Help me pick a vacation lake!

[Crow Hunter]

My wife and I are wanting to rent a cabin on a lake in the northern half of Minnesota, probably in mid-June. I am hoping to get some good ideas here. We are looking for decent to excellent fishing for walleye and panfish, on a fairly undeveloped lake that is not extremely crowded. A quiet resort with friendly people is a plus. Not on Mille Lacs, I have a fishhouse there and we spend quite a bit of time there in the summer already. The past couple of times we have done this we were in the Ely area (Bear Island and White Iron chain) but we are open to any part of northern Minnesota. Thanks for any suggestions!
CH

[wallyH]

My wife and I were looking for a place similar to what you describe last year. We went up to Vermilion in June and loved it. The lake is far from crowded and the fishing was great. We stayed at Spring Bay Resort. Doug and Lisa were great hosts and we ended up going back again in September and will be back again a couple of times this year.

Wally H

[Finlander]

Vermillion has great crappie and sunfish fishing there.
Went there on our honeymoon in late June and my wife had a blast catching bull bluegills and pound crappies.
Find a shallow bay with cabbage weeds and throw out Berkley 1" Micro white Power Grubs the curly tails on a 1/32oz. orange jig head hanging below a Thill Mini-Stealth bober.
You'll catch both crappies and sunfish on this setup.
The lake is loaded with panfish!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I'll third Vermilion. My wife and I have been there twice out of Pehrsons. It's got both big water and small water. Plenty of room and privacy on the water unless your chasing an isolated walleye bite with others.

[DougSpringBay]

Hey Wally,
Looking forward to having you and Leslie here again this summer. Also looking forward to getting out in the boat together. Thank you for the kind words on Lisa and I.

Hello Crow Hunter,
As Wally said, Vermilion is an excellent lake to fish and has all that the Northwoods has to offer. Here at Spring Bay, we will do all that we can to see that you enjoy your vacation time here. Our cabins are exceptionally clean and well equipped, and I would be glad to guide you and/or show you the lake as part of our hospitality and service. You can view us on line at www.SpringBayResort.com

Looking for open water,
Doug

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Captain Doug Wintle
Spring Bay Resort & Guide Service
http://www.SpringBayResort.com

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[EBass]

You ask and you shall recieve. Gotta love FM!

[Mykal]

Can it be luck, Same story here. We used to fish the same lakes for many years. The fishing has been hit or miss each year.

Crowhunter, The Ely area is beautiful and the resturants in Ely are fantastic. Basswood is very good. You will have to portage in but you could still stay in the Ely are and still have a chance at hitting one of the lakes in the area if it turns on. White Iron Walleye and Smallies. Garden for Crappie, and Farm for Pike.

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 04-09-2004).]

[Guest]

I'd recommend Birch.....by Babbitt....great walleye lake...good crappies.....over 90% undeveloped....very scenic and very uncrowded....also 20lb pike there as well...

[can it be luck?]

I used to take at least 2 trips a year to the Ely area. White Iron, Garden, Shagawa, Basswood, and a few others as well. The fishing was always "iffy", some of the best and some of the worst.
The last couple of years i've been staying in the Blackduck area. Blackduck is centraly located amongst many excellent lakes. A not so far drive from Ely, but oh what a differance!! The fishing is a little more consistant, IMO. I fish the lakes in the winter and do well. Why not summer?

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Jason Boser]

have you looked into the winnie area? we have little cutfoot you can go from there to big winnie you have crappies, sunnies,perch,northern and walleye all on a boat ride. you can also try sand lake or bowstring they have the same thing
Jason

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fishing fever guide service
fishingminnesota.com/fishingfever/
phone 218-327-2191
e-mail [email protected]

[196thDLR]

I vote for any of the five lakes in the VNP. Crane, Sandpoint, Namakan, Kabatogama or Rainy. There is absolutely no reason you cannot have great fishing, great scenery, fantastic privacy, great food and people from Nelson's on Crane to the Thunderbird on Rainey!!!

[willowcat]

One of my favorite places is the Anchor Inn Resort on Little Sand Lake in Spring lake township Itaska County. It offers a wide varity of fishing, There is the river out front of the resort with a bridge to fish off for the times you don't want to take the boat out. Then by boat you have the option to fish the small lake witch is nice on the windy days, or the big lake. Thies waters have great Walleye, Panfish, and pike fishing. It's allso with in a short drive from the Cutfoot Souix fishing dock and the Dora Lake fishing pier. They are listed in the Explore minnesota web site.