2023 Lake Vermilion Fishing Reports

[PSU]

Question.....So you are approaching a boat in the middle of a narrows (such as Birch Narrows by Retreat) or the pinch closer to Timbuktu. You split the difference between shore line and the boat on either side. I was once told it's best to stay on plane to have less of a wake for the boat than if you slow down and create a larger wake. What is the best etiquette?

[Brianf.]

In my opinion, its a judgement call just about every time as to whether to ‘slow down, but stay on plane’ or ‘shut down & idle thru’ the pinch point.  If you can maintain a reasonable and comfortable distance from the boat, then slow down out of respect and stay on plane to minimize the wake.  If there are multiple boats and you would be uncomfortably close in passing them, shut down and idle thru - again out of respect.  The problem is what is a ‘comfortable distance’ is different for everyone.  
 

Personally, I’d rather have boats pass by on plane, provided they are at a comfortable distance, rather than slow down and plow water, creating bigger waves.  If I’m choosing to fish in a narrow section of the lake that is known for heavily boat traffic, then boat traffic should be expected. 
 

Btw, a little known secret is that the bubble trail and turbulence of a passing boat often creates a momentary feeding frenzy for the fish directly under the prop wash.  Sends baitfish into chaos, sometimes stuns them, and creates an opportunity that predators learn to exploit.  Can’t tell you how many times we’ve thrown lures directly into the bubble-trail of a passing boat and got bit immediately.  

[JerkinLips]

35 minutes ago, Brianf. said:

Personally, I’d rather have boats pass by on plane, provided they are at a comfortable distance, rather than slow down and plow water, creating bigger waves.  If I’m choosing to fish in a narrow section of the lake that is known for heavily boat traffic, then boat traffic should be expected. 

Well stated Brian.  I was not fishing in the navigational path which was only 200 feet away with no boats in it.  This party appeared to be just site-seeing.  The first pass didn't bother me that much (although the pontoon boat did created significant wake even on plane).  It was the return pass that irritated me.

 

Love the secret tip about the turbulence.  Maybe I'll try it next time that happens.  Although they would have ran over my line on the return pass.

[gim]

23 hours ago, JerkinLips said:

Maybe I will even report them to the authorities. 

Won't do a darn thing.  Its not illegal to cruise past someone at that distance, even though I certainly agree its unethical.

 

What I usually do is sent a cast with a treble hooked lure their direction.   Like a big muskie or pike spoon.  That gets their attention.  Wake boats are far worse than any pontoon or tritoon.  They are enough to send waves right over the gunnel and capsize kayaks.

Edited August 1, 2023 by gimruis

[dustynuts]

curious how the fishing has been the last few days? will be up there friday for about 10 days visiting family - always do a fish fry but have never been up this late in the summer? 

[SkunkedAgain]

22 hours ago, Brianf. said:

Personally, I’d rather have boats pass by on plane, provided they are at a comfortable distance, rather than slow down and plow water, creating bigger waves.  If I’m choosing to fish in a narrow section of the lake that is known for heavily boat traffic, then boat traffic should be expected. 

I agree with almost everything that you said. Well done. The only part where I disagree is the characterization above, that there are two choices of: 1) on plane; and 2) slowing down and plowing water.

 

Clearly every boat is different. However, going barely on plane creates a huge wake in most boats just like a wake boat. The amount of trim makes a huge difference as well. Trimming out means that less of the boat in the water, which generally means less wake. That is why faster is often thought of as better, but only if you've trimmed out the motor so that you are leaving less wake.

 

However, when you slow down there are also different outcomes. Often people slow down and are plowing water as you said because they don't "really" want to slow down. This is worse than staying on plane because of the massive waves one creates. When I slow down, I am going minimal wake which in every scenario is better than any other speed.

 

IMO - people are just in too much of a hurry to "get somewhere" on a lake. When I'm fishing at Fectos Point or other tight navigation spots, I expect that boats are going to fly by on plane. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate it when people do slow down.

 

I also concur that I find fish bites turn on when boats go by, even when I'm fishing the bottom.

Edited August 2, 2023 by SkunkedAgain

[Brianf.]

I hear ya Skunked…and don’t disagree.  To be more precise, when referring to slowing down out of respect, I meant from 55 to, say, 30 mph, where the wake isn’t appreciably different (at least on my boat), but the speed change signals that I see you and am trying to be somewhat courteous.  

[PSU]

Interesting communication and comments friends!

[DLD24]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:16 PM, dustynuts said:

curious how the fishing has been the last few days? will be up there friday for about 10 days visiting family - always do a fish fry but have never been up this late in the summer? 

