Fishing Reports
41 Fishing Reports
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Carolina Rigs
Structure
Pilings
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
68°
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
75°
in the Southern basin I caught most of my fish flipping outside weedlines in 7-10 ft of water. I used a spike-it pen to tip just the ends of flappers on the D-bomb and it seemed to help. The biggest fish, 4.25 lbs came on a drop shot in 4 ft but most fish shallow were 2lbs or less
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
75°
Pitch this setup around sparse grass to trick lethargic bass into biting!
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Bladed Jigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
79°
Fishing on a flat, sunny day we had our best success ripping the tops of submerged milfoil and eel grass with chatterbaits and squarebills on flats in 3-5 ft of water. Also caught a few on lunker logs around docks and laydowns
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Caught fishing from dock casting out. Standard Texas rig worm. Tak hooks pair well with 5" worm. Very sharp. Easy and solid hook sets.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Worming)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Crawfish
Water Temperature
78°
Used Blue Savage Craw Texas rigged with Mustad Alpha Point Tak 2/0 hook. First cast caught a 2 1/2 pound largemouth. These hooks are super sharp. Easy solid hook set.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Matted Grass
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
74°
in the southern basin the water was high and off color got several fish flipping in dollar pads and water chestnut, had several blowups on the frog but only hooked one and had a pike cut me off. Also fished along rock walls and had good success on the dropshot
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Structure Jigs
Structure
Docks
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
77°
Skipping jig under docks with large end platforms provided several nice 4 1/2lb bites on those days where the wind makes fishing offshore for smallies difficult
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Finesse Jigs
Structure
Pilings
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
69°
Suspended largemouth in the bridge pilings were around and cooperating
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Bladed Jigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
75°
fishing the southern basin we caught most of our bass on outside weedlines with the chatterbait ,also had some success flipping islated weed clumps. Did have some blow ups on frogs but no hook ups. The water was stained more than usual due to recent rains but the water level was about normal
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
64°
Took my father (a lifelong live bait angler) to Champlain for a weekend. He’s never caught fish with any regularity on ANY artificial presentation. He hadn’t even heard of a Ned rig. Let me tell you this man out fished both myself AND our guide, throwing this single soft plastic! Don’t get me wrong we all caught some good fish, but he caught the biggest bag of all of us on the boat. 7-8 hours on the boat, one single plastic.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Reeds
Forage
Bluegill
Water Temperature
71°
Finished 1st in a local tournament, with largemouth bass, in an area usually dominated by smallmouth. Found fish in a stretch of reeds and decided flipping was the way to go. Reeds are unforgiving, so even though a really heavy weight isn't necessary, since there's nothing to punch through, heavy braided line and a very sturdy rod are imperative to make a good hookset and pull the fish out. The key to the technique is keeping your bait close to the water with an underhand cast, so that your bait makes almost no disturbance on the surface of the water when it lands. Fish bite on the initial fall the majority of the time, but not always, and bites can be indistinguishable from the sinker getting stuck on debris or vegetation. So if anything feels out of the ordinary, set the hook like you are trying to pull the feet out from under a hippo before it knows you are there. On this particular day, covering a lot of water was crucial. There's a lot of good looking reeds on Champlain, but most of the fish hang out in certain stretches.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Frogs/Toads
Structure
Matted Grass
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
73°
Froggin' milfoil mats in the setbacks of southern Champlain will never get old. Tie a frog on, make sure you have a good sturdy rod, like the Sixgill Anura, or 6th Sense Vega rods, dial your reel in so that you can send kermit into orbit, and let 'er fly! Once the frog hits the water, let it sit for a few seconds. Sometimes bass will inspect the bait and then hit, but any movement seems suddenly discouraging. If no strike, either pull the frog a few inches at a time to mimic an actual frog, or walk it. Walking can take some practice, but the side to side action is deadly. Always keep an extra foot of slack line between your rod tip and the frog, and twitch it with a relatively steady rhythm, immediately letting the line have its slack each time. When you get a bite, in your head count to one thousand two, before you set the hook to make sure the fish has committed to eating. Many times, the fish will only have the frog by a butt whisker, and a premature hookset can cause more heartache than a premature e, uh anyway, if your frog is still floating after the blow up, and you managed to stifle your urge to set the hook, there's a good chance that fish will keep trying.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Points
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
78°
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Points
Forage
Minnows
Downsized and caught some finicky, bigger fish. Don’t sleep on this little package
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Drop Shot
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Perch
Water Temperature
70°
Overall fishing was slow for us but managed to find the right ones. Isolated boulders in 8-12ft with vegetation was key. Smallmouth and largemouth were mixed in places. They seemed to want the bait moving some rather than the typical drop shot method so the small Keitech seemed to entice them to bite quicker with a slow drag of the bait.
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Submerged Vegetation
Forage
Bluegill
Pitching the Flippin Delight around submerged milfoil is the way to go this time of year! The claws kick even with a light weight!
Species
Largemouth Bass
Season
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Ledges
Forage
Alewife
Water Temperature
72°
Water levels are around 3 ft high in the southern basin. Flipped around rock walls and rip rap banks produced several fish. The biggest of the day came on a wacky worm on an inside weed edge