Fishing Destination | Lake Vermilion, MN | Justin Chromy Patriot Guide Service

March 8, 2026 "The Role of a Fishing Guide" | Justin Chromy, Patriot Guide Service, Lake Vermilion

An important part about being a fishing guide is understanding what your role is in the community. A guides role is to help promote tourism, help keep the tourists happy (putting them on fish,) and teaching how to protect and preserve the resource that we all need to run our businesses, and enjoy recreation in this beautiful area.

This bodes one to ask the question: How do we best promote tourism, keep the fishermen happy so they come back, and protect the resource that supports our way of life? The answer is not always as simple as it would seem. One thing as a guide that I get flack on is posting pictures of the guests who came and “caught their limit.”

As many around the lake have noticed, Lake Vermilion has changed over the years due to fishing pressure, Zebra Mussels, and an influx of tourism following the COVID-19 pandemic. This causes the question to be asked: What is the health of our great fishery and the resource around which we build our lives?

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the health of the lake is in good shape with walleye populations at similar levels to years past, and years of good recruitment coming up. I personally second this opinion, as I can see on Forward Facing sonar that most of the spots that I fish are full of walleyes.

“Justin, if there are still lots of walleyes in the lake, then why have they become more difficult to catch?” I think there are a couple different reasons for this.

1. The lake is going through changes | Zebra mussel larvae were discovered in Lake Vermilion in September 2025, confirming the presence of a reproducing population. As a guide who fishes the lake every day in the summer, I did notice abnormally clear water this past year, and it did impact the way I fished. Gone are the days of flipping a bobber over the side of the boat and catching fish. As the lake continues to become more of a clear water fishery, the Lindy rig (a popular way of fishing on Lake Vermilion,) could also become a thing of the past.
2. The fish become more educated | With the clearer water and fishing pressure, the fish learn to be “boat shy” which is why they oftentimes will not bite close to the boat. The clearer the water becomes, and the more fishing pressure they receive, the more “boat shy” the fish become. As anglers, we all need to learn how to adapt to the changes that Mother Nature has presented to us.

This is where my role as a guide comes into play. I consider myself a “student of the game” and a teacher. My favorite clients to take out in the boat are those who love to fish and would love to learn more. As a guide, I help teach everyone how to adapt to the changes and continue enjoying the lake. This helps 1. Promote Tourism and 2. Keep people coming back to the lake, putting money in all of our pockets.

“Justin, if you care about the resource, why do you constantly post pictures of people catching their limit on Facebook? Won’t that just invite people who will come and pillage our resource that we build our livelihoods on?”
As a guide, my role in the community, as a promoter, as a teacher, is to help teach everyone about selective harvest, and to help people understand the concept of possession limits, so everyone can enjoy the fishery.

As a guide, it is easy to get caught in a spot where you need to promote, need to bring tourism and business in, and you need to keep people happy. Does that mean I don’t care about the fishery? Absolutely not. If the resource goes, so goes the business, tourism, and the way of life that we all so desperately love.

It really takes all of us as a Lake Vermilion community to help keep this area great, to help build and promote each other’s businesses, to keep tourism alive and vibrant in this area, and to of course protect the resource around which it is all built.
“Justin, what can we all do to help out?” There’s a few things everyone can do to do their part.

1. Buy your license | License purchases help support the Minnesota DNR, who in turn monitor the health of this great fishery, so we can do what’s needed to help protect our most valuable resource in the Lake Vermilion community: the lake. When asking what they need to bring, a Minnesota Fishing License is included on my list for my clients. Consider buying a MN walleye stamp as well as that money goes toward stocking across the state.
2. Abide by the laws and lead by example | Nobody should be keeping more than their daily or possession limit. In turn, everyone has the right to catch and keep their limit, and sometimes as a guide my job is to help other people catch their limit.
3. Educate others, be willing to learn, and be kind | A little kindness goes a long way. In my experience, most errors or mistakes people make are simply due to ignorance and they are not mistakes made with an evil intent. Continuing to be kind to one another, educating, and having open discussions are how to best resolve area problems and keep the Lake Vermilion area great.

A guides role in the community is to help promote tourism, keep people coming back, and teaching all how to respect and enjoy the resource. I am grateful to be a part of this community, and I am excited to help continue to make Lake Vermilion a great place for all to enjoy. - Justin Chromy, Patriot Guide Service of Lake Vermilion 218-820-0335

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