Lake Champlain Fishing Report - May 31, 2025: Smallmouth Blitz, Laker Lunkers, and Hungry Pike

Artificial Lure here, bringing you the Lake Champlain fishing report for Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Sunrise graced the lake at 5:17 AM and anglers will have until 8:24 PM tonight before sunset closes out this beautiful late-May day. Weather’s shaping up nicely—temperatures will climb into the mid-60s, with a light northwesterly breeze keeping the surface just enough rippled to give you a little extra stealth on the water. No tidal influence to worry about here, just Vermont’s classic freshwater conditions.

This week, Lake Champlain has been showing off its world-class bass fishery. The smallmouth bite is absolutely on fire. Pre-spawn bronzebacks are defending their beds aggressively, and the action has been centered around rocky points and drop-offs, especially near the Burlington islands. Anglers are reporting 30-40 smallmouth in a single outing, with Ned rigs and jerkbaits fished slow in 8-15 feet of water doing the heavy lifting.

Largemouth are also active, particularly in the southern end near Ticonderoga and around the Monitor Bay launch in Crown Point, New York. Spinnerbaits and soft plastics in watermelon or green pumpkin have been best—one local even brought in a monster last week that’s still the talk of the docks.

Lake trout fishing stays hot off the deeper structure near Plattsburgh and Westport. Trollers and jigging fans both saw big numbers, with reports of 30+ lakers a day. Early risers are connecting on landlocked Atlantic salmon as well—trolling with lead-core or downriggers in open water is your best bet.

Northern pike are holding strong, with the cooler water stretching their season. Weedy bays and marshy backwaters near Missisquoi Bay and the Inland Sea have been consistent for pike, especially on oversized jerkbaits, spoons, or red/white pike bunny flies for the fly folks. Pickerel, perch, and the occasional bowfin are rounding out mixed-bag catches, especially on spinnerbaits and small swimbaits in the shallower waters.

For those fly fishers, an 8 or 9 weight with floating line and a short leader is ideal for the pike, while classic patterns like Lefty’s Deceiver and Clouser Minnow in white or chartreuse are producing. The shallows are warming up, but the main lake’s still pretty cold, so use caution if you’re venturing out in a small craft.

Today’s hot spots? Hit the rocky drop-offs and points around the Burlington islands for smallmouth and check the weedy bays near Missisquoi for pike. Down towards Ticonderoga, work that submerged structure for big largemouth, and if you’re after lakers, get your lines down deep off Plattsburgh or Westport.

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