Lake Champlain Fishing Tourny

[Sholt]

Hey all

Im going to be going to Lake Champlain starting in Ticonderoga this weekend and was looking for info on the area and what to expect.  Id love to hear some good fishing stories on the area 

Steve

[webertime]

Ti sucks right now...  RUN NORTH

I hosted a tournament yesterday, top 4 were: a small 21lb, big 20lb and two mid 18lb bags... FOR 6 FISH and the 20lb bag was Smallies from 30 minutes north.  The day before there was a 40 boat tournament out of Ti and they had the same weights for 6 fish.  Ti needs a long break for a few reasons:

*Floods of 2011 silted in the creeks reducing their flow and damaged a ton of the weedbeds.

*Drought last year dropped the lake 4ft below normal, killing more weedbeds.

*Constant pressure from the large tournaments out of Plattsburgh.  (a 4-6lb fish is a SMART old fish, 10-15 years of taking dozens (hundreds?) per tournament out of Ti has left a ton of not so smart fish (diluting the DNA pool) and juvenile offspring of the 4-6lbers.  The Plattsburgh fish have been proven to not return.) 

*It's been cold and rainy this year and the lake is a foot or so higher and the water is darker than the traditional chalky grey making fishing very hard this year.

 

Sure there are still good fish there, my partner got a 5.87 yesterday, but the Ti as we came to know it is gone for now.  If you are pumped with 2lb fish and the "chance at a 5+" then it could work for you.  If it were me and my boat/gas money/entry fee.  Look at the northern section of the lake or for smallies in the mid-lake.

 

You fishing as a boater or co?

[Sholt]

@webertimeIm fishing as a co, we were talking about how its a tough spot, where on the lake is good right now when you say north where are you talking about?  Id like to chase down some hammers.

[webertime]

On Champlain the Hammers chase you...

lol

message me for specifics.

In general Inland Sea is the most "stable" place to get good fish, it's also an hour boat ride from Ti.

Mid-Lake has HUGE smallies, but they are fickle and it's tough to find them because it's a big area and the spots you can find them on are numerous, but small.  So it's easy to miss them or they just aren't there.  If it's windy you will not get them there, unless you are in a 600 Series Ranger and run a 36V TM.

Up around Plattsburgh to the Canadian Boarder is good but not as good as the Sea.

 

That being said...  If your boater has never been on Champlain, especially in the winds, you will need to have 2-3 plans. One of which must be around the wind.

 

Message me for more info if you want.