We now have 14 inches of good solid clear ice in the Mckinley park area of Big bay. We have been driving on it for about a week now. The fishing has been good for me this week, we have been catching a good number of Jumbo perch along with the walleyes.
Small glow jigs and spoons have been the ticket. Tip them with a minnow head and you’re in business. Early morning and the middle/late of the afternoon have been the best time to be on the ice.
Happy New Year!!
“Ace” 
Ice conditions haven’t improved much this week because of all the warm wet weather. We are fishing however, and the bite has been pretty good.
The Mckinley park area has about 7 inches of good clear ice and all the snow has melted off the surface.
There are a few shacks already out but I think I’m gong to wait a while for a little more ice. The weather is going to cool down up here after this weekend however I don’t know if it’s going to get really cold. Just use common sense when venturing out on the lake. Things should be much better after Christmas, at least I hope so.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
“Ace”
Warm weather continues to slow down the ice up, here on Lake Vermilion.
we are expecting much colder night time temp this week so things should start to freeze up much faster as we
move into early December. 
“Ace”
Our short lived warm period last week, melted a lot of ice. It could be a while before we get a decent ice cover now. Highs in the mid 30’s and lows in the 20’s don’t make much ice. Unless we get a return to some of those early November temps, it may be December before we get to go fishing again. 
“Ace”
Hey Guys,
The Muskies have been very hot for most of July. I haven’t caught a 50 incher yet this year, however I am getting plenty of action.
My clients and I have boated 13 fish in the last 9 days. We could have caught a few more with a bit of luck. I couldn’t even guess at how many we have seen in the last 10 days.
Mine are all coming on hair or top waters. The evening bite has been excellent and it should continue right into August.
The Walleye action has started to pick up in the last week or so. It still isn’t great however it’s so much better than what it was 10 days ago. Lindy rigs with crawlers or leeches work ever so slowly are catching most of the fish right now. I am catching most of mine in
the 18 to 25ft range, on mainlake reefs and sandbars.
“Ace”
Hey Nate,
I heard a few anglers complaining about the new regs however most of the guys that fish the Big V all the time, are infavor of them. If anything, it will send all of the meat hunters packing and save some fish for our kids to catch on down the road.
Yes, I do know Joe Panicci, he’s almost as good a fisherman as me! 
“Ace”
Despite the cold rain and windy conditions, the walleye action was Hot on Vermilion. I had 9 people up for the weekend and everybody went home with a limit. 
We caught most of our fish on slip bobbers, tipped with minnows in 5 to 8ft of water. Only one fish was taken deeper than 8ft, it came out of 18ft on a jig and minnow.
We also caught a few fish trolling in the same depth range on Sunday.
I was a little surprised that we had so many fish still in the shallows because of the early spring we had up here. I guess it just shows to go ya, just when you think you have them all figured out, they throw you a curve ball.
How did the rest of you do??
“Ace”
The best place to try for a short stay would be Fortune Bay casino.
Otherwise you’ll just have to call the resorts and hope they have the weekend open.
Try http://www.lakevermilion.com for more info on lodging and availability.
“Ace”
Keep in mind, that because of the new “Special regulations” on the Big V this year, statewide regs do not apply to lake Vermilion. 
“Ace”
Hey Tony,
Most of my largest walleyes caught on Vermilion, have been on a slip bobber. My best average sized fish come trolling cranks, out in the main basin.
There are times during the season that you’ll have a better chance to catch big walleyes. Knowing how and when to fish for them will up your odds of catching those bigger walleyes.
Last summer I only caught one fish in the trophy class (over 8lbs) my customers and I did however, catch
some good numbers of 3 to 6lb fish over the course of the season. Of those, 70% were caught trolling on the east end and some were caught throwing muskie baits.
There are a number of Big walleyes taken on the west end trolling as well. I just don’t fish that end for walleyes, as much as I do the east end. 
“Ace”
The primary reason behind the new regs is fishing pressure. Harvest levels are just getting to high to sustain the fishery. Although the walleye population is still very healthy (Estimated near 30 million
fish). It will be so much easier to
maintain it with these new regs. Rather than trying to repair the damage after the population crashes
with the current harvest levels.
Angling pressure has almost doubled
in the last 8 years. The harvest in the last couple years has been well over the target levels the DNR has.
They have estimated that anglers on Vermilion, combined with the trible netting, have been harvesting over 80,000lbs of walleyes the last two seasons.
There are plenty of big walleyes in Lake Vermilion, you just have to go fish for them. They don’t expect a change in the size structure of the lakes walleyes. It would be a nice bonus should that happen, however I don’t think it’s part of thier new management plan.
“Ace”
The fishing has picked up recently for walleyes and perch. I moved my shack into shallower water over the weekend and it paid off. I’m now in 18ft over a sand bar that’s full of red worms and the walleyes are on the worms like white on rice.
