|
|
Hi everybody, It's been a long winter up here in the northland and the ice still has it's grip on much of Lake Vermilion. Unfortunately there won't be a lot of open water for the first weekend of the fishing season. After taking a drive around the east end this morning. The only place I found to fish was the Pike Bay narrows. I heard that Rice bay was open as well, but I haven't seen that with my own eyes. Unless we have a weather miracle of some kind the main lake basin areas will be ice covered this weekend so travel will be very limited. Many of the public ramps are still locked in ice. You may be able to launch, however you won't be able to go anywhere. There is some open water in Big Bay from the mouth of Pike Bay that extends about a half mile. The ramp at McKinley park however is still blocked by ice, that may or may not be gone by Saturday. Ice and cold temps are not the best indicators for a great opening day bite. There are however some effective tactics for these conditions. You want to keep your presentations slow and vertical. If you troll cranks this year, tight wobbles on minnow style cranks will generally out produce most other styles of crank baits. Original Rapalas, husky jerks, bomber long a's and Smithwick rouges, are all good choices. Slip bobber rigs can also be very effective this time of the season. They aren't a great search bait but they can be the best way to catch fish that are concentrated in a small area. Points adjacent to spawning habitat or rocky shoreline breaks in those areas can be great locations to use a slip bobber. Wind blown points, or channel areas between islands, or channels connecting two large bays with current are also key areas to try. I also like rock walls that fall sharply into deeper water. Watch out for icebergs this weekend, I would proceed with caution. Remember what they did to the Titanic. Have a great opener everybody and please remember to put some back. Ace <*)))>< P.O. Box 771 Tower, MN 55790 (218) 753-2612 aceguide@webtv.net http://www.AceGuideService.com |
|
Even if the weather today does not even closely resemble what we all want to see on the "Walleye Opener" it is time to make sure that all of our gear is checked out and in perfect working condition for the big day. It is also time to make sure that we have a game plan for that all important day! Your chances of success will be greatly improved if you just take a few minutes to assess the predicted weather and lake conditions for this opener. The late spring and cold weather this year will almost guarantee that the walleye spawn will be delayed by a week or two. This will mean that the walleyes probably will not be in many of the traditional opener spots that you fish. The colder weather will also probably mean a much more lathargic bite. The best way to compensate for this is to slow down your presentations in most cases. The exception to this rule is if you like to troll crank baits. I have usually had better luck during cold water periods by actually trolling cranks faster then normal! The speed will get many instinct hits if the walleye has to make a snap decision to "eat" as the crank baits zips past it! If you will be using live bait like me the key to getting more fish is to "SLOW DOWN"! I like to start with a jig/minnow presentation. Use as light a jig as you can use and still keep your bait right on the bottom. And I do mean right on the bottom! SLOWLY drag your presentation a foot or two and then let it set for a couple of seconds and then repeat the process. Each time that you lift your rod to drag the jig forward be sure to feel for any extra weight. If you feel anything "extra" there, lift a little more and set that hook if the weight increases even a little! If a jig/minnow is not getting walleyes I then will switch to a Liny type bait rig. I usually will have a 3/8 oz. eggsinker, then a 2' to 3' 8# test mono leader with a size #4 Gamagatsu bait hook attached to that. Either nose hook or tail hook a rainbow chub or fathead chub minnow to this rig. Fish this rig the same way that you fished the jig/minnow rig. Either of these presentation can be used effectively by slow trolling, drifting, or casting from an anchored boat or from shore. I hope that these pointers will help put some walleyes in your boat and also into the frying pan for that always great, "OPENER" fish fry! Have a great opener and be safe out on the water! Good Fishing! Cliff 9401 Saint Odilia Beach Road Tower, MN 55790 (218) 753-2005 cwagenbach@hotmail.com http://www.cliffsguideservice-lakevermilion.com |
|
My earliest memories of fishing on Lake Vermilion begin with fishing from the dock at my parents' cabin on Pike Bay. Back in those days, the bay was often closed for a week or so due to late ice out and spawning fish still in the bay. That hasn't been a problem in recent years due to much warmer springs and weather in general. Well, what do you know, faster than you can say Minnesota, we have a cold winter followed by an April with three snowstorms and weather that has transcended the worst spring conditions I've ever seen. I know fishermen, myself included, are going a little stir crazy waiting for some soft water fishing! On many areas of Lake Vermilion, early season anglers fishing from shore or docks are on equal footing with boat anglers. With a lot of post- spawn walleyes still in water 4 to 8 feet deep, a simple bobber/live bait combination can be very effective. We started out many years ago with a simple red and white bobber, a splitshot, and a small spinner and hook tipped with a minnow or leech. Over the years, that evolved into a weighted casting bobber which I imported from my Kamloops rainbow tackle box. Bobber fishing can be very effective in myriad situations. Whether you're fishing from shore, dock, or boat, focus your attention on areas of rock, gravel or sand that project out into shallow bays or the main lake. Rig up either a slip bobber with a stop or a regular