2024 Fishing Reports

[chaffmj]

3 hours ago, delcecchi said:

I was thinking of the fall lake portage,  isn't there someone there too?    Or is it just portage wheels to get boat across?

And if you go at prairie portage, isn't that a border crossing, so customs and all that?   I love Quetico BTW  

 

Fall lake has nobody there and yes you have to use portage wheels to get across. At prairie portage you don't cross the border, so you don't have to go through customs. However right next to prairie portage there is a Canadian customs building if you wanted to enter into Canada. I don't know anything about it other than it is there.

[delcecchi]

On 9/8/2024 at 10:16 AM, chaffmj said:

 

Fall lake has nobody there and yes you have to use portage wheels to get across. At prairie portage you don't cross the border, so you don't have to go through customs. However right next to prairie portage there is a Canadian customs building if you wanted to enter into Canada. I don't know anything about it other than it is there.

Talked to my neighbor is getting ready for a trip via fall lake.    They use small boats with like 10 to 25 hp outboards and portage wheels.   There are two portages to get into pipestone bay, with the second one being over a hill.   From pipestone they can go around to Jackfish? bay,   There is a big sign to warn about where the no motors area is.    

[chaffmj]

On 9/11/2024 at 9:14 AM, delcecchi said:

Talked to my neighbor is getting ready for a trip via fall lake.    They use small boats with like 10 to 25 hp outboards and portage wheels.   There are two portages to get into pipestone bay, with the second one being over a hill.   From pipestone they can go around to Jackfish? bay,   There is a big sign to warn about where the no motors area is. 

 

I have gone into Basswood from Fall Lake. From Fall the first portage takes you into Newton and that is the easier of the two. The portage from Newton into Pipestone is the one with a hill. It is definitely harder! You also have to be careful when you go down the hill because the boat will pick up speed and can get away from you. Yes, you can get to Jackfish without going into Canada and there are signs letting you know where Canada is.

[monstermoose78]

Fish Newton lake is great for walleyes. Everyone goes to basswood and forgets about newton. The late fall pike bite in pipestone is amazing and it’s a great time to catch the big walleyes are up there feeding too.

[Brianf.]

The walleye bite is picking up, at least for me.  Saturday evening a handful found their way into the boat, including a 27 and a 26 1/2 inch. Yesterday, quite few more - mostly slot fish - and three 27"ers.  The one pictured below ate a hair jig, but they were eating everything from bladebaits to jigs with plastic.  After dark I checked the Crappie bite and things are looking up there as well.  Tonight muskies are the target.  Sure love Fall fishing! 

Edited September 23 by Brianf.

[SkunkedAgain]

Those are some nice fish. Great pics

[mbeyer]

BrianF,

 

You an electronics guy or do you just go to your spots?

[Rivergroup]

Found some crappies and walleyes earlier this month. Another great trip. Son caught his first walleye ever (he doesn't get a chance to fish much), even though it was small.

 

[Brianf.]

14 hours ago, mbeyer said:

BrianF,

 

You an electronics guy or do you just go to your spots?

Sent you a PM. 

[SkunkedAgain]

I've been catching some nice pike off of my dock this week. The predators are lurking....

[CigarGuy]

7 minutes ago, SkunkedAgain said:

I've been catching some nice pike off of my dock this week. The predators are lurking....

I was trolling just out from your dock last night and my trolling motor hit something under the water and stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't see what it was. It was out about 75'-100' out from your dock and a little towards the mouth of bay. Your don't want to hit that with your big motor! If you have side imaging, see if you can find it.

[MarkB]

My cousin and our good friend just returned from 3.5 fabulous days fishing beautiful Lake Vermilion. Things appear to be 2-3 weeks behind "normal" based upon fall foliage and air temperatures. When we arrived, water temps were 71.5 degrees and when we left yesterday morning they had dropped to 67.5 degrees. Checking my journal, I found that the temps I have listed most over the years for this time of year has been high 50's to low 60's. As a result, our normal live "go to" bait of big pike suckers wasn't the bait of choice for the fish we found. Actually, we caught walleyes on crawlers, leeches, and minnows and the preference varied by the day. We found fish on the mud in the mornings in depths ranging from 21' to 28'. Our best luck was in the rocks during the late afternoon/evening trips in depths ranging from 17'-20'. We caught fish using jigs, 1oz bottom bouncer with a 3' leader, 2 red beads and a white floating jig head, and a plain old lindy rig. We always add colored bead(s) to our colored hook set-ups and sometimes it makes a big difference as to color choice. My favorite is 2 red beads while my cousin prefers a light green and white bead combo. The fishing was phenomenal! We boated 172 walleyes during 3.5 days and numerous "others", such as smallmouth, jumbos, northerns, and, believe it or not, bluegills (4 to be exact). The best walleye was 24" and we boated several between 20.5" to 24". The overwhelming majority of our walleyes ranged in size from 14.5"-17.5". We had to be careful when getting a hit so that we didn't let the fish fool with it too long or we would end up with a gut hooked fish. We had to cut the line on a few so as to not kill them. I found that the floating jig head was the ticket for not gut hooking. We ate fish twice and found a tiny worm in the stomacks of a few that we cleaned. I have no idea what the very tiny worms were.

