Pike on Vermillion - the BIG "V"

[Bigguyone]

I am planning a trip up to Vermillion May30-June 6th...we are traveling 1000+miles in search of some Pike, smallies and eyes.

I am looking for some insight/assistance on where and how to get into the pike on Vermillion...if you have some smallie assistance I would appreciate it too.

THANK YOU very much and feel free to email me at [email protected] if you would prefer not to post in the "open." Thank you VERY MUCH!

[DTro]

What part of the lake are you staying on Bigguyone?

My favorite bait/tactic to use on Vermilion is a Northland Willow leaf spinnerbait with a twistertail trailer.

Find some submerged weeds (coontail or cabbage) and position your boat so that you are casting up the deep edge. Vary your retrieve from just skimming the surface to 18" under.

If that isn't producing fish, go shallower back into the bays and work the "junk weed". These areas are usually good for numbers of fish, but tends to lack in size.

Good Luck

[Bigguyone]

We are staying at Shamrock.

Have an 18' 150hp boat so can run the lake as needed.

Spinnerbaits are the lure of choice for me usually as well for pike - sure I will throw them a lot.

I do wanna try to build some confidence in soft swimbaits like the hollow belly on a darter head - almost using it like a "soft crank."

Any certain areas of the lake you recommend for pike?

[Mike Stark]

bigguyone.

post in the vermilion forum...lots of guides on that forum that will give you TONS of good info.

[bronzeback]

Delay your trip

go up for a week after june 6th

forget the pike and chase the skies!

[Bigguyone]

Would love to chase the skies but the two reasons that is not the focus is - 2 of the 3 guys have never fished MN, and 2 of them have never caught a pike or ski over 32"....so just to get them into pike will be easier to get their technique down I think...my luck they will inadvertently hook into a 52" ski while throwin for pike...we will see how they do - LOL

Also we have more skies in Utah than we do pike...already boated a nice one for the season and only threw for skies about 2 hours - he went 20.5lbs and in 2.4' of water...good times. It was on a tiny "pond" only about 130acres that the state put them in there a few years back.

[Barry45]

Hello,

Just got back from Vermillion yesterday and the best area for Pike for us was on a windy day (5/19), we were running a drift from the so. side of Gull island toward Van Ryper bay in Vermillion. It seemed when we would get into about 12 fow, the Northerns would hit, we got about 5 of them from 26 - 34 inches on lindy's. We also had some walleye's hitting there too--there was a lot of fish being pushed that way in the tide. Wind gusts were up to 20-25mph and we were riding the caps, but man they were hitting.

Barry