2024-2025 Vermilion Ice Fishing

[JerkinLips]

Checked the ice at McKinley Park Monday (Dec. 2)  afternoon.  There was quite a bit of open water before Birch Island and I found only 2-3 inches of ice 10 yards out from the landing.  If the lake doesn't freeze over tonight it may not happen until Thursday morning after the snow stops and the wind dies down.  I was hoping to walk out fishing Thursday, but I may wait until Friday to be safer.  To be very safe I may just wait until next Monday (Dec. 9).  The winter is long.  No need to rush it.

Edited December 3, 2024 by JerkinLips
Correct location.

[SkunkedAgain]

Good update.

 

There has already been a host of idiots walking on the thin ice in the metro, with several rescues taking place. I read that a retired pastor in Duluth also went ice skating on thin ice and died. It's good to see that you're waiting a bit.

[SkunkedAgain]

Looking at the webcams, I don't see any open water. Is Big Bay completely frozen over yet?

 

The forecast looks like a few inches of snow Sunday/Monday followed by temps below zero.

[JerkinLips]

Looks like Vermilion froze overnight on Monday, which would make it officially frozen Tuesday, December 3.  I am going out to McKinley Park Friday morning to check out the ice conditions and possibly fish.

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks for the update. Good luck today!

[JerkinLips]

Made it out fishing Friday, December 6th.  The ice thickness at the landing was 5 inches, quite an improvement from the 2-3" on Monday.  I kept testing the ice with a chisel, then checked the thickness 1/4 mile out.  Found 4 inches so I continued to go out further.  At almost 1/2 mile out from the landing I drilled a hole and found only 3 inches of ice.  I decided I went out far enough.  It didn't appear that anybody else went out that far.

 

After fishing in that location for 3 hours, the heat in my fish house had created over 1/2 inch of water on top of the ice.  I decided that I better move before I weaken the ice in that spot even more.  Moved 30 feet out further and found 4 inches of nice black ice.  Finished the day there.  Proof that the ice can vary a lot in a short distance.

 

Fishing was quite slow.  Caught only 6 walleyes in 6 hours of fishing (9am to 3pm).  4 of them were caught between 1:40-1:55pm.  The biggest was only 14".

 

If you venture out, be VERY CAREFUL.  The ice is very marginal and this weekend is only going to get warmer.  They are predicting 6-10" of snow on Sunday so that will make the ice even more unpredictable.  Looks like next Tuesday-Thursday will be very cold so maybe I will go back up the end of next week.

[SkunkedAgain]

Appreciate the report. Too bad the fishing didn't reward you but 6 walleye isn't the worst you could do!

 

It doesn't look like we got as much snow as predicted, so hopefully the cold can really do its magic on strengthening the ice this week.

[CigarGuy]

Skunked, we had about 4-5" on the ground, some melted with the warm weather over the weekend. But, overnight and it's still snowing, we're adding to the totals. I'd say we've got another 4+ so far. The railing was clear before it started snowing. Some wet spots out in front of me, I haven't checked the ice thickness yet. Hopefully, we're not in for another bad year with slush on the lake!

[SkunkedAgain]

Much appreciated. It may not have been the best start but hopefully the next week will start to firm things up.

 

I like your view.

[SpoonGoon27]

Any ice reports for Frazer Bay? 

[JerkinLips]

Finally made it back out on Vermilion today.  The ice is in much better condition than I expected.  The spot I fished last Friday (3/8 mile out from McKinley Park which had only 3-4 inches of ice) had 9½ inches of ice today (top 1½ inch was frozen slush).  I walked out a little over 1/2 mile to fish and found 9 inches of ice (top 1½-2" was white ice).  I found large patches of slush at 1/4 mile out and 3/8 mile out from the landing, and then didn't find any more.  A couple of vehicles found slush at the landing as shown in the attached picture.  Any locations with large accumulation of snow are likely to have slush underneath (even after the -20°F temps the last 2 mornings up here.  Most of the surface was snow free or hard pack thin snow, very easy to walk on.

 

Lots of ATVs and sleds running around out from the Park, even as far as Ely Island and the small island before Birch Island.  A couple of ATVs dragged a small wheel house and a small skid house out of McKinley Park bay on the east side.  I'm sure that there will be a lot more vehicle traffic this weekend.  I'm going to wait until late next week to drag my lightweight skid house out with my sled.

 

Fishing was much better today than last Friday.  Caught 50% more walleyes, and they were much larger than last week.  Caught 4 eyes over 16 inches including the 22 inch pictured.  I caught one eye at 20 inches exactly but didn't dare keep that one, even though I think my adhesive tape scale measures fish longer than they actually are.  Started fishing at 9am and didn't catch an eye until 11am.  Then I would catch a couple about every hour.  The best bite was around 3pm.

 

If you venture out, be cautious of the ice condition, courteous of other anglers, pick up your trash, and good luck.

 

[SkunkedAgain]

Your reports are great. I'm glad that you got rewarded with some healthy walleye.

 

It sounds like the ice is ready for another season. I can't wait to get up there and get some ice on my lines as well.

[SkunkedAgain]

Lake update:  It rained quite a bit on overnight Friday into Saturday. There is virtually no snow on the lake now, except a scant amount in the shadows along the shorelines. On Saturday there were good pools of water on top of the ice. My daughter, niece, and nephew had a blast riding snowmobiles around in all of that water/slush. However, most of that liquid water firmed up yesterday and now the lake is pure ice again.

 

If you've got scratchers and studs on your sled, you will be fine. If not, you better walk or ride an ATV/UTV out to your ice fishing holes. 

 

Ask Mother Nature to send a bunch of snow ASAP.

[Brianf.]

