Lake Vermilion fall fishing

Perseverance paid off for Jeff Lovell.  While everyone catches their PR when they catch their first Muskie, Jeff notched a pretty high mark with this 53″ Lake Vermilion musky as his first one.  Matched the size of the largest of his dad Jerry too, so they will both have to stay at it to get outright bragging rights.  Although the first part of their stay was less productive with limited fish seen, the last couple days they have raised some really good size fish with the best action coming on several different spots yesterday.  Add several bass that Josh has been targeting and they are getting rewarded for their time on the lake.

As far as the rest of the Lake Vermilion action, it has once again been a period of good days and tough days, with cold fronts followed by record warm days interjecting some instability into the equation.  Friday seemed to be the best day last week, with several groups reporting good numbers, though not a lot a big fish.  The Rolfsons ate fish 3 times and took some back home, so while they had to work for them, they eventually caught.  We love September on the lake, as it affords us the chance to sneak out a bit too, and we also found the bite inconsistent – when the walleyes were more reluctant, the smallies provided a lot of fun, with trolling shad raps producing several nice fish.  Dave also caught a 10 pound northern, and Diane got the largest of our walleyes, a 22.5″.  Bill Schmidt caught a nice 25″ walleye, and Doug Miller mentioned a couple nice ones – 25″ & 23″.  Jumbo perch have been good, with some as large as 14″ being caught!   With the water hanging out over 70 degrees much of the past week, the crawler bite seemed a bit more consistent, though minnows caught some fish too.  We got out this afternoon, and again the crawlers seemed to catch most of the fish we ate for dinner as well as the limit we put away for later.  We added a few jumbo perch to our walleyes, all between 12 & 13 inches.

We are quickly approaching the end of the season, with just a few spots between now and the end of the month.  If a trip north is tempting you, now is the time to make your plans.  Although the leaves seemed to start changing colors earlier than usual, they still have a ways to go.

Stop wishing…..Come fishing!