Hi Yellowjacket,
We have about 16 inches of good ice right now. You should have about 2 feet by the time that Christmas comes around. We have been driving on it for about a week and the ice is in great shape.
“Ace”
Ice conditions are excellent with a good hard surface over 13 inches of good solid ice. The action has been very good for walleyes and perch in the last few days.
There are many people driving on in the McKinley park area. Snow cover is just a few inches, so travel is very easy even without 4wd. I have not talked to anyone fishing the west end yet so I don’t know what’s going on over there however, I’m sure that conditions are similar.
“Ace”
I was fortunate enough to catch my largest Muskie to date back on the
8th of August. She went 53″x25.5 I caught her on a “Recon” (topwater) from H20 tackle. You can check it out on my website, along with some other big muskies caught by some of my clients.
“Ace”
It’s been very cold up here on the range the last few days. The ice conditions are improving as I write this report. Big bay has about 5″ of ice with varing quality. I found some areas with standing water and slush however, it’s getting better with each day of cold weather. The back bays are in better shape than the mainlake, with reports of as much as 8′ of good ice. Keep in mind that it’s still early, please use common sense when venturing out on the ice. It’s a long winter and those walleyes will still be there in a few days.
“Ace”
The weather is about to make a big change up here in the great white north. Lows in the single digits to
low teens, should start making some
serious ice over the weekend.
If that trend continues it won’t be long before we can venture out on the ice. It’s time to get that ice gear ready for another season. 
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
“Ace”
The muskie action is as hot as the weather right now. Water temps up in the high 70’s have the Big girls on the move.
Mainlake rockpiles and points have been very active. The deep weeds in 6 to 12ft have also been very good this week. Topwaters, gliders and bucktails, have all been effective.
“Ace” 
Scotty is right on about the bass action, it’s good no matter which end you’re on. The west side has the best largemouth action, because it simply has more habitat. I like the east end for smallies, but that is just me.
Fish the slop for the green bass on the west end and fish the rocks for the brown bass on the east end. My favorite summer presentations are a tube/soft plastics for the smallies
and a “mossfrog” or other similar style topwater, for the largemouth.
You can also catch them on cranks, spinnerbaits, jig worms, jigNpig or
any number of plastic concoctions.
Rocks, docks, the shoreline rubble, points and saddle areas, the “slop” and mainlake reefs, will all have one kind of bass or another on them at some time.
Good Luck!
“Ace”
Sorry guys I have been having some serious computer problems the last couple weeks. I hope you all have a great time while you are here. Let us all know how you did.
“Ace”
Hi Rob,
I pulled the shack a couple weeks ago, so my winter fishing is over.
I’ll be down at the Blaine Expo in my Ace guide service booth. Don’t look for the Arrowhead Chapter at the show, for some reason the board thinks a free booth cost to much.
See you at the Muskie Expo!
“Ace”
Hey Gary,
I already talked to the Kid via an e-mail. I told him all about the Vermilion Walleye Classic over the Labor day weekend.
“Ace”
Hey Scott,
The fishing pressure has doubled in the last 5 years and the target for the walleye harvest is 65,000lbs.
The 2003 numbers were over 80,000lb so the DNR decided it was time to do something to protect the walleye fishery from over harvest. The new 4 fish limit may not set well with everyone however, I think it’s a good move.
“Ace”
Ice conditions have improved and I have been driving my truck out on the lake for about a week now.
My shack is in 30ft near McKinley park and the action has been pretty good in the last few days. My young grandson caught a 25″ walleye and we ended up with our limit of 14 to 18″ fish yesterday.
Most of the walleyes we caught were hitting on a plain black or red #6 hook. Small bright colored jigs or small spoons have also caught some fish. I have been tipping them with small suckers and shiner minnows to get the best action.
Big Bay has frozen over finally, we have about 3 inches of ice on the Big water areas of the lake. There are safe places to fish on some of the back bays however, many current areas have just a thin layer of ice on them.
There is still lots of open water on the main lake. Our night time lows have been in the 20’s, however it will be a while before we are on the ice fishing.
The new Pike regs where implimented on Vermilion at the start of last season. In my opinion the slot has already made some improvement to the size structure of the pike on the Big V.
It wll be interesting to see what I will be catching after a few more seasons of the new regs. Right now the average pike I catch, has been between 4 and 6lbs, with many fish in the 8 to 12 lb range.
They have been going on both ends of the Big V. Weeds, rocks and main lake points have been good, I also have taken some fish on saddles and boulder flats in the main lake.
Bucktails and gliders have been the most consistant pattern for me this week.
Good Luck!
I would think that your partner the guide should be able to answer that question. 
