Lake Champlain United - Forums

One day last year in early July I watched a 25' Wellcraft Sportsman with inline boards out pulling lead and 3 guys in the boat go by me like I was standing still in NY water. 10 minutes later the Wellcraft looked like a utility boat in the distance!

We all know what happens in July as the doldrums set in and the salmon scatter. In June the fish are easy to find and the big ones come to the net easy the week before and during the LCI. But after a blow and July turns the calendar lets face it we can troll all day and catch a few dink salmon on those days. It's all too easy to catch Mr. Lake Trout laying on the bottom and hitting anything going by whether jigging or trolled by. The bottom is thick with them all year round. But..thats not our quarry!

Trolling 3.5 / 4.0 or even 4.5 miles per hour you can cover a lot of water. And these fish will come up from the deep to hit a fast lure at 50 feet out of temperature if the thermocline is at 90 feet after a blow.

I will be going to a fast program this Summer with my typical 4-5 hour fishing windows as I don't have the window to fish 8-10 hour days at 2.2 mph. The Mag Lip by Yakima Bait in the 2.5 and 3.0 sizes crank bait can be trolled up to 4.5 mph. Tamiron's HoneyBee MP6 heavier version just came out for the fast trolling option.

Someone asked me why we troll so slow on Champlain for salmon just the other day from out of state? And I thought about that 25' Wellcraft last July.


Tamiron's Honybee Heavy MP6:





The Mag Lip series in 2.5 and 3.0 sizes:

The old timers up in Maine used to say, "If you think you're going too fast, speed 'er up!"

i am excited for those heavy bees seeing the patterns on them.

Lake C tactics are close to what we use here in Maine with the exception of how deep you guys fish. Up here, the period when the salmon are still on, or near, the surface but out over deep water, the killer method is to troll 3, 3.5, or even 4 mph. Sinking flyline or a weight rod system helps and streamers work well, as do heavy Suttons and stickbaits. As C-Hawk just said, if you think you are trolling fast, kick it up.

The only drawback might be missing a few brownies, I don't believe they are as agressive as the salmon. Also why wait until the bite cools off? I think the boat in question fishes this way all the time.

True Jeff! We have seen that Wellcraft a few times last June and July. The metric to think about is water (distance) covered when hunting for fish. Faster = More distance. Just like time on water = More opportunities for larger salmon. Merge the two!

Another lure that doesn't get much attention on Champlain and works well at higher speeds is the Cecil's Smelt. It has a turned down eye and you should use a Turle knot, much like a streamwr fly. Very popular in Maine.

It's something to try and not replacing what works for us when the fish are located. Especially after a blow and things are in a state of flux with temperature and the fish are scattered.

The Harry is good speed Demon to.

I'm going to try trolling for salmon and lakers on northern Lake George in a couple of weeks-- any advice for a newbie? Assuming weather is passable I'll be in a 16' boat 20hp four stroke and electric trolling motor. GPS as speedometer. I assume I'll be flat lining as I did once off L.Champlain sandbar. Just want to be safe and catch some fish. Thanks.

Go to Port Henry instead.

C-Hawk wrote:Go to Port Henry instead.

X2. And I might know a thing about Lake george

My 2 cents is you guys need to get away from the rigger / slide diver program come July. Copper and wire line dipsy flasher fly catches some nice ones.

listen to harry (hairbone) and jeff (chawk) go to port henry. fmb bait in port henry has also the heavier honey bees in stock.

Trolling faster. When I wanted to do this on Ontario, I invented the OPTIMIZERS as a high speed trolling spoon. They are now sold by TRINIDAD TACKLE and the site is appropriately named http://www.OPTIMIZERLURES.COM.

I think that those of you that may be considering this speed technique, be wary of a lure that isn't designed just for high speed. If it isn't in the design, then pulling it faster may cause an unnatural motion. The OPTIMIZER could be run anywhere from 3.25 to 6mph and never spin out! Flies without a dodger can also be run at a wide range. A lot of people claim that their products are speed insensitive ... just simply isn't true. You can modify your presentation by adding weight as in the size of the hook or the snap / snap swivel. but again be careful of the spinout. I would do you a great disservice to claim or recommend that you pull the Ultra or Regular BEES at a fast speed without some serious modifications! The jury is still out on the CASTING and the HEAVY TROLLING BEEs.

Lastly, it beats your equipment up, doesn't leave much room for error and doesn't always work! A lot of products that are speed sensitive can be run in the same presentation mode, but a slow presentation product at fast speeds will probably spin out and often ruin your entire spread.

I suggest that with every tool, learn how to do it, when things are slow. When Water is cold, the fish are often less aggressive . . . less speed.