One year ago, Bob Bowman invited me to fish Lake Vermillion in northern Minnesota. Not one to pass up "once in a life time" offers, I accepted. That trip will always be remembered as the gasoline that was tossed on the musky fire! Big fish seen, a few netted for Bob and fishing a lake that looked like it came out of a Canadian fly in brochure. Had to go back!!
Talking(shaming) my long time best friend, Tom, into making the run, this time pulling my rig, a good start was made Wednesday afternoon. Things were running smoothly until the sun went down. No running lights on the trailer! Had brake, directional and flasher lights but zip for runners. Pulled off, checked it out but couldn’t find the hidden broken wire. Not a good thing, especially running a busy interstate with fast flying- bumper riding semis sharing the lanes with you.
Not wanting to lose any time, a quick remedy was brought into play. Never over estimate the power of two Rayovac flashlights with red Sharpie markered lens covers transfixed (electrical tape) directly above your trailer lights. Running the rest of the way in the rain and snow did make for some white knuckle wheel time but we did arrive in one piece. Now it was time to check in, have a sip of something and catch a few hours sleep before Bob and the crew arrived early the next morning.
Thurday morning, Bob and Mike pulled in dragging that familiar nice looking Ranger behind them. Joining them were Tim and Max pulling another rig. After the quick greetings and how are ya s it became evident, this crew was ready to huck their arms off while looking for that monster of a life time…….you could see it in their eyes! Pretty awesome to be present with a group like that, I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Finally, the boats were slipped and ready to run the short river leading to musky waters.
First area was a big reef complex that held fish last year. Bob and Mike starting on one end, Tom and myself on another. Seeing one fish in deep water shot my hopes up right out of the gate, didn’t get a great look at him though and as it turned out that was the only fish seen on that particular pile of rock. Bob and Mike took off, Tom and I stayed and made another circle. About an hour later my cell rang, when I saw Bowman on the caller ID it could only mean good things. Mike had just drilled a big fish! Getting a few directions and punching in a waypoint the Tuff was planed and on a mission. Getting the great story from Mike and seeing the pic off of Bobs digital was quite the moment, one of them "fire a guy up" moments if you know what I mean.
We did see a few more followers around that area(one bruiser) but for the most part it was turning into be a pretty tough day….. beautiful sunny day, but tough sledding for bites!
Day two will always be remembered as the "why the heck aren’t they destroying our baits" kind of a day. Picture this, late fall, big musky waters, steady water temps at 46deg., dark skies with a chance of precipitation and a good healthy chop. A day esox junkies dream of right? Sorry Charlie, the musky gods stacked the deck and threw you a seven-deuce. One absolute tank seen on my third cast that morning shooting my "game on" hopes right to the moon. Yep, you guessed it, not another fish seen the entire rest of the day…WHAT THE HECK!! ……stupid musky gods!
After getting back and talking to the crew is when we found out it was tough hucking for everyone. The only thing we could really nail down as an explanation(or good excuse) was the steady, two day east wind we were having. Never did like east winds, not on the lakes nor the Mississippi river. The old time saying, "winds east, fish bite the least" showed it’s ugly faced truth and tried throwing a wrench into our water works. Lucky we had one more day to turn the tables!
After two days of hucking huge baits with out a hook up the mind tends to play little tricks on you on where to go next. Basically, there was only one option….go back early and throw to the hoss that was spotted the day before. Got on top of that fish at first light and threw him the full menu, that fish was a big no show.
After letting the breeze float us around for awhile the new Lowrance H2OC was brought out and a search for some shallow stone fields began. Spotting a point that looked like it had some type of shallower structure, a short trek was made. Running the Terrova over some nice looking boulders is when I happen to glance up at Tom right when he inhales a muffled, "OOOH"!!. That fish was sitting in less than 4ft. of rocks and came up and destroyed Toms big white Sue. Good hook set, the fish came in nicely but forgot to stop, easily gliding right under the boat. Tom, doing a good job of turning the beast and me with shaky net in hand watched as the girl came out of hiding, slowly turned and slide right into the net. What a sight and even a better feeling netting my best friends new personal best 53"! After the usual chaotic hook removal and pics the girl was slid back to boatside and worked over. Took about a minute but she slowly started to move then gave that tail whip that shot her back to the darks. Oh yeah!!
The rest of the day went back to being the usual tough stuff. Fishing new stones, throwing the rack at them…just plain couldn’t get them to go.
Bob Bowman, thanks a ton for the invite again. Best of luck the rest of the season and I hope you have a chance to shatter that pb……now that would be a hell of a fish!
Nice to meet you Mike and big time congrats on that tank of a pb. Catching it on a bait made by yourself had to be very sweet. Glad we were in on your day!
Tim and Max….what can I say, you guys are absolute musky maniacs. A real good time chatting with you two.Keep your hot streak going Tim, hoping to see a few more pics before ice ruins the dance.
Driving south on the eight hour drive home is when I started thinking about those musky gods again. Dealing us rags the entire trip was their plan all along but for one hand they screwed up and dealt us bullets. Sorry boys but don’t you know that it only takes winning one huge pot to come out ahead?
Have a great fall everyone!
Great recap Buddy
“What a sight and even a better feeling netting my best friends new personal best 53″!”
AMEN to that. Best part of my trip was giving Mike a high five after we tucked that fatty into the net. Just being there to share the experience, thats what it is all about. The God’s were shining, even if it was for a very short period of time. Two new PB”S, way to go guys
All you have to do is fish muskie with Bob one time and you’ve got the fever. Been there. Thanks for the awesome report. I know it takes time to put one together with this much detail so I hope you know the effort is appreciated. Almost as good as being there. Almost.
