Casting and Catching on Lake Champlain's Bountiful August Bite

Lake Champlain anglers, this is Artificial Lure coming to you with your latest fishing report for August 6, 2025. The region’s been blessed with classic summer weather—warm temps today in the low 80s, some high cloud cover, and a soft southwest breeze that held steady at 7-10 mph most of the day. Sunrise slid in at 5:38 AM, painting the islands gold, and sunset's at 8:13 PM, giving you ample daylight to chase that next big one. Water clarity is good, with surface temps sitting right around 74°F, and wave heights have stayed modest, creating safe boating conditions across most of the lake, according to the National Weather Service in Burlington.

With a full moon last night—the “Buck Moon”—there’s been plenty of nocturnal fish activity. Early morning and dusk are still your premium bite windows: predator species like smallmouth and largemouth bass have been actively feeding on the flats and around rocky points at first and last light, typical for August. Northern pike and pickerel have been cruising the weed beds, while reports out of the deeper basins from local anglers, like sam_hanggi_fishing, confirm success jigging up lake trout in 70-90 feet near Juniper Island and Outer Mallets Bay.

If you're targeting bass, the Bassmaster Kayak Series, which hit Champlain last weekend, showed that shallow running squarebill crankbaits, black and blue chatterbaits, and weightless Senkos are getting hammered in the grass and along breaklines—especially in Missisquoi Bay and around the mouth of the LaPlatte River. Ned rigs and drop shots are also putting numbers in the boat off gravel and rock transitions. For natural bait, live crawlers and golden shiners drifted just outside thick weed lines are coaxing up both smallmouth and the occasional chunky perch.

Lake trout have been keyed on white and silver tube jigs or 3” flutter spoons—anglers working those deeper humps off Split Rock and the Colchester Reef are finding quality fish. Early risers out of the Lamoille and Winooski river mouths are still connecting with some bonus walleye at dawn, mostly on chartreuse jigheads tipped with nightcrawlers.

Here’s your quick hot spot rundown if you’re launching soon:
1. Missisquoi Bay: Still loaded with fish and decent weed edges—try a walking topwater at first light.
2. Juniper Island ledges: Deepwater trout and the occasional bonus salmon, perfect for vertical jigging and trolling.
3. The Sandbar Causeway: Classic summer panfish site, also solid bass fishing along the drop-offs.

Boat launches at Access Road, Isle La Motte and Apple Island Resort remain open and are seeing good use—arrive early if you want a spot on weekends. For those looking for shore access, the Colchester Causeway and the South Hero F&W access provide an easy option for families and casual anglers.

Word from the camps and the Apple Island Resort is the bite’s better than it’s been in weeks, so make the most of these mild evenings and the full moon cycle. Remember, August is a prime month for landing a “double”—bass in the morning, trout in the deep by noon.

Thanks for tuning in to your local Lake Champlain fishing report. Be sure to subscribe for updates as the season heats up. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.

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