A first time trip to Vermilion

With gas prices on the rise, rather then take the family on a long road trip we are thinking on staying in Minnesota. One consideration is to spend 5 or 6 days on Vermilion, but would like some ideas from people experienced on the lake.
My first question is what is the overall quality of smallmouth fishing, I have a 13 and 15 year old boys who would really enjoy this kind of fishing. Any ideas about number and or quality. My second question is does anyone have any suggestions on where we might want to stay. We will be tent camping and would like to be somewhat private. Last, any other ideas about the lake, i.e. development, pressure, beauty, etc.

Thanks ahead of time..

I fished it a lot in the early 80’s and 90’s, caught a good number of fish but not every time. The top of the vermillion dam was always good for smallies, still is from what I hear. It is loaded with reefs, cast the top of them in evening with cranks, we did very good doing this.
Started going to the vermillion river, just below the dam, not hardly anybody fishing it and there are places to camp. Walleyes where more consistent during the day but not as big, nice eaters with a ocasional 24″. It is superior national forest after the first quarter mile from the dam. You can PM me if you want a map marked . Good Luck
I had a 16 ft lund with a 35 back then and it worked good, dont know how a bigger boat might be on the river?

Vermilion is great. Absolutely beautiful. Traffic is heavy on weekends, but not much activity during the week. However, it is a HUGE lake, so you can always find some where away from the crowds. The smallie bite is second to none. As a kid, we stayed on Hinsdale Island. Nice, free campsites w/ decent smallie fishing right from shore. Moccasin point has a nice campground too and is a great location.

Check out http://www.lakevermilion.com for more info and the live “eagle eye” webcam.

I stayed there for a week 2 summers ago. Fine vacation. Fish did not jump in the boat. Smallies were not on while we were there in July. Caught a few but had to fish hard to find them. Same with northerns. Hit the walleyes good a few times and found some nice blue gills. Lots of water. You can definitely find your own spot anytime. If it’s not windy you can easily access the whole lake which is vast. Almost overwhelming. Take a GPS.

Thanks for the great advice,seems like a very nice place to hang out. This is what the forums are all about.

I have my first trip planned to Vermillion later this month.
Will be staying in the Daisy Bay area. Hope I find some fish.

I’m headed up on Wed. of this week and will be back Sunday or Monday. I will be sure to get a post out when I get back. If you are up there at the same time look for a Red 16ft lund with an E-Tec on it Be sure to flag me down and introduce yourself. Will be staying at Moccosin Point.

The Big V can be overwhelming at first. The best thing is to fish a section at a time and learn that area well. No need to run all over there is good fishing in most areas for all species.
The smallmouth action is “World Class” so is the Muskie, we have an excellent walleye and pike fishery as well.
Not many boats out during the week and with all that water you seldome need to fish in a crowd. Walleyes are still the fish that most people target, so the other species don’t get much pressure.