on  leadcore...Tuesday and Wednesday very few fish on my line or on the locator in the 30 ft basin... 

[partyonpine]

Fished through the rain the last few days.  Caught a lot of walleyes Wens night in 10 feet.  Thursday was slow fished deep and not much.  Friday caught walleye, perch in 15 feet.  Then fished a shoreline in 8 feet with lot of success multi species on minnows.  Buddy caught the biggest largemouth I have seen on the east end 20.5 inch.

[TrueNorth]

weeds must be coming back on the east side. 

[partyonpine]

Mud bay has a few.  Saturday went much better.  Walleyes in 14-18 feet.  Water was still 65-68 throughout the east side.  

[SkunkedAgain]

Anybody know how much the lake temps have dropped?

 

Are people have the most success with minnows vs crawlers when fishing with live bait lately, or are crawlers still working?

[PSU]

61 this afternoon in Frazer/Smarts. I'll comment later as I haven't been out yet 

[Tominator692]

Strictly been a jig/minnow bite for me. Walleye have the feed bag on!!!

[SkunkedAgain]

Great. I'm finally heading up for a fishing week, so the timing is right.

[redlabguy]

No better time, Skunked. Tominator is right . Minnows. Jigs or lindy. I finding lots of 14-18” fish in 10-20’. And very few dinks! Helps to be near structure, especially in a saddle.

RLG

[PSU]

Red Lab, were you in the "other bays" saddle? Lots of boats have been there today including mine. Jig/minnow indeed

[redlabguy]

PSU, I think I know the saddle you’re talking about. I have been fishing the other bay, usually east of that big saddle. I’ll look for you there as I pass through that area to go almost anywhere. The red lab (more like gray lab these days) is usually in my bow.

RLG

[Rivergroup]

I'm jealous of you guys! It's my favorite time of year on the lake, but unfortunately won't be making it up this time. Enjoy!

[SkunkedAgain]

My middle brother, who lives in Arizona, has only ever done summer trips up to Vermilion - and one cold/drizzly fishing opener. This will be his first fall trip and he's looking forward to fishing, the changing leaves, and working outside in a sweatshirt. Should be fun.

 

I figured that we were on to the minnow bite but it never hurts to check in with the guys that are out there now. I appreciate it.

[JerkinLips]

On 9/28/2022 at 12:09 PM, SkunkedAgain said:

Anybody know how much the lake temps have dropped?

 

Are people have the most success with minnows vs crawlers when fishing with live bait lately, or are crawlers still working?

Was up Tuesday-Thursday.  Water temp was 55F outside of Stuntz Bay.

 

I fished with chubs, pike suckers, and crawlers all on a plain hook drifting.  All were catching fish but chubs had the most action (and best hook rate) while pike suckers seemed to catch the larger fish.  The crawlers tended to catch small walleyes and perch.

 

My best eye was just 19½" while my smallest was 7" caught just before the largest (both pictured).  Still haven't caught a slot fish yet this summer but have caught enough decent size for a meal.

 

The lake was beautiful this week, and quiet for midweek as you would expect.  Enjoy the weekend on the lake.  The weather looks great.

 

[MarkB]

My cousin, our good friend, and myself just returned home today from beautiful Lake Vermillion. We arrived Sunday afternoon and left for home this AM. We weren't able to fish Sunday afternoon due to wind, rain, and lightning. However, the 3 and1/2 days we were able to fish were unbelievable. Despite gale force winds every day but Wednesday, we had the best fishing we've ever had. Water temperatures were running 57-59 degrees early in the week and were steady 56-57 degrees towards the end. Morning fishing was brutally cold(hands) Monday and Tuesday but became bearable Wednesday and Thursday. We fished 3 different spots and caught loads of fish at all of them. We found the walleyes on mud bottom  20'-26' of water in the mornings and 15'-20' rock piles in the late afternoon. The bite was fast the entire trip and as the week wore on, it became noticeably lighter with the majority of fish hooked in the upper lip. I found that the speed was, once again, crucial and optimum speed was.4mph-.6mph. The walleyes weren't choosy about either crawlers or big sucker minnows, but, ALL of our BIG fish came on suckers. I was amazed at the lack of boats in the areas that we fished and, most days, we had the entire area to ourselves in the mornings. We caught walleyes, smallmouths, jumbos, and northerns while fishing for walleyes. Our biggest walleye measured 28" and we caught lots of slot fish between 20.5" and 25". We returned ALL of our walleyes over 16" and ate walleye 3 times while we were there. We caught 193 walleyes during our 3.5 days of fishing.

The fall foliage is definitely behind for the time of year. We were able to watch bald eagles, ospreys, and young of the year loons on a daily basis. We decided to give the Vermillion Club another try after a less than satisfactory spring visit for pizza. This time it was just as it used to be. Excellent pizza and beer. We booked our spring and fall trips for next year before leaving and now the long wait begins.

The pictures are of a 28" walleye our buddy caught and of lunch for one of the days.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

 

 

[fishingdad]

Very nice reports everyone. Does anyone have a Taxidermist they would suggest?  I caught an absolute fat 9  1/2 lb walleye & tried for an hour to get her to go back in the lake but she took the rapala so deep it was a lost cause. Sad she didn’t go back in but blessed to put her on the wall from my favorite lake.  Thank You for any suggestions 

[Tominator692]

Artistic Anglers in Duluth is fantastic. Had a 31 1/4” walleye mounted there. Simply outstanding!!!

[fishingdad]

I forgot to post a pic from my previous post

[leech~~]

23 hours ago, JerkinLips said:

 

 

Beat yea!   Different lake though.  

