Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 8:00 pm Post subject: Lake Champlain - Plattsburgh, NY 05/14 and 05/15
Fishface (aka Tim), DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I fished Lake Champlain with Captain Mickey J. Maynard (aka Captain Mick) of Lake Champlain Angler Charters (www.LakeChamplainAngler.com) aboard Float Me Alone, his 25 foot Bayliner:
We had planned to fish from his 22 foot center console, but the weather absolutely sucked for a Spring weekend. We got on the water from Plattsburgh, NY, at 7:00 am. It was totally overcast and cold all day, with air temperatures from the high 50s to the mid 60s. The water temperature in the main body of the lake ranged from 42 to 46 degrees. There were just light winds as a storm front slowly moved through from the north and west. We headed across the lake to Grand Isle on the Vermont side:
The warm 53 degree water flowing through the spot attracted bait fish and landlocked Atlantic salmon. We trolled small Rapalas 12 to 17 feet deep using downriggers and slid spoons down the lines to each downrigger in 20 to 28 feet of water. We missed the first two hooksets before I landed a two pound smallie. Shortly afterward, Tim also landed a smallie:
Finally, Derek landed what we initially thought might be a steelhead trout because of it's vivid rainbow colors, but turned out to be an Atlantic salmon:
The photo and video don't do justice to the fish. It was iridescent. We ended up with three smallies, five salmon and two yellow perch at that spot:
I couldn't believe that Tim's fatty smallie weighed only three pounds, two ounces. The salmon hit the spoons dangling off of the downrigger balls and the other fish hit the Rapalas on the ends of the lines. When the bite slowed and the boat and shore fishing traffic picked up at the spot, we headed back over to the New York side to troll the bottom for lake trout in 70 to 74 feet of water. We dragged balls and chains on the bottom with willow blade flashers on the line above a lake troller/cowbell/propeller lure. The finder marked a ton of bait and fish around the edges of a 95 foot deep hole in the middle of the spot. We got one hit, but the treble hook on the lure flipped over and embedded itself in the lure. After that, the weather went to Hell. Captain Mick noticed that the rising fog had suddenly turned into a whiteout, so we raised the fishing gear, turned on the navigation lights and headed for the shore:
As the rain came up, we finally got a hit and I landed a nine pound, six ounce laker:
We trolled around until 4:00 pm, but didn't get any more hits. With the rain coming down in more than a drizzle and the fog continuing to rise, we called it a day and headed off the water. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Mon May 16, 2011 6:36 pm; edited 6 times in total
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 7:25 am Post subject:
Dropped back a foot from crest to 102.1, which is still more than a foot over flood stage. With today's and the coming week's rain, it's going back up.
On the boat now. One Atlantic salmon, one northern pike and one smallmouth bass so far. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT
Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 9:27 pm Post subject:
Had a great time with some fantastic company. The weather was rough but Captain Mick still put us on fish and we had a boatload of fun. Can't wait to do it again. I have some vids and pics but I need some sleep so they'll have to wait
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Sun May 15, 2011 10:18 pm Post subject: Sunday 05/15
We had lousy weather. The air cooled. The wind blew. The rain fell. The water rose. Despite the terrible conditions, Captain Mick was a sport and put us on some fish, anyway. We landed one Atlantic salmon, one northern pike, one smallmouth bass and one yellow perch, all in the first hour after we started fishing and all while trolling:
After that, we hit a sheltered shoreline and banged the shore with Mepps number 5 inline bucktail spinners as we let the wind push us along. Tim got a nice two pound, 15 ounce smallie:
Derek landed a decent pike and I landed a yellow perch. However, as the rain worsened, so did the fishing. After the bite slowed on the inline spinners, we tried throwing spinnerbaits:
Unfortunately, we got nothing on the second drift with the spinnerbaits. We tried trolling again for a while, but the worsening conditions made it pretty brutal to be out on the spot where the salmon had been. We got a pretty good workout just keeping our feet on the tossing deck:
We tried to anchor, but with the rising wind and current, the anchor barely slowed us down. So we headed back to the sheltered shoreline for a final drift. Derek and Tim went back to the inline Mepps bucktail spinners, and I threw my Rapala Clackin' Crank. I got follows to the boat from a 30+ inch pike and a 20 incher, but neither would commit to biting the lure. Tim also got a follow from a 20 incher but it, too, turned away at the boat. We called it a day after Captain Mick landed a 20 inch pike and headed back to the launch.
