Lake Vermilion Resorts

Fishing Report: Jake Hyppa Guide Week of January 23rd, 2023 Fishing has remained steady for walleyes and panfish alike for those willing to venture out on the rough lake. Fish are becoming less aggressive as the ice cover thickens but staying mobile and using a wide variety of presentations to trigger bites has yielded success. Current lake conditions are not very favorable as much of the lake is littered with frozen compacted snow drifts in the exposed areas of Head O’ Lakes, Wake-em-up, Niles, Frazer, and Big Bay. In addition to this, there is frozen ruts where previous snowmobiles have gone through slush pockets. Please express caution when traveling and accommodate for extra time to get to your location of fishing. There is currently 16” to 22” of ice on most of the lake. There is still isolated pockets of slush in areas where the slush has not frozen through completely. In areas the slush has froze through there is around 4” to 8” of snow atop the ice. The staked snowmobile trail that runs continuously from the east to west ends of Lake Vermilion and provides guidance for those unfamiliar to the area is staked. Looking ahead to the next week of fishing conditions is a prediction of much colder temperatures. Use contour mapping of Lake Vermilion to plan ahead and spend less time drilling holes in cold temperatures. Walleye The walleye bite has slowed down from the initial first ice flurry, and this past week the walleyes pushed into deeper water. The best walleye fishing has been from 26’ to 32’ of water as the fish have moved into the deeper basins chasing small baitfish which are relating to various bugs and zooplankton. The west end is still producing a better average with walleyes being caught in the Niles, Head O’ Lakes, and Wake-em-up bay areas ranging from 11”-16” with some slot fish being mixed in. The deeper drops on underwater points, reefs, and shelfs along the rock to mud transition zone has been yielding the most success. Plenty of this kind of structure can be found on the east and west ends of Vermilion alike. Even shoreline breaks where you can find a rock to mud transition in the 26’ to 32’ range has been producing. As always, a short bite window for walleyes pushing baitfish into shallower water in the 16’ to 20’ of water range in channels and shallow flats adjacent to deep water is producing during dawn and dusk. Snap jigging artificial baits has produced more fish than the typical spoon with a minnow head. Aggressively snap jigging slab raps, jigging raps, or puppet minnows has triggered walleyes and jumbo perch into a reaction bite when they would otherwise pass up on your bait. The classic ¼ oz. buckshot spoons tipped with an entire minnow is still producing some walleyes. Typically swoops that get the buckshot to rattle and the bait to flutter is the best way to trigger a bite. As always, utilizing your second line through the ice in the form of a dead stick or tip up soaking a medium to large minnow provides great opportunity for quality sized fish. Northern Pike Northern pike are relating to vegetation that has not yet died off from lack of sunlight and thickening ice cover. Focusing on large cabbage beds in 7’ to 12’ of water where forage and baitfish are present has been the most productive, although few cabbage beds remain. Finding the deeper edge of a weed bed or natural points or bays inside the weed beds will yield the most success. During the lower light periods larger pike can be found off rocky points and sandbars adjacent to 20’ plus of water. Soaking large sucker minnows under tip ups or dark house spearing has been most productive for northern pike. Panfish The jumbo perch fishing has remained strong the past several weeks with quality perch in the 10” to 13” range continuing to be iced. Perch are still being caught from 22’ to 28’ of water over mud bottoms with a few being mixed in with walleyes on the rock to mud transitions. Using a 1/8 oz. or ¼ oz. spoon tipped with several wax worms or a minnow head has been most productive, but perch are also being caught on 1/16th ounce jigging raps. Crappies are still being found on the edges of deep-water basins. Success can be found working the edges of these deep holes in depths 2’ to 4’ shallower than what the maximum depth of the deep hole is. Crappies are also being found over mud bottoms right now. When jigging for crappies ensure that you always keep your bait above the school, jig aggressively until you can get one to separate and rise up to your bait. A few whitefish and tullibee are being caught along with crappies in deep basins. Most crappies are being caught on 1/16th ounce VMC tungsten wax tail jigs in either red or chartreuse. Bluegills are being caught on the same bait, however you may need to downsize to a 1/32nd ounce jig to yield better hookups on bluegills. Bluegills are being found in sparse weed growth in 10’ to 14’ of water. Start searching near areas where bluegills reside in the summer months. MN DNR Need-to-Knows Please refer to MN DNR safe ice recommendations for walking and driving. Please note Lake Vermilion’s walleye limit differs from the statewide limit. Lake Vermilion’s walleye limit is 4 fish, with all walleyes 20” to 26” having to be immediately released. Only a little over a month remains of the ice fishing season on Lake Vermilion. The fishing season is set to close on February 26th for walleye, pike, and bass and will not re-open until May 13th. Anglers will still be able to pursue panfish including crappies, bluegills, and perch on Lake Vermilion during this time. Please refer to the MN DNR Fishing Regulations for a full set of rules and regulations for Lake Vermilion and th