Vermilion in August

[Lonnie]

Wife, kids, and I are headed to Lake Vermilion, Minnesota, week of August 5th -12th this summer. We are staying at Voyaguer Cove Resort in Wakemup Narrows. We have never fished Vermilion before. Where would you suggest we start when we are fishing for walleye on Vermilion that time of year? We have fished Lac Seul for years, so we are not new to walleye fishing, but would appreciate any input as to where to start on Vermilion.

Thanks, Lonnie

[went522]

If I'm not mistaken the full moon falls on Aug. 9th. We have done well on V during mid summer full moons! Longlining shad raps at night in 5-15fow has produced good numbers of fish! The day bite will generally be deeper/tougher come Aug. We have had good luck pulling spinners/crawlers on main lake structure. Vertical jigging deep structure has also payed off. So much structure on V sometimes it can be tough to find active fish, but, with a week you should be able to find them. Bring a good map, lots of shallow stuff to rip your lower apart. Take some time to explore V's many points and bays, beautiful scenery! Besides eye's, V has nice pike, smallies, jumbo's and muskies. Check with the local bait stores, they should be able to point you in the right direction.

BIRDDOG

[hondo]

Fished a tournament there at the end of July a couple years ago, it was the first time my partner or I had been on that lake in years. We heard the west end had fewer walleyes and harder to find, but larger average size. We started there and didn't do well. Over our first 2 days of practice we kept moving east until we finally started getting fish with regularity out in Ely bay. Our last day of practice was awesome with several 18" and 19" fish and a 27" (during the tournament we only got short fish). We did our best fishing whole or half crawlers in the deep water off the structure (neutral fish), also got some fish on spinners. We were hoping we could find a crankbait bite but never got a consistent one and most of the trollers bombed in the tournament. Most of the guys that placed well had shallower spots - weedy humps, saddles between islands, etc. and they sat on those spots all day long. Too many of those places on V to check out even if you had a whole summer to do it.

It's a great multi-species lake and we caught a ton of nice fish while we were looking for walleyes. Probably our best multi-species tactic was using #4 or #5 jointed shad raps and trolling shorelines - you never knew what was going to bite. We keep saying it'd be a great spot to take our wives on vacation.

LakeMaster has high definition maps of the lake - get one if you have a gps, well worth it. Good luck and have a great trip.

[Lonnie]

What maps are best for showing structure and hazards on Vermilion?

Thanks, Lonnie