I was up yesterday for the day. Bug hatch and crayfish are molting so the walleyes are plump right now. The day started tough, but just keep moving until you find fish that'll bite. You can stack them pretty quick then. I was on the east end.

[james_walleye]

Walleyes have been great this week for me. Tried lead and didn't get much going. I've been looking for sand and finding plenty of fish. Definitely have to sort some but you can get a nice mess of 14-16"s. 16-20 feet for me. Half crawler. Also from about 730-9 has been a fun trolling bite along shorelines. About 10-11 feet with #5 shads. Although there has been some sorting as well doing this we've really had some nice 16-18" fish. My daughter and I caught a dozen this evening just tossing them back. Both patterns have held true from big bay to Frazier and smarts.

[james_walleye]

Just an update since my post the other day. Most of the middle of the week was spent fishing smallies with my kids. Pretty good action. Got some 3-4 lbers each day. Whacky senkos have been best. Can't get them to chase anything. Regarding walleyes...... I've spent some time yesterday and this morning with lead. It's picking up! The bites have been sporadic. Half and hour without a bite then 4 in 15 minutes. I'm not seeing fish everywhere on the mud flats. Some areas are pretty thick and there are big areas with not much going on. The areas I've found fish are in that 22-24 foot range. I have no doubt there are good pods deeper and I have no doubt there are people on top of much better trolling bites than I've found. I'll be exploring more areas of the east end the next couple days as the fish that I've found so far have had a nice mix of 15-17" fish. 

[delcecchi]

Hit this one today 35 inches 

[SkunkedAgain]

Look at the color on that one. Nice!

[delcecchi]

What the heck is going on?   Suddenly there is a continuous parade of boats fishing in our bay on west end, going by our dock etc.   Mostly look like musky guys but it is hard to tell.   It's a day early for the spring bay event.   Is there some other tournament?    Did my picture trigger them?   Anybody know?

[CigarGuy]

1 hour ago, delcecchi said:

What the heck is going on?   Suddenly there is a continuous parade of boats fishing in our bay on west end, going by our dock etc.   Mostly look like musky guys but it is hard to tell.   It's a day early for the spring bay event.   Is there some other tournament?    Did my picture trigger them?   Anybody know?

PMT, I believe is going on.

[delcecchi]

Yep, you were right... Found it.  https://promusky.com/

It will be interesting to see the results.    Today would have been tough fishiing with the wind.

 

Also explains all the cars at the landing when we went for ice cream after burger night at the VFW

Edited August 19, 2023 by delcecchi

[redlabguy]

This was a big one and we have two more Muskie tournaments. August 22-25 and Sept. 9-10. Not nearly as big as this one. 
 

so how’s the walleye fishing? Haven’t been out for a few days.

[Brianf.]

RLG, those tourneys obtained DNR permits, though I understand both have now been cancelled by their respective tournament organizers.  
 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Brianf.

[redlabguy]

The August 22-25 is a “friendly competition “ out of VDL. No permit. The other one Sept. 9-10 is the Lunker Squad Series, just 12 boats. I did hear the MN Muskie Trail and Simply Fishing Muskie cancelled.

I try to keep track as a volunteer for the VLA. I try to persuade the tournaments to get all boats inspected for aquatic invasive species. Most of them do.

[Raven77]

20 hours ago, redlabguy said:

This was a big one and we have two more Muskie tournaments. August 22-25 and Sept. 9-10. Not nearly as big as this one. 
 

so how’s the walleye fishing? Haven’t been out for a few days.

Leadcore bite is on.  Fishing mornings with a buddy this week we boated 41 on Wednesday, 13 on Friday and 26 yesterday.  A lot of 10-14" fish but also several in the 16-20" range.  Had a nice fish fry and he took a limit home to share with his wife.  Best walleye fishing of the season is ahead of us.

[CigarGuy]

5 hours ago, Raven77 said:

Leadcore bite is on.  Fishing mornings with a buddy this week we boated 41 on Wednesday, 13 on Friday and 26 yesterday.  A lot of 10-14" fish but also several in the 16-20" range.  Had a nice fish fry and he took a limit home to share with his wife.  Best walleye fishing of the season is ahead of us.

Nice going Chad, I assume you're fishing the west end? I've been out 4 of the last 5 evenings and only caught one darn walleye. I've thrown the kitchen sink at them, they have lockjaw for me. Pulled lead from 4 till 7:30 tonight and marked a lot of fish, but couldn't get them to bite. I switched over and fished for crappies for an hour or so and get a few each outting. First time I've targeted crappies this early, nice to get 4-5 each outting, not the nice big one's, but most are eaters. When your buddy leaves, I'll be happy to be your net b...ch

[gim]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:11 PM, delcecchi said:

It will be interesting to see the results. 

