
HIRE A FISHING GUIDE ON LAKE VERMILION
There are several options for hiring a Fishing Guide on Lake Vermilion. Over the years Vermilion Dam Lodge has established close working relationships with several local fishing guides. The guides our resort recommends are those who we have found to be not only knowledgeable fisherman with extensive experience on Lake Vermilion but also personable, respectful and make the time on the water with our resort guests a great experience.
Most of the guides work independently to the resorts and provide their own boats, equipment, bait, ice and insurance. They will pick you up in their boats and bring you back and drop you off at the end of your trip. They also will take care of fish cleaning. Given most of the guides on Vermilion work independently, their fees are not always the same, it depends on the length of the trip and number of guests. Given most of the guides are self employed we recommend guests pay them directly. Some but not all guides do require a deposit, it's the guest’s responsibility to secure their guide trip directly with the fishing guide they are hiring. Our experience over the years is most of the guides do not take credit cards but accept personal checks and or cash for payment. We recommend making payment arrangements directly with the guide prior to your trip.
The guides will usually provide enough rods and tackle for the trip. If you would prefer to bring your own rods and tackle that is usually fine with the guides, but our recommendation is to ask the guide prior to your trip. In some cases, the guides might be fishing a pattern where specific tackle is necessary to be successful in catching fish at which time they may highly recommend use of the tackle they are providing.
We always recommend bringing rain gear and bringing enough clothes to stay comfortable. In many cases when leaving the dock, it may feel comfortable because our location is protected but once on the lake wind, lower temps could be uncomfortable. We recommend bringing more clothing than you think you need.
GPS handheld devices. Depending on the guide some will request you do not bring handheld GPS in their boat. We recommend you ask the guide directly prior to your trip.
A frequent question from our resort guests is tipping their fishing guide customary and how much is an appropriate. It is customary to tip your fishing guides if your expectations were met or exceeded. The amount of the tip can vary depending on the size of your group and lenght of the trip. Top performance tip recommendations are 15-20%.