Big Vermilion Lake is a big lake with some deep, clear water. It is difficult for some anglers to fish, but if you know how to fish deep, clear lakes, you can do well here. The lake is a good lake for lake trout, muskie and smallmouth bass. If you put in the time to learn some of the offshore structure, you can catch some very nice fish from summer through fall.
Lake Trout
Big Vermilion Lake is so deep with cool, clear water and it is perfect for lake trout. Many anglers come to fish Big Vermilion Lake for the lake trout since it is such a good numbers lake. You will usually catch a lot more lake trout here than on Minnitaki Lake, but the average size will be much smaller. There are some big fish too, but not in the numbers that you will find on Minnitaki Lake.
Muskie
Big Vermilion Lake is home to some monster muskie. The deep, clear waters can make fishing tough here for many anglers, but if you use fluorocarbon leaders, fish deeper and fish during low light conditions, you will increase your odds of catching some nice muskie here. This is one of the better muskie lakes in the area with good numbers of them and lots of big fish.
Smallmouth Bass
Big Vermilion Lake has become a very good smallmouth bass fishing lake. Early in the year, anglers catch big numbers of them with 100 fish days possible. When the bass go deeper, it gets a little tougher if you can’t find them on the offshore structure. Get a good map and find the reefs for the late summer through fall bite and you’ll catch some nice fish. It’s not just a numbers lake. There are some very big bass in this lake.
