Lake Vermilion is a shallow freshwater

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in northeastern

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

originally called the lake Onamanii-zaaga'iganiing (occasionally anglicized as Nee-Man-Nee), which means “the evening sun tinting the water a reddish color”. French fur traders translated this to the Latin word ''

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...

'', which is a red pigment. Lake Vermilion is located between the towns of

Tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

on the east and Cook on the west, in the heart of Minnesota's Arrowhead Region at Vermilion Iron Range. The area was mined from the late 19th century until the 1960s, and the Soudan Mine operated just south of the lake. The lake contains

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae). It is endemic to North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie (''P. annularis'') in size, s ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

, brown bullhead,

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus nigricans'') is a carnivorous, freshwater fish, freshwater, ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern United States, eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada an ...

muskellunge The muskellunge (''Esox masquinongy''), often shortened to muskie, musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae. Origin of name The name ...

(muskie),

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as sun perch, pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small to medium–sized freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from the sunfish fami ...

(sunfish),

rock bass The rock bass (''Ambloplites rupestris''), also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, red eye, and black perch, is a freshwater fish native to east-central North America. This red-eyed fish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family (bi ...

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

, tullibee (cisco),

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, and yellow perch. Lake Vermilion is known for its walleye and muskie fishing. In the spring of 2005, Lake Vermilion was host to the annual Minnesota Governor’s Fishing Opener Weekend. A four-walleye limit and a 17- to 26-inch protected slot limit took effect on Lake Vermilion in 2006. However, as the population rebounded, a new special regulation for walleye was introduced in May 2017. The new regulation is a 20 to 26 inch protected slot limit, with one fish over 26 inches allowed in a four fish possession limit. The lake attracts visitors from all parts of Minnesota and the midwestern United States, who lodge at the lake's numerous resorts and hotels. Tourists are drawn by Lake Vermilion's reputation as a fishing destination, as well as its setting in the northern Minnesota wilderness. The lake is near the Superior National Forest and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The Minnesota DNR ranks Lake Vermilion as the fifth largest lake by surface area for bodies of water entirely within Minnesota borders. The surface area of Lake Vermilion is and has a maximum depth of . It is located within the southernmost section of the

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield ( ), also called the Laurentian Shield or the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), th ...

, and contains over 365 islands. Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have, from time-to-time, been placed on some of the lake's fish due to mercury contamination. Consumption of Northern pike and walleye over 15 inches should not exceed twice a week, however vacation fishing consumption is unlimited. In 2007, Governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty ( ; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 39th governor of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House ...

announced the state was negotiating the purchase from U.S. Steel of a large area of land on the southeastern shore of the lake for a proposed new Minnesota state park. The sale of the land at a cost of $18m was finalized in June 2010. Once the land was acquired, a new park was created, which included the purchased parcel and the existing

Soudan Underground Mine State Park The Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park is a Minnesota List of Minnesota state parks, state park at the site of the Soudan Underground Mine, on the south shore of Lake Vermilion, in the Vermilion Range (Minnesota). The mine is kno ...

. The new park is called Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park. "Minnesota’s newest state park: Lake Vermilion–Soudan Underground Mine State Park," by Anne Queenan, Nov. 29, 2019, Quetico Superior Wilderness News
/ref> The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa has a small reservation on the lake, upon which is located Fortune Bay Resort and Casino. The Stuntz Bay Boathouse Historic District was constructed in the first half of the 20th century by employees of the adjacent Soudan Iron Mine on the shores of the lake.

References

External links

lakevermilion.net webpage

Lake Vermilion homepage

Lake Vermilion Chamber Of Commerce

Tower Soudan Historical Society

Vermilion Lake Association

Lake Vermilion Resort & Tourism Association homepage
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Tourist attractions in St. Louis County, Minnesota