 

 

[kaparzo]

We fished Thursday - Saturday. Couldn’t get any marks to bite on the west end so started east. Caught lots of 9-15” eyes on the mud side of the transition. Mostly crawlers for us on Thurs-Fri but bite changed to minnows on Saturday. Our rainbows ran small but had a few big chubs mixed in. Big chubs we’re best. No eyes on small suckers.  A jig and sucker or crawler on 9-14’ rocks got smallies going in several places. Rocky points coming off islands also produced smallies with tubes, deep jerkbaits and ned rigs on east end. Also landed a 45” ski on a crawler harness. 

[BrianF]

A face only a mother could love… 

[JerkinLips]

On 10/1/2022 at 1:33 PM, leech~~ said:

Beat yea! 

Did you scale that beauty?  You only win the contest if you measured it.

[JerryRonke]

On 9/30/2022 at 4:20 PM, MarkB said:

My cousin, our good friend, and myself just returned home today from beautiful Lake Vermillion. We arrived Sunday afternoon and left for home this AM. We weren't able to fish Sunday afternoon due to wind, rain, and lightning. However, the 3 and1/2 days we were able to fish were unbelievable. Despite gale force winds every day but Wednesday, we had the best fishing we've ever had. Water temperatures were running 57-59 degrees early in the week and were steady 56-57 degrees towards the end. Morning fishing was brutally cold(hands) Monday and Tuesday but became bearable Wednesday and Thursday. We fished 3 different spots and caught loads of fish at all of them. We found the walleyes on mud bottom  20'-26' of water in the mornings and 15'-20' rock piles in the late afternoon. The bite was fast the entire trip and as the week wore on, it became noticeably lighter with the majority of fish hooked in the upper lip. I found that the speed was, once again, crucial and optimum speed was.4mph-.6mph. The walleyes weren't choosy about either crawlers or big sucker minnows, but, ALL of our BIG fish came on suckers. I was amazed at the lack of boats in the areas that we fished and, most days, we had the entire area to ourselves in the mornings. We caught walleyes, smallmouths, jumbos, and northerns while fishing for walleyes. Our biggest walleye measured 28" and we caught lots of slot fish between 20.5" and 25". We returned ALL of our walleyes over 16" and ate walleye 3 times while we were there. We caught 193 walleyes during our 3.5 days of fishing.

The fall foliage is definitely behind for the time of year. We were able to watch bald eagles, ospreys, and young of the year loons on a daily basis. We decided to give the Vermillion Club another try after a less than satisfactory spring visit for pizza. This time it was just as it used to be. Excellent pizza and beer. We booked our spring and fall trips for next year before leaving and now the long wait begins.

The pictures are of a 28" walleye our buddy caught and of lunch for one of the days.

Good Fishing,

MarkB

 

 

Great post, with helpful insight!  Recently purchased a lake place on the Cook side and trying to figure the lake out. Have spent all my time on the Cook end and have been told multiple times that the better fishing is on the Tower side. Curious if that’s been you experience as well?

[leech~~]

4 hours ago, JerkinLips said:

Did you scale that beauty?  You only win the contest if you measured it.

 

Sorry, left my gram scale at home!  

[gimruis]

On 9/30/2022 at 9:12 PM, fishingdad said:

Very nice reports everyone. Does anyone have a Taxidermist they would suggest?  I caught an absolute fat 9  1/2 lb walleye & tried for an hour to get her to go back in the lake but she took the rapala so deep it was a lost cause. Sad she didn’t go back in but blessed to put her on the wall from my favorite lake.  Thank You for any suggestions 

That happens.  I had that occur with a largemouth bass in 2006 in the heat of August and tried to revive it for 15 minutes without success, so I got a skin mount of it instead.  At the time it was a PB 21 incher.

 

Artistic Anglers is pretty good.  LAX Reproductions in Conover, WI is world famous for his muskie replicas, but he'll do a skin mount too.  I had a Tiger Muskie replica made by him in 2020.  He recently made a skin mount of the new state record pure strain muskie caught out of Mille Lacs last November.

 

 

[CigarGuy]

Finally got the choirs done. Roofed a shed and built a woodshed. Most done by myself. Now's time to go fishing before the deer season.  Found some crappies tonight, caught 11, missed at least that many. West end. Skunked again, how'd you do, saw you heading out?

[Pat McGraw]

CigarGuy, Crappies shallow or suspended?

[CigarGuy]

5 hours ago, Pat McGraw said:

CigarGuy, Crappies shallow or suspended?

Shallow. Got skunked tonight. Just got chased off by the weather. Last evening was the only time the last 4 times out I caught fish. Last even was light drizzle and calm water. Water warmed up about 3-1/2 degrees since the first time out.

[partyonpine]

Last weekend of the year for me.  Up with my dad pulled docks, water, and hoists.  Managed to get out Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Smoked them every day.  15-17 feet jig/minnow caught as many as we wanted from 330-630 pm.  For every 5 fish had a keeper.  Will miss the hell out of our little island place.  Hope to get up here this winter but two girls in hockey makes it tough.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sorry for the late reply. Just got back to the world after a week up north. What great weather.

 

I did get out with my brother a few times but just for the sunrise and sunset bites. Lots of perch and the occasional walleye on jigs. Friday I had a few guys up and we had bad luck wherever we went except for one 15" monster crappie. However, Saturday turned things around. We pulled in a bunch of walleye. The biggest was a 22" over by Fectos Point, and the rest were all 12-19" eaters. 

 

We were there for peak fall colors on Wednesday before the wind came in and started blowing a lot of the birch leaves off of the trees. It's still pretty but not like it was last Wednesday. Since the clouds moved on, it's been nothing short of fantastic watching that giant full moon rise above the horizon each night. I hoping for one more trip this fall so I'll keep hope that the ice stays away a few more weeks.