snap bobber, a small hook, and a splitshot, and tip it with a minnow. I prefer rainbows, fatheads, and suckers, and set the depth so that the minnow is within a foot of the bottom. This very simple setup that is also very productive on shallow walleyes. Another tactic for the spring walleye fisherman's arsenal is trolling. I like trolling crankbaits and Rapalas across the flats in shallow bays and along the shorelines of the main lake. Pulling a Shallow Shad, Regular Shad, Floating Rapala, or a Thunderstick in four to twelve feet of water is simply deadly for early walleyes. The fish are usually amenable to color concepts in chartreuse, orange, blue, black, and gold, The common denominator with all lures is that the walleye has to see or feel it. If they can't see it or sense the vibration, they can't hit it. I lean towards the brighter colors in stained water, and the blues and golds in more clear water. My usual trolling speed is 1.5 to 3 mph, and on any given day the fish can respond better to a different speed. Every bait is going to run at a different depth relative to the amount of line out. Experiment with different baits and line lengths until the bait is running within about a foot of the bottom. I use 8 to 9 foot medium power, moderate action trolling rods with line counter reels. The 'glass rods are tailor made for trolling because they are very forgiving, and allow the baits to work easier through rocks. If you're heading out for an early outing on Vermilion, give these shallow water tactics a try, and you just may end up with some nice walleyes for the frying pan in addition to the ones you put back to keep our lake going. All good fishermen share certain attributes, among the most important of which is the ability to think outside the box and change tactics when something isn't working. Over the years, fishermen have propagated the theory that you must fish shallow to catch spring walleyes on Lake Vermilion. Yes, there's plenty of fish in shallow, but there is also a distinct entity of walleyes that are in deep water as well. In the coming paragraphs, I'll detail a bit of that information. The mid-May sky was charcoal gray and spitting an ice cold rain as we slid my Lund into the water. The air temperature had taken a precipitous drop toward freezing from the mid 60's of the previous day, and what a day the previous one had been. Warm temperatures, a perfect walleye chop, and super aggressive fish had led to my partner Joe Secola and I boating 54 walleyes in 5 hours. We wound up keeping 8 fish for the frying pan, and had a ball releasing the rest which included some fish which were well over the 17 inch slot. nice. Fast forward a day, and I knew the fishing was going to be a bit more difficult due to the onset of the major cold front. I decided to work us along a deep shoreline break in much deeper water than we had fished the previous day. We were vertical jigging 1/4 ounce orange jigs and fatheads, and already had a couple nice keepers, when I noticed Joe's rod arched in a nice parabolic bend. The fish stayed deep and pulled hard, and Joe remarked, "This is a good one!" After a nice fight from the feisty 'eye, he slid a nice 24 walleye into the net, and we took time to admire the pretty spring walleye. After a quick photo, he slid him back into the lake, and he returned to the murky depths with a quick kick of his tail. That fish wound up being the day's biggest, and we managed to boat 27 walleyes by adapting to the cold front and changing up our tactics. We focused on fishing deep and moving slow, and we were still successful under otherwise adverse conditions. When fishing the deeper waters of Vermilion, the areas that I focus my attention on are point and island shoreline breaks, and in and around deep holes. The reason the walleyes are there is to feed on the propitious amounts of mayfly larvae present in these areas. Like all fish, walleyes are opportunistic feeders, and won't pass up a readily available food source. In the same token, even if the walleyes are feeding on mayfly nymphs, they won't turn down a minnow popped in front of their noses. My preferred deep water presentation is vertical jigging. I like a 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig in blue, orange, chartreuse, gold, and black color concepts. I tip them with a rainbow, fathead chub, or sucker minnow. The efficacy of your presentation will be determined to a great degree by staying in contact with bottom and staying vertical. The more your line is dragging back behind the boat, the less effective the presentation. Staying vertical means moving slow, and this is accomplished with an electric trolling motor or kicker motor. High winds often necessitate the use of a drift sock in conjunction with the electric trolling motor to slow the boat's drift when moving back with the wind. The key component in the equation is keeping the jig/minnow combination in close proximity to the bottom, as most walleyes will be hugging the bottom pretty tight. I use a light popping motion with the rod, and I throw in the occasional hard, vertical rip. This can often be the catalyst to induce a strike. Strikes can run the gamut from very hard and aggressive to just holding on to the point where you feel weight. If you think it's a fish, set it! Pay close attention to your electronics, as you can often see the mayfly larvae near the bottom. I also look for transition areas which go from hard to soft bottom as these areas can often be stacked with walleyes. Rock, sand, or gravel to mud transition areas are what to look for. If you're heading out on Vermilion this spring, remain flexible with your tactics. Don't be afraid to throw the walleyes a changeup if conditions warrant it, and give some of these presentations a try. And remember to keep a few walleyes for the frying pan, and let a bunch go. Let's keep Vermilion thriving! Paul 218-348-3057 (cell) pauljpollock@yahoo.com http://www.pollockguideservice.com |