Color of artificial lure for lake vermilion?

[Jim Hill]

Going to lake vermilion for minnesota opener and mainly going to be trolling with no minnows but I want to try a swimbait.  I'm grabbing some of those gt 360 but what size and color should I get?  Doesn't have to be 360 brand but I'd like to get the correct size and color!

[Scott F]

I fished Vermilion for 25 years. Color was never a very important thing. Smallmouth like bright colors so you could start there but I never found the bass there to prefer any particular color. Opening weekend, (I assume you will be smallie fishing) the smallmouth will be moving toward the spawning areas. Gotta figure out where they spawn. Trolling for me there was always very difficult. There are seldom any areas where the contour lines are consistent enough to make trolling a good option. It could be 30 feet deep then 5, then 20 then back to 10 all in the space of 100 yards. If you haven't fished there before, fish around the hazard buoys that mark the shallow rock piles and rocky (rocks are EVERYWHERE) shorelines.

[Jim Hill]

Actually I will be fishing for walleye exclusively.  I've seen many videos now suggesting swimbaits for walleye and even crank baits.  I will most likely be at hoodoo point for opener.  My dad tales his boat and has fished vermilion longer then my 38 years of life but has never done anything else but troll with minnows or in summer crawlers.  I like to try other things but it's going to be trolling.

[Loomis13]

It depends on how fast you will be trolling as to whether you want to use lead or cranks. I assume you will be fishing to slow to troll cranks so I would grab some 1/4oz lead heads and any natural colors (whites, silvers, etc.). Also the  depth you will be fishing will come into play on the size of jig you want. The fast you go the harder it will be to keep a lead down at the right depth. What kind of weight does your dad usually use? My guess would be lindy rigs or bottom bouncers?

[Angry John]

I would check out two baits.  I would first check out the keitech swing impact in 4"  they have a lot of colors but I would pick a natural color like ayu and then one bright one.  Then the shad impact in 3 and 4" maybe in two colors as well.  Six bags of plastic and two or three sizes of lead heads will cover all the depths and give you some size choices depending on the size of bait your looking to replicate.  I have always done very well with these but they are very soft.  If its your first time doing it, I would consider it the best idea.  Later when you figure out what works then try some other brands that are similar.

[Jim Hill]

I'd say .9 to 1.2 is the fastest we'd go.  Thats just me trying to remember.  Yes we usually use a lindy type setup but typically use snap on lead weights.  I dont recall the weights as we just look at them and say yep, this should be fine.

Since we will be at Hoodoo point, its very shallow there.  We always start the opener there and then later move out to near moccasin point. I think its like 6-maybe 15 feet max?

Some days we do well with the normal way, other times we get little to none.  I just like to have other options that might work better if one isnt.  Last year I bought some Lindy lil' guys and they did pretty good as opposed to crawlers with a cork floater off the bottom.  I always bring 2 set ups.  My normal mono walleye set up and my heavier braided set up for when I coax him to get close to the shore I cast for bass or northerns.

I have to see if my local stores carry those brands, only a few days left!