lake vermilion

Some lakes in Northern MN finally had ice out reported on May 9th, just days before MN Fishing Opener.

We've had a very cold spring, and lakes are still frozen solid. So when is the latest ice out for these MN lakes? History shows that it can be pretty late in May.

The Minnesota Fishing Opener is just over 3 weeks away. An update yesterday from guides at Fortune Bay Casino show how much ice is still on the lake, and it is not looking good.

I fished Lake Vermilion this year for opener.  It was cold and miserable, and it took a lot of motivation to get out on the lake.  There were also some other people who were braving the elements at every landing on the lake.  They were boat inspectors working for the North St. Louis County Soil and Water Conservation.

Zebra mussel reports seem to come in almost weekly and now another pest has been discovered, this time in Lake Vermilion.

I call this Ken Hayes Outdoors in a joking way, since I'm a novice fisherman.  I'm working on getting more lake time in, and luckily this year I was able to spend the whole weekend up north.  Here's some pictures of how our trip went.