 

Here they are.  Winning team boated 4 in two days.  27 total muskies caught by 100 teams in 2 days - not very good.  This is the highest level of muskie fishing in the country too BTW.  They do not allow the use of live sonar.  Biggest fish was a 50.5 incher.

 

https://promusky.com/fish-list#87007732-1ebd-43ea-85c7-a2e13006fd37

[Raven77]

13 hours ago, CigarGuy said:

Nice going Chad, I assume you're fishing the west end? I've been out 4 of the last 5 evenings and only caught one darn walleye. I've thrown the kitchen sink at them, they have lockjaw for me. Pulled lead from 4 till 7:30 tonight and marked a lot of fish, but couldn't get them to bite. I switched over and fished for crappies for an hour or so and get a few each outting. First time I've targeted crappies this early, nice to get 4-5 each outting, not the nice big one's, but most are eaters. When your buddy leaves, I'll be happy to be your net b...ch

Most were caught on the east end as that's where we spent most of our time fishing.  I have had some success on the west end as well.  Mornings from 7-10 have been best for me.

[JerkinLips]

On 8/18/2023 at 1:29 PM, delcecchi said:

What the heck is going on?   Suddenly there is a continuous parade of boats fishing in our bay on west end, going by our dock etc. 

Was wondering the same thing when I got up to the Y-store on Friday at daylight.  Lots of boats/trailers at the store and driving around the area.  Makes sense that it was a musky contest as these were pretty high end rigs.  Didn't see many running around the far east end of the lake Friday-Sunday when I was out fishing though.  Lake was quite quiet for a nice weather weekend.

 

Walleye fishing was again pretty slim for me.  Fished with just half a crawler on a plain hook drifting.  Had a hard time keeping the perch and crayfish off the line.  Was catching 5 perch for every walleye I was able to land.  At least I caught 18" and 19" fish that made for a good meal for the wife and me.  More than enough meat for the 2 of us.  Next time up I will switch to minnows to limit the perch bite.  Water should be cool enough in a couple weeks that the minnows will survive the water temperature.

 

Good luck fishing and again enjoy the beauty of the lake.   Everybody was very courteous last weekend.

[ozzie]

My buddy was on the winning team for the PMT.  They caught 3 fish on Saturday to jump up the leaderboard.  It is about numbers and they made the right moves!  Their fish were all between 33-42".  Pretty impressive to beat guys that fish for a living!!

[Brianf.]

I was there at the PMTT awards ceremony and listened to the winners description of their tournament.  Very interesting!  Seemed they could do no wrong.  That's when you know its your time... 
 

As for Jeff and me, we hooked enough during the tourney to be right at the top - including a horse that I couldn't even budge - but lost them all.   Def was NOT our time!  Still enjoyable spending a long weekend fishing with my son - who is not a musky angler btw.  Doesn't even own a musky lure!  Still, he had 3 of our 4 bites.  

 

We pursued other species after the event just to get our 'string stretched' and did well.  Mixed in largemouth in shallow slop, with smallmouth out on deeper rocks, and walleyes in between.  Our last fish was an 8lb 4oz east end walleye caught at mid-day with a crankbait.  Was a great end to the wknd.  
 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Brianf.

[jparrucci]

Pretty quiet in here lately.  I've notices lots of people pulling crankbaits lately.

[SkunkedAgain]

It's honestly been too long (late June) since I've fished Vermilion.  I am happily reading all of the reports though!

[TrueNorth]

We were up last Friday evening through Labor Day.  Very hot and mostly calm winds.  Stayed on the far West side.  Water surface temps on Friday evening were 69 and rose to mid 70's by end of day on Monday.  

 

Overall, fishing was pretty slow.  I think I ended up with 13 walleyes (24" largest), 8 pike (33" largest) and a handful of smallies.  I trolled most of the time and it seemed like bright flicker shad type baits produced the best. I didn't hit it hard and didn't fish much in the mornings. 

 

2 things to note...for this time of year, the weeds on the west end seemed way less than previous years. I did not see the clouds of perch/bait fish as much as the last few years.  

 

Lake appeared to be about a foot low but probably normal for this time of year.  What a phenomenal lake.  

 

[LBerquist]

Your pictures are amazing. Most people come for the fish and just glance at vermilions true beauty.