Fishing with Z Guide Services LLC

05/29/2026

Last minute opening for June 20-27th! Cabin #7 The Hunter’s Lodge just came open! The fishing is still really good and you get some of the best weather of the year!

This won’t last long so call or text (218) 753-1200 to book! You can also book directly online at glenmoreresort.com!!!!

05/28/2026

Really fun last couple of days out of Pehrson Lodge Resort! Not a lot of fish but every bite was the right quality!

Trips are booking up every day so don’t hesitate to reach out! June is nearly full and I am now booking July and August!

05/26/2026

Awesome start to the day! 5 nice keepers during a tough bite in a bluebird sky day

05/25/2026

Fishing Report!!

Week #2 5/18-5/25

Water temps: 53-57, up to 58 in pike bay Sunday (5/24) evening. Wide range due to the warm weather we have now. This will all be different by the time this is posted and you read it. The water is warming and warming fast!

Two weeks in to the 2026 season all ready! The bite is starting to pick up with this warmer weather which is very welcomed by not only us guides but also the fish!

Our main tactics this week were once again dragging Lindy rigs and jigs at .3-.5 mph! Dragging a Lindy with a big rainbow or a 1/4 or 3/8 ounce jig with a big rainbow produced a ton of fish this week. Nothing crazy, just simple techniques to catch those finicky eyes. Jig color has definitely seemed to make a difference so make sure to have a few colors tied on and keep changing if it’s not working. A few colors they seemed to like this week: orange, blue and white, pink and white.

The name of the game this week was patience and being mobile. Do not sit in a spot where you aren’t catching them or they are all 10” fish. There are a lot of fish in a lot of spots right now and finding the right ones just takes a little bit of time. Each spot is different every day. One day it’s all 10” fish, the next it’s all 13-16” fish.

The main areas of focus for us this week were sand break lines from 25-35’ right on the breaks. Either directly on the sides or right at the bottom. Luckily we had some perfect winds we could cruise along the sides and cover a lot of water holding fish which helped tremendously.

With all of that being said. Things are changing and changing fast. Every day it’s going to be different due to the warm weather we are now blessed with. Be willing to adapt, try new things and new areas! Have a lot of techniques tied up ready to go and if one doesn’t produce just move on to the next. I expect the fishing to be incredible from now until the end of June, the weather is perfect and the walleyes and smallies are ready to put the feed bags on! Smallmouth are very pre spawn and should be moving to the shallows in waves!

Remaining June Availability for single riders or groups:

3 AM/PM (AM BOOKED, ONLY PM AVAILABLE)
9 PM
10 PM
15 PM
17 AM
18 AM/PM
22-25 AM/PM
29 AM/PM
30 AM/PM

July and August dates are already starting to book as well. Getting on the books early is never a bad thing! Lock in your dates today for the amazing late summer bite as well as the always fun lead core bite in August. Call or text anytime (218) 404-9200 or book directly online at fishingwithz.com!

As always, tight lines!
Z

05/24/2026

The Carlson group took care of business this morning! In between rain showers when the sun was shining is when we caught all of our fish this morning! No giants but a lot of good eaters and action!

05/23/2026

Updated June Availability!

It finally looks like summer is here! After a slow start to the season, the forecast is shaping up perfectly with sunshine and temps in the upper 70s to near 80° over the next 10–14 days. The bite has been steady, and these warmer conditions should really get the fish fired up. Everything is lining up for what could be one of the best June bites we’ve seen in years, and the fishing should only continue to improve from here on out.

Over the last few seasons, we’ve learned a lot and put together patterns that are already starting to come together. If you’ve been thinking about booking a trip, now is the time to get on the water!

Remaining June Availability:

AM Trips: 3, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30
PM Trips: 3, 4, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30

Trips are available for both full groups and solo anglers. I already have a few single-rider trips booked, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you don’t have a full group, we can often match you up with others looking to split the cost of a trip.

Call or text anytime: (218) 404-9200
Book online:

Here at Fishing with Z, we offer fully guided open water fishing trips during the summer months on one of Northern Minnesota’s best lakes, Lake Vermilion. Our specialty is walleye, but we also love chasing the giant smallmouth that reside here, along with the fish of 10,000 casts, muskies. During ...

05/23/2026

Morning off from guiding calls for getting the new pontoon ready! Back on the water this afternoon through Monday finish up Memorial Day weekend! Fishing report Monday midday!

05/22/2026

Lanny and Larry battled the straight East winds and put together a nice bag of fish! Jigs and lindy rigs both produced fish this morning!

05/20/2026

Repeat client Dennis and I had an absolute blast this afternoon. Finally some warm weather and a light breeze lead to so awesome walleye fishing! 2 man smash fest this afternoon, all on jigs which makes things even more fun!

Few openings left in June so don’t hesitate to get on the books! The summer is just getting started! 😎

(218) 404-9200

05/18/2026

Fishing Report!

Week #1 5/11-518

Water temps: 48-50 (maybe 51/52 in shallow bays with not much wind)

It’s been a slow start to the 2026 walleye season that’s for sure! All of our fish, which isn’t a ton, are coming in the deep holes and they aren’t aggressive biters.

Our main tactic right now is rigging or jigging the deep holes in 28-40’ of water. The holes that are loaded with fish have all been 10-12” class fish with some random bigger eaters mixed in. The holes with far less marks are the nicer quality eaters and bigger slot fish.

Dragging a lindy .3 mph with the nicest minnows you can get has been key. Rainbows and bigger style minnows have produced better fish but fatheads are catching enough to make them worth while. When jigging, our nicer fish have came dragging the jig on bottom or pounding the bottom with it, only a couple have been aggressive biters and eaten when jigging up off bottom.

There are some fish shallow. Not a lot, but some and they are very scattered. They are nicer fish by far but they are few and far between and hard to find. I imagine this is because of the cold conditions we have had. Probably the coldest month of May I have experienced yet and it’s showing in the bite.

However, there’s warmer days in the forecast and I think once it hits, the bite will be as good as it’s ever been. The few nice days we have had so far this season the bite has been great so I imagine it’ll be more of the same once the nice weather arrives!

Remaining openings for June! Only one morning before June 17 so if you’ve been thinking about a trip now is the time to book! The bite is only going to get better from here on out!

3 AM/PM
9 PM BOOKED❌
10 PM
15 PM
17 AM
18 AM/PM
22-25 AM/PM
29 AM/PM
30 AM/PM

July and August dates are already starting to book as well. Getting on the books early is never a bad thing! Lock in your dates today for the amazing late summer bite as well as the always fun lead core bite in August. Call or text anytime (218) 404-9200 or book directly online at fishingwithz.com!

As always, tight lines!
Z

05/17/2026

Back to guiding after fishing the Safelite Walleye Classic yesterday! Not the results we wanted but we stuck to our plan and we just didn’t catch the big fish we had patterned. That’s fishing, we learned a lot and will be back next year ready to give it another shot!!

Repeat client Bob with a beautiful 19” walleye on our last spot of the day! We finished with 5 nice keepers and nice perch! Strong east winds and a cold front had them tight lipped!

Remaining openings in May:
20
21 AM ONLY
29 PM ONLY

Fishing report tomorrow around noon and I’ll provide my remaining June openings then!

(218) 404-9200