I made my maiden voyage to Lake Vermilion last weekend. It was a long tough weekend of fishing, but what a great place to not catch much for fish. All told I only boated one eye, northern, perch and a rock bass all weekend. The algae bloom on the lake was terrible. Is it always this bad, this time of year??
The pike was a dandy though, 38 inches of spit and vinegar. I was trolling a wind blown shoreline with a firetiger husky jerk on a planer board. It completely sunk the planer, I thought I may be snagged they way it was burning drag. Unfortunately I was by myself, so I didn’t get a picture if her.
I also got to see my first muskie. I’m no expert on these fish, but I guarantee this fish was really close if not longer than 50 inches. It made my pike look like a baby. I was working a wind blown point, with some huge boulders on it. I happened to look off to the side of the boat, and there she was. Man I can see why you muskie guys freak out so badly. I would have attempted some casts at her, but was not geared up properly, 7′ ML avid with a lindy and leech.
I have to say everyone on Lake Vermilion was a friendly bunch of folks. Always waving, they sure got the MN Nice going on up there. I’m looking forward to heading back at a more opportunistic time of year.
