2020 Summary heading into Frostbite Nov/Dec

Share info on fishing Champlain.
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digitroll (ron)
Posts: 3676
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:58 pm

2020 Summary heading into Frostbite Nov/Dec

Post by digitroll (ron) »

This years season was a bit more interesting with Covid 19 as fishing was one of the few things people could do isolated with family those first 3 months. My season started March 11th out of Converse with a buddy and then Covid shut everything down and had to go solo. I decided to give Bulwagga at the bridge a solid effort with ethanol fuel at a Vergennes gas station at $1.57 a gallon topping the boat and truck off every few trips. 1 hour and 10 minutes each way solo at 4:30 am start from Essex I made 10 trips in April and May a 100 mile round trip. With 2 riggers and 2 rods it was a week day sample for me and challenge on the better days launching under the bridge. Previously I had only fished down there 3 maybe 4 times the prior years. I had a few good days and some days a skunk and a few days with 2-3 salmon. It was a good experiment and challenge with 2 rods with 7-8 hour days!

Moved on to the Inland Sea for a few trips in late May and early June with some good success with browns / salmon / walleye. Broad lake north of Providence to the Sister Islands as I had one good day out of 3-4 tries over there. Shelburne Bay was red hot the year before 2 weeks before the LCI derby and this year we managed 2 salmon the week before the LCI with our only one try with no boat traffic. Haven't fished Willsboro or the Ausable in 3-4 years. Malletts and Outer bay yields a few fish the year before and this year just one salmon for me. St. Albans bay a skunk one day for a few hours.

Southern part of the lake south of Split to Barber point was pretty good on and off this season mostly NY side until August 22nd with some very nice fish. Also the Vermont side from Basin Harbor up to Town Farm has a few good outings as well.

The last 2 months I have fished 3 or 4 times on Champlain as Ontario took center stage with a first time visit to Oak Orchard and our Labor day week trip. We managed 54 landed salmon in 54 hours and 84 total bites. Also had a rare chance to fish Sabin Lake / Forest Lake / Mirror Lake up for 4 days in South Woodbury on a stay vacation due to Covid in Vermont with our family cancelling our family trip to Tennessee. That was a blast catching rainbows in that crystal clear water with no other boats in sight.

The new engine has 330 hours of use on it since break-in last mid December. A dozen trips tubing with the kids and their friends added to the usage. I did get a lot of first time people out on my boat this year beginning in June when things started improving with Covid. As people were binge watching TV at home I had a chance to binge fish this season which include those early 10 trips to the Champlain bridge. Had some nice fish landed and a few lost this year and it was a better season than the the last few years during this time frame. Looking forward to the Frostbite season November / December to finish out hopefully on a strong note.
Gecha (Gerry)
Posts: 4448
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:26 pm
Species: whatever crazy enough to bite

Re: 2020 Summary heading into Frostbite Nov/Dec

Post by Gecha (Gerry) »

Nice recap Ron. You surely spent a lot of time on the water this year. Still many good fishing days ahead.
Gecha (Gerry North of the Border)
digitroll (ron)
Posts: 3676
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:58 pm

Re: 2020 Summary heading into Frostbite Nov/Dec

Post by digitroll (ron) »

Thanks Gerry... Running about 3 times the average time spent on the water by October 1st. Not a bad thing. Looking forward to November thru December 10th when the salt on the roads shut us down typically in early December. One year we did make it to the 20th with nearly no snow and salt was minimal. I have never been fond of dragging a boat and trailer 40 minutes each way thru a wet salt slurry road. That 5 week window we hit the nice days when we can during the week while many are out in the woods. Had a lot of fun with the Go Pro 8 camera and editing our fishing trips into 1 minute 40 second You Tube videos for my channel the last 3 months.
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