Anyone on here fishing Niles Point with a couple of kids last weekend?  You might want to let them know that the 'echo' they returned from across the lake has gone viral! 
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEQJ6lmxco0/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

 

As of right now, 2.6 million views on Instagram and 1.1 million on TikTok...and climbing.  I feel happy when my posts on this board gets 12 likes! lol

Edited January 2 by Brianf.

[leech~~]

32 minutes ago, Brianf. said:

Anyone on here fishing Niles Point with a couple of kids last weekend?  You might want to let them know that the 'echo' they returned from across the lake has gone viral! 
 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEQJ6lmxco0/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

 

As of right now, 2.6 million views on Instagram and 1.1 million on TikTok...and climbing.  I feel happy when my posts on this board gets 12 likes! lol

For sound to return doesn't it need like, well a chamber, hills, valleys.  The Internet? 

 

Um, sorry there's no hot redheads on this site screaming out in the wilderness for you!!   

Edited January 2 by leech~~

[JerkinLips]

Finally made it back up to Vermilion after 20 days off.  The ice out from McKinley Park was in very good condition.  I walked out 5/8 mile with my portable in the morning and I didn't find any water or slush on the ice.  I had 14 inches of ice with only the top 1 inch being white.  The ice was a little bumpy in spots and smooth and slick in others.  Snow cover was less than 50 % as shown in the pictures below, looking back at the landing and out from the bay.  Many full size pickups were driving all over and there were a lot of larger wheel houses out.  I hauled my small skid house out with my side-by-side in the afternoon and was very happy to be in it after dark when the wind really started to pick up.  Felt bad for the portables around me that were picking up in those conditions.  When I drove off just before 7pm, the drifts were getting much bigger and there was much more bare ice than earlier in the day.

 

Fishing was quite good in the morning.  Best bite was between 915 and 1045.  The walleyes preferred the smaller rainbows and chubs and wouldn't touch a very large rainbow and shiner that I tried for a while.  The walleyes were quite small with the biggest being only 14 inches.  I did manage to catch a 29 inch northern, my biggest pike in many years.

 

Good luck fishing, enjoy the lake, and please pick up your trash.

 

[JerkinLips]

Lake conditions remain very good.  Had 18 inches of ice by my house, so added 4 inches of ice in the 5 days since I was last out.  The ice was more than 90% bare.  Pickups were driving all over.  I even drove my small car out to the house.  With the lack of snow cover, I assume that the rest of the lake is in very good travel conditions.

 

Fishing was very good but they were quite small.  The biggest I caught was only 16 inches.  The rest of the walleyes were 10-13 inches.  Best bite was from 830-1000.  I finally managed to catch an eye after dark (the 16 incher at 5pm) and fished late enough to catch an 18-inch eelpout (yuck).  That was the signal to call it a day.

 

Good luck fishing, be careful on the ice and courteous to others.  And please pick up your trash.

 

[SkunkedAgain]

It's turning into a great ice year. We just need the snow now!

[Brianf.]

On 1/9/2025 at 1:13 PM, SkunkedAgain said:

It's turning into a great ice year. We just need the snow now!

 
From your fingertips to God's ears...  Finally got some snow!   Several inches of new snow fell before and during the weekend.  Sunday eve when we left, the high winds had already begun to create some drifting on the lake.  It was fun riding for sure.  Lots of folks on the lake this past weekend too.  We fueled up the sleds at Shamrock and saw as many people fishing in that area as I've ever seen in the Winter on Lake Vermilion.  
 

Our weekend results were decent.  Jeff and I and a buddy caught probably 50 walleyes between the three of us, mostly fishing a jig/plastics with our three biggest being 24", 25", and 25.5".  We also got one large pike of unknown length.  During the midday on Sunday, we targeted whitefish and Jeff managed one big one.  We released all of our fish, except for three small walleyes that our buddy wanted to bring home for a meal.  Definitely a fun weekend on Lake V! 
 

[SkunkedAgain]

Okay then I'll try this again. We just need another cold blast....and then another couple feet of snow.

 

Nice haul. That whitefish is a beauty.

[JerkinLips]

9 days since my last trip to Vermilion (took a side trip into the BWCAW).  Had 22 inches of ice so we added 4 more in 9 days.  Water came up on the ice about 1½ inches so I had to block the house up.  Travel on the lake was very good, even with my front wheel drive car.  There are two main roads leaving McKinley Park landing; one on either side of the staked snowmobile trail.  Either of those roads would provide good access to fishing spots, but please stay away from the snowmobile trail and pull quite a way off the plowed road to avoid flooding the road.

 

Fishing was decent for mid January.  Best bites for me were 9:00-11:20 and 3:45-4:45.  All of my walleyes were 11-14 inches.  I lost one about 16 inches lifting it out of the hole.  Dang.  Vermilion Fuel and Food didn't have rainbow chubs so I stuck with lively chubs.  Didn't even try a single pike sucker that I had left from lake trout fishing.  Maybe next trip up.  The bonus today was a beautiful sunset.

 

Good luck fishing and be prepared for the cold weather this weekend.

 

[smurfy]

why would the water be coming up above the ice with little to no snow weight????

[SkunkedAgain]

The fish are growing faster than expected, taking up more space 

[smurfy]

1 hour ago, SkunkedAgain said:

The fish are growing faster than expected, taking up more space 

[JerkinLips]

11 hours ago, smurfy said:

why would the water be coming up above the ice with little to no snow weight????

Lots of snow is drifting up around all of the fish houses.  Plus the weight of heavy wheel houses and large trucks parked by them all add up.  1½ inches of water coming onto the ice isn't very bad.  One year I had over 5 inches come up to the bottom of my fish house floor.  Lucky it didn't freeze in that year.