Night Trolling For Big Fish (Lindner's Angling Edge Episode 7)

Discovering the Excitement of Night Trolling for Big Fish on Lake Vermilion

Lake Vermilion, renowned for its abundant fish population, serves as the stunning backdrop for the seventh episode of "Lindner's Angling Edge." The episode, titled "Night Trolling For Big Fish," aired on February 11, 2023, and showcases the unique experience of night trolling in this picturesque lake​​.

Exciting Start with an Unexpected Walleye Catch

The episode begins with an unexpected catch of a walleye. The angler expresses surprise, noting, "Oh, it's a walleye! Oh, the excitement." This moment highlights the unpredictable nature of fishing and the joy of unexpected successes.

Discussing the Rich Stocking History and Promising Future of Lake Vermilion

A significant part of the episode focuses on Lake Vermilion's stocking history, which began intensively in 2017. The conversation sheds light on the lake's abundant fish population, specifically noting the health and beauty of the fish. This discussion emphasizes the lake's promising future for fishing enthusiasts.

Night Trolling Adventures: Walleye and Musky Fishing

The episode captures the thrill of night fishing, with the anglers engaging in both walleye and musky fishing. The excitement is palpable as they discuss the joy of catching fish on specific rods, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and balance in the equipment.

Insights into Fall Fishing Techniques and Hotspots on Lake Vermilion

The anglers provide valuable insights into effective fall fishing techniques, particularly focusing on shallow flats with current areas. They advise not to overlook mud and weed flats, as these areas are teeming with life and often overlooked by anglers. This segment is particularly informative for viewers looking to improve their fishing strategies.

Exploration of Varied Tackle and Techniques for Optimal Results

The discussion also includes an exploration of various tackles and techniques, especially the use of crankbaits in cold water. The episode highlights how different sizes, running depths, and actions of crankbaits can significantly impact the success of a fishing trip.

 

Transcript Summary with Timestamps

• [00:00] Introduction to night trolling for big fish on Lake Vermilion.
• [02:35] Surprising catch of a walleye, highlighting the unpredictability of fishing.
• [04:50] Discussion about Lake Vermilion's rich stocking history and the healthy fish population.
• [07:15] Engaging in night fishing for walleye and musky, showcasing equipment and techniques.
• [09:30] Insights into effective fall fishing techniques on Lake Vermilion.
• [12:45] Exploration of various tackles and fishing strategies for optimal results.

 

Full Video Transcript

They're right in front of those weeds, basically. You can see one there, and another there. Oh, got one! That was incredible, Luke. Alright, we're in business. I'm not sure if it's a musky, Luke, but it's not very big. We're just enjoying the conversation here—no, it's a walleye! Oh, the excitement. When you get a jerkbait hook sideways on a fish, it feels like you've caught a giant, but it's a good-sized one. Look at that. What a beautiful fish.

We're up here on Lake Vermilion in the fall, and Luke and I are taking advantage of the big push of fish into the shallows. It's that mid-October timeframe, and right away in the morning, we've got a nice walleye. And later tonight, we'll be continuing our mission for more. It's just a very light bite. Oh, no, don't get off. What a pretty one. Look at the colors on that one, Luke. It's got a bright future, for sure. There are quite a few of this size in here, which is pretty cool. Luke, tell me about the stocking numbers here and the bright future you mentioned.

Starting in 2017, they began stocking heavily, and those fish have made quite a showing. We catch a lot of fish this size, and the lake's future looks promising. They're healthy, strong, and beautiful. See you later, fish. That's a nice catch.

Things are just going wild here. Oh, almost had a double. Let's see if I can get them to bite. This rod is so fun to catch them on. Does it feel like a nice one, Luke? We're on a little mission to catch some walleyes after dark. Luke and I just can't get enough of fishing, so we've been musky fishing all day and now walleye fishing at night. I just lost one, then Luke got one, and that's pretty fantastic. Oh, this one feels pretty nice, staying down. That's a good sign.

Musky fishing all day, then walleye fishing at night means you get a ton of action in the boat. Oh, that's a nice one, Luke. It's a great fish. I'm going to move it across the other side of the boat to deal with it here. That's a good fish, a great fish.

Let's see here, what's that rod I'm using called? You have the Balsam Troll, yeah. That was fun. Let's have a look at that fish, Luke. Easy, easy. That is a great fish. It's just starting to put on weight, feeding on these perch here. It's pretty cool, this fall trolling thing. We're catching these fish in the evening on a little muddy neck-down area, right? With current, bugs, perch, and walleye. Let's get back at it.

There's another one. Oh, that feels good. It smashed it, Luke. It feels like a nice one. I've put it in neutral here. This feels good. You know, cold water and crankbaits—they just go hand in hand, whether you're fishing for smallmouth bass in the spring with jerkbaits or cold water musky or walleye fishing. It just works, and especially trolling in this colder water, which is in the 50s right now. We haven't been at this long, and we've already got a number of bites. I think I've got a decent one on. Oh, he's staying down. Haven't seen him yet. Let's see if I can keep him hooked up. Oh, that's a good one. Nice!

If you're curious about where to find walleyes in the fall, they're often on shallow flats with current areas, and it could be a sand or gravel flat. But mud—don't overlook mud. These soft bottom areas are really overlooked, I think, by a lot of walleye anglers. These weed flats, areas where the weeds are dying back, there's just tons of life. And people give up on weeds; they start thinking about rocks and hard bottom spots later in the season. But I have found that really, whether it's big pike, big muskies, walleyes, all the fish seem to really like these areas.

And that's a really cool thing about Lake Vermilion. We just have a ton of these types of spots in every basin from east to west. That's one really cool thing about a multi-basin lake like Vermilion.

Got another one, Jeremy. Nice. Now, both Luke and I are fishing bait casting and spinning, but what we have in common with these two rods is they've got a lot of flex through the midsection, which is essential to hold onto these fish with the crankbaits. So that's a big deal. You don't want a really stiff rod with a super fast tip because you're going to end up tearing a lot of hooks out of the fish. And you've got the balance and troll rod, and I'm just fishing basically the rod you'd use for slip bobber fishing on the spinning side. So both of them have enough tip action where we can see the bait moving, but then they flex to the midsection to hold onto the fish. And you look like you've got a good fish on there, Luke.

Yeah, this one's really fun to catch on this rod. Oh, it's another big one. That is just unbelievable, Luke. This is a big fish hammer fest. It's so cool. That one came on the BX swimmer, but we've caught them on the shadow wrap, the glass shad wraps, the original floater. But there's really a selection of crankbaits that you should have on board for fall trolling to catch fish like that.

What fish prefer on any given evening can change. You don't need a ton of crankbaits for this, but it's good to have a variety with different sizes, running depths, and actions. We've got a lot of walleyes this size in the lake right now, and on this run, the BX swimmer was the top bait. It's an overlooked walleye lure and runs mid-column on the 10 to 14-foot flat we were fishing.

The other crank we did really well on was the original Rapala floater. It's the most classic night trolling bait, in my opinion. The floater only gets down a few feet, and the walleyes were active and had no trouble coming up for it. The fish seemed to prefer the bigger baits, so we were trolling with the number 18. It might seem big, but we were getting more action and bigger fish on the larger baits.

They're not always biting on big baits, so it's worth having some 11s and 13s in the boat as well. If the walleyes are stuck to the bottom, shad wraps and glass shad