The weather during our visit was, for the most part, ideal. I was amazed that during our numerous outings on the lake, we never saw one loon, juvenile or adult. The eagles were doing their thing and that always makes for interesting viewing. Lastly, the "big one always gets away" rang true for yours truly once again on this trip. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my latest fiasco but suffice it to say, this walleye was a real big one. I put new line on my reel and during the process, I must have inadvertently tightened my drag. The big walleye made a power turn at the boat and pulled the hook because the drag failed. Serves me right for not checking it. Oh well, we'll be back in a couple weeks for round 2. I'm going to check it before I go out next time.        Good Fishing,    MarkB

Here's a couple pictures from our trip...

 

 

 

Greg Sept 2024.jfif Sept 2024 trip.jfif

Edited September 25 by MarkB
deleted wrong files

[SkunkedAgain]

23 hours ago, CigarGuy said:

I was trolling just out from your dock last night and my trolling motor hit something under the water and stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't see what it was. It was out about 75'-100' out from your dock and a little towards the mouth of bay. Your don't want to hit that with your big motor! If you have side imaging, see if you can find it.

I don't have side scan but will go over there today to see if there is a deadhead.

[SkunkedAgain]

On 9/24/2024 at 10:53 AM, CigarGuy said:

I was trolling just out from your dock last night and my trolling motor hit something under the water and stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't see what it was. It was out about 75'-100' out from your dock and a little towards the mouth of bay. Your don't want to hit that with your big motor! If you have side imaging, see if you can find it.

Actually, I think that I know what you are talking about. There is a large tree in there. After visiting with the neighbors a few years ago, I headed back in my boat. The boat actually rode up on top of the tree and got stuck. It was 11pm and late fall. I tried rocking the boat, shifting between forward and reverse, but couldn't get it off. After about 10 minutes I decide to swim to shore with a rope, tug it off of the tree, and then go warm up. As I went to the back of the boat again, but this time to strip down for the swim, the boat just slid off of the tree and back into the water.

[Hookmaster]

Glad you didn't have to go swimming. You might have choked on something. Talk about shrinkage!!

[Rivergroup]

Question...

Anyone on here live on an island? Friend (close to retirement) is looking at an island place and wants to be able to inhabit it  year-round. Just wondering how people deal with getting to and from the islands in late fall/early winter and late winter/early spring. Also, challenges aside from the obvious?

If anyone is willing to expand on this, it would be appreciated. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[SkunkedAgain]

My neighbors were year-rounders. They stocked up on lots of supplies, had a plan for all situations, and also had a hovercraft. That hovercraft allowed them to cross the iffy ice during the shoulder seasons. Of course, if you have a medical emergency during one of those times and can't get out on your own, then that's it. It's really a mindset that you are on an island.

 

Water-access properties are a great value, but they require a lot more work. You have to haul everything across the lake or ice. You have to have that mentality of bringing everything with you, or improvising if/when things break down. Do you have spare sections of pipe if you get a plumbing leak? Are you handy enough to fix most anything that goes wrong? Nobody is coming over to help you in November or early December. The same happens in April/May. You can't hop in your car and go to the store to get supplies and/or groceries.

 

It's a fun lifestyle if you are up for and embrace the challenge.

Edited October 1 by SkunkedAgain

[Rivergroup]

3 hours ago, SkunkedAgain said:

My neighbors were year-rounders. They stocked up on lots of supplies, had a plan for all situations, and also had a hovercraft. That hovercraft allowed them to cross the iffy ice during the shoulder seasons. Of course, if you have a medical emergency during one of those times and can't get out on your own, then that's it. It's really a mindset that you are on an island.

