Which is best, East or West?

Hi All,

Many hours of campfire debate are dedicated every year, to which is the best the east or the west? Which has the best walleye fishing? Where are all the Big Muskie’s? Although both ends of the lake offer excellent fishing oppotunities, there are a few differences in the 2 main basins of the lake.

The 2 important differences are the water clarity and the types of structure that you fish. On the east end there are more midlake structures, than you could fish in your lifetime. The west end is very limited in these types of structures and the few that it has, really get pounded.

When locating walleyes on the west end shoreline breaks, points and weed edges are, day in day out the primary structure. Not to say that you can’t catch them on the humps or rockpiles it’s just that overall the bite is just more consistant on other types of structure.

The east end is domidnated by Big bay, it is Big Water. East to west it is 12 miles long and from north to south, at it’s widest point about 7mi. Big Bay is dotted with a large number of islands and reefs, you could spend the rest your lifetime just fishing them. Most of the consistant walleye action takes place on these reefs and the main lake points, that Big bay is famous for.

Many anglers will seek out the clearer waters of the west side. The clear water allows vegitation to grow in much deeper water. The west end also has some of the best cabbage to be found anywhere on the lake, so the early season muskie bite can be much better than the east end.

This same type structure, offers oppotunities for crappie and other types of panfish. The west end

has better crappie and largemouth bass fishing.

It is because it has more of the stucture needed for those fish the flurish than on the east end.

Any of you Big V regulars have any comments? Any questions? Do you agree or disagree? It’s a great subject for a cold winter day….:p

My first trips to Vermillion will be this year. I chose the west end for its areas of shoreline structure (I love smallies) and its wind protected areas. I was blown off Leech too often last year.

Hi Quicksilver,

The west end does indeed have some very excellent

shoreline structure for bass. You will also find

some of the best largemouth action on the lake.

Norwegian Bay, Niles and Head of the lakes have

some of the best smallmouth fishing anywhere.

The Wakeumup Narrows, Dago bay, Richie bay, the west side of Norwegian bay, Fox and Van Ryper bay

all have some excellent largemouth available.

Ace Guide Service.

Beautiful Lake Vermilion.

east vs, west is a great question.
i have fished both with success on muskie on each end. i always was told east was better because of the good looking guides on the east side like ace and musky tom. is this true?
on a serious note the big depth and sheer size of big bay makes me guess east. plenty of room for several big muskie to eat,grow and hide. i have never fished the narrow part of vermilion though. any thoughts or tips on this? ace or tom?
do you guys ever fish the western(cook) end ? any thoughts or ideas on how to attack this side vs. east. my experience has showed me weeds early in season and rocks after the heat starts cranking up. any ideas on this?

DannyBoy

Ace is more expericened with and dose the West more than I do, but when I go on request, I do like the deeper Cabbage and more weeds period.
Still like the points, narrows, current breaks, humps and weedlines!
Millions of places to cast to that are some what different than the East end.
No need to go there as our East side Rocks!
But, it is fun up the West end.
Bonnie and I like to hunt for Crappies up that way and have found some Killer Sunfish!
Yes, a Musky guide that likes pan fishing!

Take it away Terry!

Musky Tom Wehler

thanks tom,
a musky fisherman who likes panfishing? what is this world coming to?
i do have to admit, i like crappie fishing early in the year when the musky season hasn’t openned yet. yummie in the tummy.
do you guide for crappie or panfish? or just the mighty muskie.
dannyboy

Hi Dannyboy

I don’t guide for Panfish, only Musky!
Well, come to think of it I DO guide for Panfish?
If you count my Bonnie and our three Golden Retrievers, Bailey, Barney and Homer J. as customers.

Bonnie pays me with a sandwich and a Kiss and the other three pay me in Smiles!

If your ever around and the Panfish are bite’n and you want to go try an nail a few, just ring me up on the Island and we can have a go at it.

Terry always seems to know where there hitting and Cliff also.
Were all pretty good about sharing info and helping people get on fish!
Mmmmmmm Crappie filets.
Sweet!

Got to go, this made me hungry!

T.

sounds good tom. i wish i had some crappies for dinner. couple months and i will. i fish once in a while with my yellow lab (Titan). he always wants to chase the lure though. not a good plan eh?
dannyboy

Hey dannyboy,
The great thing about it is, you will never get tired of fishing her. The west end has things the east side doesn’t have and visey versy.

I guess my one tip for the west side would be to fish the island points more in late summer, and the shoreline points early in the season. They tend to hold on these more on the west, than on the east simply because (in my opinion) they have
fewer midlake structures to hold on.

ace ,
i thought for a minute you fell down a huge darkhouse hole and got eaten by new world record musky.
so if i’m there in july chasing musky on the west end , i should be working island points? not shoreline points? if so i can’t wait for the 4th weekend.
like to fish the east end too, usually i do that in august.
thanks,
dannyboy

Old topic, but getting anxious for the season. So for now, just thinking about it will have to suffice.

My home waters is on the east side. The furthest west I have been is western Frazer Bay. So I can’t comment on which end is actually better. One of these days I may have to fill the boat up and go! Location wise, I like the east end. Grandpa always told stories of fishing around Ely Island, never fished with him, but the area reminds me of gramps.

Lots of water out there to get away from people. Sometimes all of my go to spots are taken. It forces me to find new spots. Learn on the fly. Found some neat potential spots, then again, they may be some of your spots. I’ll find out this spring on my guided trips to see if I’m on the right paths. On a sweltering hot July afternoon, we sometimes will putt along out in open water, catch some sun,enjoy a lunch, and watch the depth finder. Some really neat small humps and drops. Maybe hold some fish? Wish I had the GPS at the time, pulled a dandy walleye from a small deep reef.

I also like the looks of north of Pine Island. Never fished there, but looks interesting. Lots of neat areas to explore, excpet never enough time. Oops, speaking of which, I just went over the afternoon coffee break. Gotta’ go! Later…..

Hi Rob,Believe me, there is nothing wrong with the Ely Island area. I spend a lot of time around there myself, it has everything. You are not alone in that you stay around your cabin. I have had clients that have been on the lake for 50 years tell me, “Wow, Iv’e never seen this before”. There is no sence in running just for the sake of running, try learning as much as you can about a new area each season. After a few years, you’ll have more spots than you can fish.