2024 Fishing Reports

[MarkB]

We just returned this afternoon from 6 days on Vermilion. We arrived Saturday and enjoyed 3 fantastic days of walleye fishing. My cousin, our friend Greg, and myself fished several of our spring spots and found fish on all of them. Water temperatures were pretty much 65-67 degrees everywhere we fished. The wind was variable and made boat control a challenge at times. Bait was not an issue and we had success on crawlers(Tim), leeches(Greg), and minnows(me). If I had to pick one of those as catching the most fish, it would be crawlers. Our best day totalled 48 walleyes, 4 smallmouth, and 2 big JUMBOS. We ended up with over a hundred walleyes, 12 jumbos 11"-13", and 10 smallmouth to 18". Our biggest walleye was 24.5" and the balance went from 13"-22". There are lots of 14"-16" walleyes this year which are perfect eaters. The mayfly hatch was in full bloom in some areas but we found very few mayflies in the water column over rock reefs. We caught our fish in depths ranging from 10' to 32'. I didn't fish in any area where I could see mayflies top to bottom in the water column. Slow trolling in the .3mph to .6mph worked and we caught nothing using slip bobbers. Terminal tackle was a 3'-4' 10# flurocarbon leader, 2 lime colored beads, and a plain #6 Gamakatsu walleye hook . Snags are always an issue when fishing in and around the rocks and when the fish are biting they are acceptable.

NOW, for the bad news.......Tuesday was a day I won't soon forget. The area suffered devastating torrential rainfall. Lightning was non-stop for several hours and when things settled down, flood damage was everywhere. We checked our rain guage on the side of the cabin and we got 7 3/4 " in a little over 4 hours! Breezy Point road washed out, Mud Creek road washed out as did several others in the area. Cooke business area was completely covered with flood water. I would consider it a disaster area and should be declared as such. We couldn't find a dock anywhere that wasn't covered with water. People were stranded behind flood covered and washed out roads. Dock decking, limbs and such were floating everywhere in the big water. My group sends our prayers to the people of that beautiful country that lost their businesses, homes, and suffered damage to their lake properties. The people of that north country are resilient and we have confidence that they will recover.

We stayed our final 3 days but didn't fish at all Tuesday. Our last 2 days showed the effects of the storm. Water temps dropped to 64 degrees and our premo fishing became 10 walleye days. We did manage to catch a dozen really nice jumbos. We plan on returning in September and we pray the area will have returned to normal by then. I haven't figured out how to transfer photos from my phone to my computer yet so no pictures at this time. Good Fishing and God be with you. MarkB

[smurfy]

dang...tough to hear..........hope the good people up there recover soon!!!!!!!!!

[Rivergroup]

Our group will be returning in September as well. Wish we were able to be there now to lend a hand.

[leech~~]

On 6/22/2024 at 3:46 PM, MarkB said:

My cousin sent me a couple pictures from last week's trip. After the storm, the perch kind of took over the bite and those pictured were all caught on crawlers in 22' of water adjacent to a rock reef . We caught lots of walleyes in this same area. The other picture was take from the Pike River bridge as we were leaving Friday morning. Good Fishing. MarkB

2024 perch.jfifUnavailable Pike River bridge June 2024.jfifUnavailable

No can see?  

[Mike89]

me either

[redlabguy]

Mark,

Glad your crew had another great outing. It’s always good to read your reports. Just wish there were more of them like the old days. Sorry you hit the storm. One of the worst in our 14 years. We’ll be dealing with dock issues for a long time but nothing like the good folks in Cook have. 
The fishing has come around a little since the storm. Definitely nightcrawler now. I don’t get far out of Frazer but the reefs are where the action is. Looking forward to hearing from you in September. 
My best to you and Linda,

RLG

p.s. Our good old red lab, Ole, cashed it in last summer, but we have a 6 month old lab now who is learning the ropes up here (and teaching us we’re older than we think we are!)

[MarkB]

I'm gonna try this picture thing again. Please bear with me. 

 

 

Our buddy Greg with his best of the trip.

 

 

Above: Pike River bridge the morning we left.        Below: My cousin Tim caught these the morning after the storm.

 

[leech~~]

4 hours ago, MarkB said:

I'm gonna try this picture thing again. Please bear with me. 

 

 

Our buddy Greg with his best of the trip.

 

 

Above: Pike River bridge the morning we left.        Below: My cousin Tim caught these the morning after the storm.

 

I think you got it!

Nice Eye and hog Perch!