Awesome fish guys!
Congrats on the two new personal best.
Bob, that sunset pic just gave me the chills….what a great shot!
Heres a few more shots from an unforgettable run.
Remember, it never hurts to store extra flashlights and red sharpie pens
Running this lead in river is only about a half mile run…………..seemed like 10 miles that first morning
The last is Tom on a lee side rest area. Sometimes you have to shelter up for a few minutes and regroup
Great report Jeff
Its alawys nice to get out and fish with guys from the site.
Bob I want to say thanks for the invite I’ll look back on this trip years from now and wonder if it was the point when Muskie fishing took total control of my life.
A big congrats to Tom & Mike on new PB’S
Fantastic recap Jeff! Flashlights and red tape for running lights, now that’s determination
Thanks for the great read and congrats on some beautiful looking fish!
What! No pics of saggy britches??
Great read Jeff!!
Ok, so I don’t fit into the XL-Snosuit
Kooty was nice enough to let me use his set, AMAZING how warn they are. The first morning as we were gearing up I was very excited to try the suit out, first thing I hear out of someone’s mouth, was “saggy britches”
Post deleted by Jeff Jensen
Awesome report. Congrats on the 2 PBs. Fantastic.
Awesome report. I’ve fished vermillion in the summer and it’s beautiful. I need to get back and fish it for muskie in the fall! It is an awesome lake! Great recap Jeff!
Congrats on the PB’s boys and great report! I guess this answers the question about what size snow suit bibs to get, I could get a good deal on an XL but I guess I should pass.
Awesome reads Men
You boy’z did a great job playing the hands being dealt…..note to self (make sure batteries are good in flashlights)
Them Musky’s are gorgeous lookin’ hawg’s
Some day
Awesome report Jeff! Next year man, next year… Congrats to Tom on the RR tie, what a brute! I’d give Sly Stallone Jr. props on the wood tick 50, but it would just go to his head.
Great report Jeff.
Even though the musky Gods were playin’ with ya a bit it still sounds like a great experience. 
Congrats on the two PB’s. Are you dreaming about hucking them baits yet???? 
Just be there big guy, I owe you a day or 5 of escorting you around. Missed you this year
Yes Mike, I just dreamed about hucking them last night…….then I woke up with my right elbow on fire. Still a little sore
As usual a very well written report Slick. One of these trips your going to tie into a monster but till then great report. I bet your arm was just burning after all that ” hucking “. Nice job on the pb’s guys. Dan
Awesome report Jeff
WTG guys on the PB’s
Great report Jeff. Even though the fishing was slow those two fish made up for it in a big way! Congrats on the PB’s.
Unreal fish guys!!! WAY TO GO!!!
Were you guys primarily fishing the east or the west end of the lake? We have a place on Niles on the west end but just haven’t really put any time into fishing muskies. We can never pull ourselves away from the walleye fishing. We might have to give it a little more time. It definitely helps to read threads like this to remind me not to take for granted how lucky I have to have a family with a place up there.
We hit the east end. I sure envy you though nater. So many times my Marcum would light up while falling off points and humps but I didn’t temp myself…..left the walleye sticks at home
There has to be some giant walleyes in that system, through the years, what is the largest you have seen?
Also nater, is there anyone in the area that you know of who might let out a lakeside cabin with docks for 5-6 days in mid-late Oct. for next year?
That west side sure looks good btw. Would someday like to see what’s cookin on the stovetop
Nate is right…we are blessed to have a place in that piece of paradise. And yes, we are most often too focused on the eye’s. I know that Ed and Marty over at the Vermilion Dam Lodge are all about the Muskies and especially this time of year…good guys to check with for west end opportunities.
There are definitely a lot of big walleyes in Vermilion. The biggest I have had in the boat is probably 27 to 28″. Since they put the slot on the lake a few years ago the average size has exploded. It isn’t uncommon at all to have mornings or nights where you will land four or five walleyes in the mid twenties in just a couple of hours. I have had two fish up the boat that were near the 30″ mark and lost them both. At least I had my dad in the boat with me to verify it, but that doesn’t make you feel much better when your hook pops boatside and you watch them slowly swim away. There are definitely some monsters in there, but it seems like when they hit the mid 20’s they stop growing lengthwise and just get thicker, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I have caught a lot of 25″ walleyes on that lake and they have probably varied in weight by nearly 3 pounds based on how much thicker and heavier some are than others.
Let me know if this is something you might be interested in. We have two docks at our cabin that will easily allow you to keep three or four boats if you needed that many. You could fit more, but they wouldn’t be spaced out as much.
As to you needing a place to stay in mid-Oct. My dad and I have wanted to get into muskie fishing on the lake, but are about as amateur as they come when fishing muskies. Maybe we can work out some sort of deal where you come stay at our place and guide us for a weekend during the summer and teach us a thing or two in exchange for a place for you guys to stay in mid. Oct. Of course that would mean you would have to fish muskies up on Vermilion at least twice next year.
Nate
email sent Nate
Jeff:
Tell Tom congratulations on his fish!!! Wish I had been lucky enough to get that fish on Pokegama for him a couple of years ago. And you are due soon too!!!
Say if you need help guiding on Vermillion next summer and then fishing in the fall again too…
Mark
Awesome pictures. That release picture is my favorite.
Sorry to hear that you had to spend a weekend with Bowman. I hope you slept on your stomach with one eye open……