 

Water-access properties are a great value, but they require a lot more work. You have to haul everything across the lake or ice. You have to have that mentality of bringing everything with you, or improvising if/when things break down. Do you have spare sections of pipe if you get a plumbing leak? Are you handy enough to fix most anything that goes wrong? Nobody is coming over to help you in November or early December. The same happens in April/May. You can't hop in your car and go to the store to get supplies and/or groceries.

 

It's a fun lifestyle if you are up for and embrace the challenge.

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. I'll pass it along.

 

[SkunkedAgain]

Well I've been up a lot the last two weeks. My bay was packed with crappie chasers a week ago. Less so this past week. My brother from AZ came up last weekend, mostly to play in the woods. However, we did go out fishing one night. He caught a bunch of panfish on crawlers and I caught my PB crappie on a rainbow minnow while fishing for walleye. It doubled over my pole, was jumping at the surface, and is still swimming on the west end. Somewhere is a photo but I wanted it back in the lake so didn't take the time to measure. It was easily over 12" so I was happy.

 

Gorgeous weather up north these days. The maples all went from green to yellow/orange/red over the past week.

Edited October 9 by SkunkedAgain

[Fish Head]

On 9/25/2024 at 9:51 AM, MarkB said:

My cousin and our good friend just returned from 3.5 fabulous days fishing beautiful Lake Vermilion. Things appear to be 2-3 weeks behind "normal" based upon fall foliage and air temperatures. When we arrived, water temps were 71.5 degrees and when we left yesterday morning they had dropped to 67.5 degrees. Checking my journal, I found that the temps I have listed most over the years for this time of year has been high 50's to low 60's. As a result, our normal live "go to" bait of big pike suckers wasn't the bait of choice for the fish we found. Actually, we caught walleyes on crawlers, leeches, and minnows and the preference varied by the day. We found fish on the mud in the mornings in depths ranging from 21' to 28'. Our best luck was in the rocks during the late afternoon/evening trips in depths ranging from 17'-20'. We caught fish using jigs, 1oz bottom bouncer with a 3' leader, 2 red beads and a white floating jig head, and a plain old lindy rig. We always add colored bead(s) to our colored hook set-ups and sometimes it makes a big difference as to color choice. My favorite is 2 red beads while my cousin prefers a light green and white bead combo. The fishing was phenomenal! We boated 172 walleyes during 3.5 days and numerous "others", such as smallmouth, jumbos, northerns, and, believe it or not, bluegills (4 to be exact). The best walleye was 24" and we boated several between 20.5" to 24". The overwhelming majority of our walleyes ranged in size from 14.5"-17.5". We had to be careful when getting a hit so that we didn't let the fish fool with it too long or we would end up with a gut hooked fish. We had to cut the line on a few so as to not kill them. I found that the floating jig head was the ticket for not gut hooking. We ate fish twice and found a tiny worm in the stomacks of a few that we cleaned. I have no idea what the very tiny worms were.

The weather during our visit was, for the most part, ideal. I was amazed that during our numerous outings on the lake, we never saw one loon, juvenile or adult. The eagles were doing their thing and that always makes for interesting viewing. Lastly, the "big one always gets away" rang true for yours truly once again on this trip. I'm not going to bore you with the details of my latest fiasco but suffice it to say, this walleye was a real big one. I put new line on my reel and during the process, I must have inadvertently tightened my drag. The big walleye made a power turn at the boat and pulled the hook because the drag failed. Serves me right for not checking it. Oh well, we'll be back in a couple weeks for round 2. I'm going to check it before I go out next time.        Good Fishing,    MarkB

Here's a couple pictures from our trip...

 

 

 

Greg Sept 2024.jfif 128.94 kB · 21 downloads Sept 2024 trip.jfif 192.18 kB · 13 downloads

Great to hear from you again Mark! I've always liked your posts over the years. 

[Brianf.]

What an amazing extended weekend. The fish were happy and cooperated nicely.   We also had the unique experience of fishing under Northern Lights each of the last three nights in pristine weather conditions.  I wish everyone could have that experience, even if just once.  The pics below don't do it justice, though you get the idea. 

The walleyes are putting on the feedbag and some are getting rather plump.  We caught mostly slot fish with several 'overs' in our bag.  Our two biggest weighed 8lbs 5oz and 8lb 3oz.  

 

The crappies were active at dusk and beyond.  Almost all of the ones we caught were 14" or bigger.  The biggest we caught was a bit over 15".  We lost two muskies at the boat and caught a 38" pike after dark - quite surprising.  

