relatively easy to find information on fishing conditions and what it takes to win year after year . But Champlain has changed exponentially over the years , with smallmouth becoming more dominant in winning bags and largemouth playing less of a role in the outcome .
Two anglers who have made their names known in MLF events almost exclusively fishing Champlain are Vermont angler J . J . Judd and New York ’ s Alec Morrison . Judd has a Phoenix Bass Fishing League triumph on the lake , finished in the Top 10 in last year ’ s Toyota Series and has collected eight Top 10s in 17 MLF tournaments on Champlain . Morrison has three Top 5 finishes of his own on Champlain .
Both offered their insights on the fishery and its current state , how it has changed , and why .
About the Fishery
Lake Champlain is enormous , stretching north-south for more than 100 miles , with waters in New York , Vermont and Canada . The vast fishery offers virtually limitless room for anglers to roam , but a handful of traditionally productive locations tend to draw the most attention and fishing pressure .
The southern end of the lake is full of milfoil beds that are perfect for targeting largemouth around Ticonderoga ( also known as “ Ti ”), and the Inland Sea on the northern end has become a smallmouth angler ’ s dream . The miles between the two also provide ample water to catch healthy bass of either species .
Morrison is expecting better largemouth fishing this year because of the water levels on the lake , which began the spring already higher than they were last summer ( with more water still to come from rain and snowmelt ).
“ The higher water years are always better for largemouth in milfoil and ‘ Ti ’ should be a factor again – it really hasn ’ t been ( a factor ) in the last few years ,” Morrison said . “ More anglers will probably try it down there this year and somebody will figure it out because there ’ s more opportunity with higher water . The low water years are always dominated by smallmouth .”
Morrison also believes the higher water levels will add to the potential productivity of docks throughout the lake .
“ You can stick to docks with higher water and have success with largemouth , but that can be a grind ,” Morrison said . “ You have to cover so many docks to run into enough big largemouth to have enough for a multiday tournament .”
Judd believes finding groups of big smallmouth is now the way to win on Lake Champlain . That ’ s certainly what happened last year , with just about every major event win coming from one area : The Inland Sea .
“ There was a ‘ magic hole ’ that everyone went to last year , and it accounted for all of the big wins ,” he said . “ Finding a big group of fish like that is what it takes to win on Champlain . If someone can stumble onto something like that , they ’ ll be hard to beat . There are plenty of places it could happen . It could be the Inland Sea again or somewhere on the main lake like around Rouses Point .”
Summer Progression
According to Judd , late July and August are some of the best times to visit Champlain . He says it ’ s far enough from the spawn to have the fish in a biting mood and stacked up in areas .
“ There ’ s still a small handful of bass spawning the first part of July , but by the time August rolls around , the fish are in a full-on summer pattern ,” Judd said . “ The smallmouth will have had time to regroup from the spawn and be grouped up in 20 to 45 feet of water chasing smelt and alewives .”
Morrison believes that July is the toughest month of the year , but August is the start of the best fishing of the year : fall .
“ July is hard to get more than five big bites a day – the fish over 4 pounds you need to get to that 20-pound mark that it takes each day to win here ,” Morrison said . “ Anglers tend to split up in the summer between shallower stuff for postspawn bass , and the rest stick to fishing deeper . Fishing deep is usually the way to go in July and August because you have fish coming to you instead of leaving the shallows . It continues to get better from there .”
The Champlain Switch
For many years , smallmouth were the safe bet to get tournament checks , but largemouth bass were the way to win . That ’ s changed in the last five years , according to Judd . Now , smallmouth are the more reliable way to get a win .
“ Smallmouth have become the dominant species and ticket to win all of the events here ,” Judd said . “ There are so many schools of 4-pounders out there , and they ’ ve gotten bigger . Now with forward-facing sonar , there ’ s no place for them to hide .”
Morrison agrees with Judd and says that electronics have been the biggest reason for the switch .
“ Everyone is now out there ‘ scoping with forward-facing sonar and they ’ ve figured out how to catch those deep fish ,” he said . “ Sticking to the offshore deal for smallmouth has become the way to win tournaments here in the summer .”
Judd also believes that largemouth were mainly a non-factor last year because of the lower water level , but the number of largemouth in tournament-winning bags has been diminishing for years .
“ I believe with so many fish being brought up to Plattsburgh ( New York ) for tournament weigh-ins , it ’ s changed where the largemouth live because everyone has brought them up from ‘ Ti ’ for years ,” Judd said . “ Overall , it seems like there are not as many largemouth as before , and they ’ re more spread out now .”
Judd also points to diminishing areas of milfoil , which used to be vast and full of largemouth in predictable places .
“ There hasn ’ t been as much grass the past few years , which led to the largemouth not being concentrated in small areas like they used to be ,” Judd said . “ It was nothing to catch 50 largemouth in a big grass area down in ‘ Ti ,’ but the area didn ’ t factor last season and Missisquoi Bay ( Quebec ) hasn ’ t been good in years . Both of those areas always had the potential to win tournaments and accounted for some big wins over the years .”
While the makeup of Lake Champlain has changed recently , it ’ s still a premier fishery that consistently produces big bags . The shifting population mix is just one of the factors that anglers now have to account for when tackling the famed fishery .
JUNE-JULY 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 87