[smurfy]

 dang that walleye is dark?????they all that dark out of that system?????

[MikeG3Boat]

MarkB, Where did you find the perch?  I would love to get into some of those.  MarkB are you fishing more on the east or west end?

[leech~~]

3 hours ago, MikeG3Boat said:

MarkB, Where did you find the perch?  I would love to get into some of those.  MarkB are you fishing more on the east or west end?

Metoo! 

[MikeG3Boat]

Hey coming up for the 4th of July holiday.  Wondering if we have any new fishing news?  I am hoping the water is finally going down, although it looks like Rain this Friday and Saturday, and again starting the 1st through the 6th.  Hope the weather turns out better than the forcast.  

[Brianf.]

MarkB alluded to this in his earlier post, but 'the bite' seems to have experienced a big setback with all the recent rains and flooding. The mayfly hatch and a water temperature drop - 65 degrees this morning - probably didn't help either.  I got a few decent walleyes this weekend, though not many.  Only one 'over'.  The fish seemed to have made a huge move and largely vacated the shallows.  What little walleye success I had was in 15' to 20'.   
 

The tough bite prompted me to switch species and I was fortunate to luck into two muskies (48" & 46").  Both fish ate at the boat right at dark.  The larger of the two ate the bait as it was dangling in the water at my rod tip while I leaned down to adjust the brightness on my graph.  Talk about a surprise!  
 

Hoping things begin to normalize and the bite improves for all those coming up for the holiday weekend. 

[TrueNorth]

We were on Crane Lake last week until this past Saturday.  The amount of water pouring in via the Vermilion River was staggering.  

 

Video 1: Vermilion Falls

Video 2: Vermilion Gorge 

Pice 3: SunSet on Crane June 26th

[Hookmaster]

Dandy fish Brian. Has some shoulders!!

 

Awesome sunset pic, TrueNorth!!

[delcecchi]

TrueNorth, were there supposed to be videos on your post?

[Mike89]

there is one there

[SkunkedAgain]

As jet skis frolicked in the bay and I sat staining deck boards, I had the pleasure of listening to bass surfacing and smashing all of the insects sitting on the surface. There are definitely mayfly hatches going on but probably not the big one yet. It's definitely a good time to break out that fly rod if you've got one.

[TrueNorth]

12 hours ago, delcecchi said:

TrueNorth, were there supposed to be videos on your post?

Yeah...they didn't upload. maybe too large. Sorry. 

[TrueNorth]

1 minute ago, TrueNorth said:

Yeah...they didn't upload. maybe too large. Sorry. 

Here are a few pictures of water coming into Crane. Plus a couple of bonus pics of some fabulous weather and scenery. 

[MikeG3Boat]

Nice pictures. 
 

How about some fishing reports?  
 

I am no help because I have spent most my time boating. 

[Brianf.]

Jeff and I poked around a bit on the 4th before being joined by my son-in-law on the 5th.  The action wasn't fast, but some quality fish were biting.   Highlights for the weekend was an absolute monster of a Frazier Bay walleye Jeff caught on some deep rocks, along with my son-in-law's PB pike and first ever musky.  Overall, not too shabby! 

 

Edited July 8 by Brianf.

[chaffmj]

Basswood lake at the end of June.

 

 

[SkunkedAgain]

17 hours ago, chaffmj said:

Basswood lake at the end of June.

That's a perfect horizontal hold on that pike. Nice work!

[FishinCT]

Any recent info out of vermilion? Coming up for next 4 days and will report back as well. Haven’t fished in the summer up there for a long time

[Dash 1]

Fish cleaning shack has been pretty quiet at pike bay resort last 2 days. Been on several spots on big bay with little success.  Family wants to lose their $$ at casino today.  Hopefully get out later today. Good luck and keep posting.  

[CFD200]

We had difficulty finding any walleyes this weekend.  The previous two weekends I marked a lot of fish with few takers.  Didn't  mark many this weekend but, caught this 24" mark.   

[MikeG3Boat]

CFD200, Nice Fish!  are you on the east or west side of Vermilion?

[FishinCT]

Someone is always catching them somewhere but so far this week that someone is not me. Still a few ideas to try but running out quickly

[Dash 1]

Yeah it's been tough walleye fishing.  Everyone I talk to says the same.  Talked to a dnr guy, he was looking for a dead musky floating in Frasier Bay, and he said it is very slow. Did hear of a nice pike caught in the narrows in last day or 2.  Definitely marking fish but no takers except 2- 13 inches.