Lake Champlain Fishing Report: Smallies Sizzling, Lakers Lurking, Panfish Primed

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, August 30th Lake Champlain fishing report. The sun poked up at 6:14 this morning and it’ll tuck away at 7:31 tonight, so we've got plenty of daylight to chase the bite. Weather’s classic late-summer Champlain—starting off cool in the low 60s, warming up with calm winds most of the day and just a hint of haze out on the open water. Looks like stable barometer pressure and no storms rolling in, which means ideal fishing conditions for most of the day.

Now, tides don’t swing much on Champlain since she’s an inland lake, but river mouths like the Ausable and Otter Creek show increased movement mid-morning and then again late afternoon as water levels ebb and flow from upstream. That’ll get the baitfish moving and predators on the hunt.

Fish are active and spread out this week. High reports of lively smallmouth and largemouth, with some impressive numbers. According to the Lake Champlain, Vermont/New York Daily Fishing Report podcast, smallmouth are sizzling along rocky shorelines and shallower humps, with catches up to 4 pounds not rare. Largemouth are gravitating to weedlines and flooded timber, especially in Missisquoi Bay and the inland coves south of Plattsburgh—multiple bass over 5 pounds came in this week. Don’t overlook the lake trout and landlocked salmon either; trolling 50-70 feet down in deep holes north of Split Rock and near Juniper Island has produced solid catches, mostly on classic spoons.

Pan fisherman, this is prime time—with good numbers of yellow perch and slab crappie reported in Otter Creek just off the Fort Cassin ramp and in the South Bay area. Ironically, a few lucky folks also plucked some late-season steelhead and browns at the mouths of tributaries, working small spinners at dawn.

Best lures? For smallmouth and largemouth, Lake Champlain Bassmaster events and local guides alike recommend Ned rigs, green pumpkin tubes, and drop-shot rigs with shad-colored baits for the rocks and points. A lot of folks are swearing by 3–4 inch swimbaits this week around dock pilings. For reaction strikes in low light, you can’t go wrong with a squarebill crankbait or a buzzbait skipped along the edges of submerged grass—Kyoya Fujita’s Bassmaster-winning approach with a squarebill worked magic last tournament. Largemouth are smashing live shiners or a jig-and-craw combo.

Lake trout and salmon are hitting trolled spoons—think orange and silver or blue and chrome. Early morning, set your riggers just above the thermocline, which is hanging around 55 feet right now. For panfish, use small hair jigs and fathead minnows on a slip float near brush piles and creek mouths.

Now, let’s talk hot spots. If you want numbers and size for smallies, Kingsland Bay and the chunk rock out from Valcour Island are two of the hottest tickets lately. Work the rocky transitions 8 to 18 feet deep. For largemouth, look to Missisquoi Bay and the south end of Carry Bay—flip creature baits into heavy grass and wait for that telltale thump. For trollers, that deep trench off Juniper Island and the mouth of Otter Creek have yielded both big lakers and some surprise salmon early.

Water clarity remains good, but remember the Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program is on the water with more conservation work, so let’s keep those launches clean and respect any signage at river mouths as habitat work continues.

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