Every fish we caught was immediately released btw.  Water temp 54/55 when we left.  All-in-all, another great fishing experience on Lake Vermilion - for which I'm so incredibly appreciative.  
 

 

 

Edited October 10 by Brianf.

[MarkB]

My 2 cousins and myself just finished up a windy 4 day trip to our favorite lake. It was the last of the year and was eventful to say the least. When we arrived, water temperatures were 61 degrees and when we left yesterday morning the water temps had dropped to 54 degrees. The fishing was fantastic, once again, and we caught walleyes, bass, and northerns on minnows and crawlers(northerns only on minnows). We found the fish adjacent to shallow rock piles(14') in 20'-28' of water. Our best fishing hours of the day were ~5:30 -twilight in the evenings and until ~ 10:30 in the mornings. Although those two time periods were prime time, fish bit all day. For us, the bite was very light and we probably missed or lost as many fish as we caught. Some people think I'm nuts when I say bead color can make a difference and it certainly did this trip. My cousin's "go to" green/white bead combo did zilch on this trip. It was one translucent red bead and a plain size #2 gamakatsu hook with a 3' leader that produced the fish. We ended up with 137 walleyes and 19 bass for the 4 day outing. We caught far more 17"-19.999" walleyes on this trip than on our previous trips and our numerous slot fish measured from 21"-25". My younger cousin caught 4 slot fish in ~20 minutes one evening. We fish exclusively for walleyes and additional species are incidental. With that said, we caught some beautiful smallmouth bass on this trip and they were right down there with the walleyes, usually in the rocks. As usual, everything is catch and release except for the fish we eat while there and the 12 walleyes(3 individual limits) we take home to the wives. While cleaning some eaters we kept for supper, we always check the stomach contents. One of the walleyes had the jig that is pictured below loose in its stomach!  No attached line, no embedded hook, just the jig! It baffled us as to how in the world it could have gotten there . As you can see, the jig is in good shape so the fish must have swallowed it recently .

 

The boat traffic was minimal this trip and we had a couple days where it looked as if we had the lake to ourselves. Sunday was a brutal day with wind gusts to 50MPH!. We stayed in and ventured out finally at ~5:00. It turned out to be the best 2 hours of the entire trip. This time, the baby loons were around, the eagles were abundant, the changing leaves made the entire lake area look like a painting. If I could make only one short trip a year to the lake, now would be the time. What capped off the trip was the magnificent display of the Northern Lights. We can't wait for next spring to return, God willing, and, in the meantime, good fishing.  MarkB

The jig found in the stomach of a walleye we ate.

 

My young cousin with his best of the trip.

 

a chunky 17" smallmouth

 

19.5" smallmouth

[SkunkedAgain]

Hogs! Hogs!!!

[leech~~]

On 10/10/2024 at 9:21 AM, MarkB said:

 

The jig found in the stomach of a walleye we ate.

 

Those darn tournament guys, their always trying new ways to get weight in their fish! 

[redlabguy]

Mark,

Great that you made it back up and great report on another great trip.

Sitting here in Urbandale, I am jealous. I’m working on training my new lab, not at all sure he will be ready for pheasants!

Thanks for sharing your trip,

RLG

[PSU]

if you have a jig and a minnow, lots of fish on all depths. Trust your electronics

[SkunkedAgain]

On 10/15/2024 at 8:03 PM, PSU said:

if you have a jig and a minnow, lots of fish on all depths. Trust your electronics

My electronics often say that I am on land when I'm on the water. Trust is a two-way street!

[Brianf.]

It's been a month since I posted a fishing report, so thought I would share our results this past weekend.  The water temperature has dropped to as low as 41° in the shallow bays, though some of the deeper bays were still at 45.  
 

Friday night and Saturday Jeff and I targeted walleyes and caught 95 of them with 13 over the slot, the biggest being a couple of 27 1/2"ers.  All of them were caught casting and all of them were released.  One of our 'overs' struck a 6 inch swimbait so violently that it blew the bait completely through her gills, where the lone treble hook stuck on the outside of the fish, halfway down her body.  Amazing... 
 

On Sunday we targeted smallmouth bass and got 54 of them, with a handful in the 4 pound class though most were in the 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pound class. We also caught a musky and a 26 1/2 inch walleye as a bonus by-catch while bass fishing.  That musky picked up a little finesse jig/craw worked on bottom in 20 feet of water.

 

All in all, it was time well spent on beautiful Lake Vermilion.  To do that with my son made the trip that much more special.. 

 

[redlabguy]

That is pretty darn special, Brian. Thanks for the post.