Lake Champlain has fantastic fishing for brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, atlantic salmon, northern pike, and bass
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   Jeff Lankford was fishing Lake Champlain when he caught this 6 pound lunker largemouth bass right near the boat launch in Ticonderoga. It was late October and just after sunrise about 7:30 A.M when this lunker hit a Rebel Pop-R top water bait. He was fishing the weedlines and keying in on the late season feeding spree these fish put on just before the weather turns cold.
 Jeff Lankford was fishing  Lake Champlain when he caught this 6 pound lunker largemouth bass right near the boat launch in Ticonderoga

   Not only did I catch this 6 lb beauty in the morning on a Rebel Pop-R but I also caught LOADS! of 4 & 5 lb'ers all day long! All the fish were caught on the edge of the weedlines, in about 10 feet of water. If you have fished Lake Champlain you know the surface slop I'm talking about. By the way Snagproof 1/2 ounce tourney frogs are great dragging through this slop. I was also using a 1/2 ounce Roland Martin twin bladed buzzbait (Chartreuse) and I missed a couple lunkers that stopped my heart, I would guess some of the fish that came up and exploded on my buzzbait were pushing 10 pounds.

   The key is to fish the weedlines where the really thick weeds end and when you look into the water you can still see patches of weed growth about 2 feet below the surface, the water depth is about 10 -12 feet, the surface commotion just annoys the heck out of these huge fish! Another very productive method is to drag a Strike King Elite 1/2 ounce spinner bait through these weeds make sure to hit the spinner bait against the weeds this is when the bass or northern pike nail your lure. As soon as November arrived and it got very cold EVERYTHING just went into a complete shutdown mode. The best time is from beginning of September to late October, the fish just need to bulk up for the winter. Once that ice thaws its gonna be spring lunker time once again. Sincerely, Jeff Lankford



Jeff Lankford with a  9 pound  Northern Pike he caught from Lake Champlain.
   Pictured here is Jeff Lankford with a 9 pound Northern Pike he caught from Lake Champlain. He was using a Strike King Elite 1/2 ounce spinner bait and pulling it through the weeds in about 10 to 12 feet of water on the edge of the weedline. Thats when this nice Northern Pike clobbered his spinnerbait.

Fishing on Lake Champlain

  Lake Champlain is the sixth largest freshwater lake in the United States. It is 120 miles long and just over 10 miles wide at at its widest point. The lake has a maximum depth of just under 400 feet deep. Over 70 islands may be found in its clear waters. The lake forms a border with NY and Vermont on its eastern side. To the west it borders the Adirondack Mountains. There are over 30 major tributaries that drain into Lake Champlain. The outflow for Lake Champlain is the Richelieu River where it flows into the St. Lawrence River. At one time Lake Champlain briefly became the nation's sixth Great Lake when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. Following a small uproar the Great Lake status was rescinded.

  Lake Champlain is home to the following species of fish Atlantic Salmon, Black Bullhead, Black Crappie, Bowfin, Brook Trout, Brown Bullhead, Brown Trout, Burbot, Chain Pickerel, Channel Catfish, Common Carp, Lake Sturgeon, Lake Trout, Largemouth Bass, Longnose Gar, Muskie, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Steelhead, Walleye, Sauger, Suckers, Yellow Bullhead, and Yellow Perch. The forage base consist of Alewives, Blueback Herring, Smelt and Mooneyes.

Lake Champlain Reciprocal Fishing License This agreement allows anglers from either state to fish both state's shared boundary waters of Lake Champlain. Specifically, the agreement allows reciprocal fishing in the "Main" and "South" portions of Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont. Four bays, lying wholly within their State's borders, are not included in the agreement. South Bay in New York, and the Inland Sea, Mallett's Bay and Missisquoi Bay in Vermont are excluded. Anglers fishing on these waters must have a fishing license from the State in which the waterway is located. In addition, rivers that flow into Lake Champlain are excluded from the reciprocal agreement.



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Fishing on Lake Champlain, Jeff Lankford With A 6 Pound Lunker Largemouth Bass and a 9 pound Northern Pike from Lake Champlain
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