Thanks, again, to Captain Mick for taking three Nutmegger idiots out on the water in rough conditions and putting them on some fish. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Last edited by PECo on Mon May 16, 2011 6:26 pm; edited 1 time in total
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 10:04 am Post subject:
The only fish we kept was the landlocked Atlantic salmon that Derek landed on Sunday. He was kind enough to let me have it and I grilled it up whole for breakfast this morning. It was delicious, although it tasted like trout, not salmon. My kids and my wife liked it, too. _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
I'm glad you guys had a good time, despite the weather! Captain Mick is awesome. I have a charter of my own scheduled for a few weeks. We're planning on targeting pike and largemouth.
I too was in Lake Champlain this weekend, but far to the south. There was extremely rough water Sunday (it was pretty calm after 3 p.m. or so Saturday), so I can only imagine what it was like up near Platts.
The water has turned my lawn into a beach. We have several feet of rock leading to the water to help prevent erosion, but it looks like we'll need to add a foot or two more if we can ever get the permit. I also have the parts and pieces to several docks littering my yard, maybe 6 or 7 feet from the water, so I guess it was significantly higher earlier.
Anyway, glad you all had fun _________________ J.P.
The only fish we kept was the landlocked Atlantic salmon that Derek landed on Sunday. He was kind enough to let me have it and I grilled it up whole for breakfast this morning. It was delicious, although it tasted like trout, not salmon. My kids and my wife liked it, too.
Hi Phil!
Yeah! Landlocked Salmon do taste like trout -> Still delicious!
Kind of hard though to come back, after fishing for fish that big, to our Ct. fish.
As they say -> "Size Does Makes a Difference"
Congrats guys. Sweet pics and vids! _________________ I Love My Fishing And NASCAR. But When There Is ICE On The Pond Bet Your Britches I Will Be There.
Bassin In The Summer Perchin In The Winter Mr. Green
Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT
Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 6:31 pm Post subject:
J.P.
There was a lot of debris in the water, including some logs. I hope that the water recedes before you get out there. Captain Mick said that the pike might not have been biting because they were guarding their beds or fry and just wanted to chase off the lures. I was standing on the front of the Bayliner about three feet over the water, so I got a good look at the 30+ incher that followed my crankbait up to the boat. Man, that was frustrating!
Phil _________________ Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!
Yeah, there's a ton of debris in the water, and even more in my yard! Our dock/deck got pretty banged up (the deck especially was never designed to be the shoreline), but we've been joking that on the bright side, at least there's parts and pieces to half a dozen other docks sitting on the lawn to repair it with
We primarily went up there to spring clean, so we only fished for a few hours, but we had to take care and go slow. Sure, we know where the obstructions WERE, but who knows where they ARE now? For example, for the past few years there has been this incredibly productive submerged tree within perfect casting distance of my dock. Now, it appears to have been moved three-four casts away towards the middle of the lake... That kind of sucks.
I'm also concerned that the bowfin fishing won't be that great this year. Our lakefront has traditionally produced big fins in the 8-10lb range, but that was when our lakefront was 3-4 deep for several casts. Now it seems to be 7+ feet deep, and I'm worried that will have a negative effect for awhile. Maybe not, we'll see.
Anyway, caught an 18.6lb channel cat off the dock, so I guess that'll have to do (they never were as prevalent as bowfin though). Several largemouths but only one pickerel, and had to go into the woods to get it. Tough fishing, but fun. _________________ J.P.
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