Lake Vermilion trip

[BCrum]

Headed to Norwegian bay on lake Vermilion July 13 - 21. Any tips or tricks for Smallies that time of year would be appreciated. 

[FryDog62]

I think with the nomadic nature of smallies it helps to enlist a guide the first day.  Yes they are probably on rock piles, points, etc but what depth? Once you find that out you can dial in.  If you’re looking for a guide, try Billy Rosner.  

[rascalP]

BCrum,   check out the "other" fishing site that has fishing and minnesota in its name.   Go to the Vermillion, Pelican Lake, Chisholm, Cook, Ely, etc.. section, and look at the "Vermillion Q&A".   Very extensive thread started by a local guide named Terry.  Also goes by "Ace".  Hours of good reading on the big V.

 

   I would second what Fry said, if you really want to nail down a solid smallie bite.  We were there 5 or 6  years ago and honestly, we struggled with a smallie bite.   HOWEVER, the largemouth bite was really good.  Look for backends and side coves of any bay on the lake.  Norwegian looks like it has some potential, though we did not fish it.  Black bay would be worth checking out for LM as would Muskego.   If you make it over to Niles bay, there's a couple fingers on the north side, before you get into Wolf bay, straight north of Oak island that were really good, and parts of Wolf bay were good.  Not that you would ever make it that far, but the far eastern end of Vermillion has a lot of good LM water as well.  The added bonus of fishing these spots is it gets you out of the wind if it blows. 

 

Enjoy the lake. It's a beautiful piece of water.  And let us know how you do.

[BCrum]

 

Thanks guys appreciate it. Will keep you posted. 

[FryDog62]

The only other thing I would add is if you are there for several days and either want to try something different - or if the wind is too strong on the lake - consider fishing the Vermilion River.  Multi-species, smallies/wallies, and especially big pike fishing. 

[punch]

On 6/12/2019 at 2:49 PM, BCrum said:

Headed to Norwegian bay on lake Vermilion July 13 - 21. Any tips or tricks for Smallies that time of year would be appreciated. 

Wow Norwegian is WAY up there. I love Vermillion but I stick to the southeast/east side of the lake by Stuntz/Cable/Armstrong bays. The south and east side of the lake have TONS of rock and i've never had issues finding smallmouth. 

 

The awesome thing about Vermillion is they have tons of marker buoy's on "big" rocks.. so just find one and fish it and you'll very likely catch a smallie or 3. The smallies love hanging out under docks too.. especially ones on islands since there may be just one dock. 

I always do really well there with swimbaits, especially something that mimic's tulibee. So something pearl/silvery/translucent. Personally I use the Biospawn Exoswim in Feider Shad color on Vermillion and it works really well on Smallies & Walleye. Rig them heavy though, and make sure you're pulling them along the bottom. Even dead sticking once and a while. I typically use 1/4oz heads up there. 

The dropshot is also killer on Vermilion, but be prepared to lose a lot of weights. Bring lots of extras. I crushed last year drop shotting 4" senko's wacky style. It's like the fish up there have never seen a senko before. Even walleyes. 

 

I also had some nice fish on the ned rig and cranking rock piles w/ a squarebill. 

 

You really gotta utilize your electronics & mapping up there to eliminate dead water. My typical program is to find underwater reef or an island that I want to hit on the map. I'll drive through the area and side scan & sonar the spot. I'll stop and fish it if I see one of three things: 
 

1. Abnormally big rocks (or rocks that are isolated apart from the 'main' grouping of rocks)

2. Presence of bait balls

3. If I marked fish (duh) 

 

If I run over a reef or run around an island/point and I don't see one of those 3 things. I'll move onto the next spot.

 

I've also accidentally found some awesome spots by just idling around. It'll be sand.. sand... then BOOM a big random rock pile that's the size of a driveway.