While researching destinations for family fishing road trips, I was discussing with resort owners the alternatives to just fishing. After all, I thought, what if one member of the family wanted to fish, but others wanted to take advantage of different activities that weren't fishing related.

It was a comment by Mike Lantry of White Eagle Resort on Lake Vermilion that made me realize it's not really a family trip if the family doesn't take advantage of their time together.

WHITE EAGLE RESORT
"When you're in an area like Lake Vermilion, it's a good opportunity for families to connect," Lantry said. "The lake is the focal point where families can go fishing, boating, swimming, even sailing. Spending some time in the boat fishing with the family on a beautiful lake like Vermilion should bring them closer."

So I asked Lantry to describe his family-friendly setting and include some activities that weren't related to fishing. He laughed and said, "We have kayaks and a Hobie Cat for sailing, and we have some water bikes. The Hobie is a safe vessel, and even those with no sailing experience can have a lot of fun."

White Eagle Resort is located on the west end of Vermilion and consists of 13 housekeeping cabins in a beautiful rustic setting. Vermilion is a large lake -- over 40 miles long with 1,200 miles of shoreline. When I asked Lantry if first-time visitors were a bit intimidated by the size of the lake, he smiled, shook his head and said, "We've never lost a guest. The maps have the buoys and the buoys have numbers so you can't get lost. You just go to a buoy, check out the number and you're acclimated again."

Vermilion is well known for its quality walleye and smallmouth bass fishing. Muskie fishing has also become a tremendously popular pastime on this lake. Big northern pike can be caught with some effort, and the largemouth bass fishing is just beginning to be discovered.

"We're starting to see a lot more largemouth bass up here, and the size of the largemouth bass is increasing," Lantry said, and he added a comment about Minnesota's favorite fish. "The walleye fishermen complain sometimes that they're catching too many smallmouth bass, but they do admit they have a great time catching them."

For more information, contact the White Eagle Resort at 1-800-542-0365, and visit their Web site at www.whiteeagleresort.com.

FLODING RESORT
In contrast to the northern big-lake log cabin resort is the small-lake resort setting with clean cottages, and kids on the shoreline with their fishing poles or chasing frogs. The perfect example of this is Floding Resort on Brophy Lake just west of Alexandria.

Floding Resort has been around for some time. According to Josh Lord, who co-owns and manages the resort, he is a fifth generation in the resort's operation.

"My great-uncle Art from Switzerland started it as a dairy farm," Lord explained. "He didn't make any money with the dairy, so he built one cabin, then another. He built six cabins and then my grandfather built three more, and we recently tore them out and built eight new ones."