I’m up in Lake Vermilion until Saturday, and have a pretty brutal time finding the smallmouth. I can bump one or two here and there in less than 5 foot, but nothing special. Water temps in the main lake around 55-59° depending on time of day and the shallows/bays are 60-67. Have fished the mouths of numerous bays and fished all the way to the back of Black Bay and Norwegian without a bite or seeing a bed anywhere. Have no problem jumping on them in IA in these temps but these guys are kicking my butt at the moment. Any tips on where else to look?

Deeper.  20' deep off rocky points is a place to start.

Thanks! Will start hitting some main lake points this afternoon 

Nothing yet, main lake is around 60-64 in mid-afternoon, should I push shallower?

13 hours ago, buttsman00 said:

Nothing yet, main lake is around 60-64 in mid-afternoon, should I push shallower?

 

Your main lake temps are just bordering on the start of the spawn so your best bet is to check transition areas next to spawning areas.