Lake Champlain United - Forums

3/15/2016 i went down to big bay tonight for and hour and half with my nephews son to spin cast for salmon and browns since the ice went out . my nephews son was already fishing when i got there with no hits. i walked past him about 30 yards and started casting. 4th cast fish on and a good one. i struggled at times to keep him up so im thinking either laker or brown. after a brief strong fight it was 10 feet from shore and he surfaced and i knew i was in trouble as he opened his mouth wide and busted water he twisted the hooks right out of him. it was a nice big fat brown. guessing and thinking maybe 5lbs. a few cast later i had a good hit close to shore and missed. next cast another hit in the same spot and i saw the fish a smallmouth bass. then until we went home i had one more decent hit and my nephews son 0 hits. strange we both had on the same rainbow krocodiles color. im hoping we have another good year down here close to home. saw some smelt or alewifes surface before we left.

fishy1 wrote:3/15/2016 i went down to big bay tonight for and hour and half with my nephews son to spin cast for salmon and browns since the ice went out . my nephews son was already fishing when i got there with no hits. i walked past him about 30 yards and started casting. 4th cast fish on and a good one. i struggled at times to keep him up so im thinking either laker or brown. after a brief strong fight it was 10 feet from shore and he surfaced and i knew i was in trouble as he opened his mouth wide and busted water he twisted the hooks right out of him. it was a nice big fat brown. guessing and thinking maybe 5lbs. a few cast later i had a good hit close to shore and missed. next cast another hit in the same spot and i saw the fish a smallmouth bass. then until we went home i had one more decent hit and my nephews son 0 hits. strange we both had on the same rainbow krocodiles color. im hoping we have another good year down here close to home. saw some smelt or alewifes surface before we left.

I am going to be keeping an eye on you Matt..... Bad enough you lost the fish on the leadcore rod you grabbed last fall when it was my turn....now you go on down to the bay and put a party boat mugging on your nephews son and get ahead of him and cut the fish off from getting to the kid Looking forward to this springs stories. Stay safe jumping on the rocks!

3/16/2016 got down to big bay tonight around 6 pm to do some spin casting . about 15 minutes into casting i had a very strong hit but no taker. then the rain started to fall and i hurried to the car. fished for only about 20 minutes. i did see 2 nice salmon bust water but about 100 yards out.

3/25/2016 fished down at big bay this evening for approx an hour. water was stained so i went with a gold/orange krocodile. had a good hit soon after started casting. then just before i left a solid hit that turned out to be a pickeral. water was really cold and the wind was brisk out of the west.

Looks like half of the week will be a south wind. Can only get better as the days go on.

Hairbone wrote:Looks like half of the week will be a south wind. Can only get better as the days go on.

i hope so and i hope the water clears up some. wasnt really muddy but was stained the whole length where i was at in big bay.

Matt I'll be available anytime this week to take a trip up so let me know when we can meet up...Jimbow

jimbow wrote:Matt I'll be available anytime this week to take a trip up so let me know when we can meet up...Jimbow

okay jim ill let you know.

3/30/2016 cold 23 degrees but went down to big bay casting for an hour this morning. 3rd cast on a 1/2 ounce krocodile rainbow fish on landed a nice 20 inch salmon then approx 15 or 20 more casts and fish on again but shook loose about half way in. never fished this spot before but will again soon.no pics i was alone and i released the salmon without taking it completely out of the water. fished the stream back up to the car with no takers. 2 boats out in front of me trolling. dont think either saw me there on shore.

Matt, things are looking up! Thanks for the report

3/30/2016 went back down to big bay this afternoon and landed another salmon approx 21 or 22 inches. fished from 4:30 pm to 6 pm and had one other hit. saw one bust water a ways out that completly came out of the water at least 2 to 3 feet. water was stained and it was very windy with white caps and it cleared those white caps. had a blue/silver 1/2 ounce krocodile on this afternoon.

3/31/2016 went down to the lake at 6 pm casting on shore to one of my favorite spots but was tough casting into the stiff wind. so i decided to try another spot out of the wind in front of a little stream with the water depth no more than 4 feet. i was there about ten minutes when i had a freight train hit and my rod started bouncing wildly and then nothing but slack and then my rod doubles over again and big fish on. what a beast and before i know it it rolls out there and twist those small treble hooks on that johnson splinter right out of his mouth. i saw that beasts back and it was very wide and i was thinking brown all the way but later lake trout came to mind also they way it rolled on the water. really doesnt matter now but one thing im sure of it was a beast of a fish. had 2 more good hits before dark and no takers. a wild day on the river early this morning and a wild one hour close to home this evening.

I'm surprised that all the fish in your neighborhood don't have callouses on their jaw from you hooking them so often.

C-Hawk wrote:I'm surprised that all the fish in your neighborhood don't have callouses on their jaw from you hooking them so often.

jeff there are to many fish in champlain where i live to even dent them with callouses in their jaws. bullwagga alone is three miles long. im having fun trying though. when are you coming up?

fishy1 wrote:

C-Hawk wrote:I'm surprised that all the fish in your neighborhood don't have callouses on their jaw from you hooking them so often.

jeff there are to many fish in champlain where i live to even dent them with callouses in their jaws. bullwagga alone is three miles long. im having fun trying though. when are you coming up?

probably in 2 weeks. We're still in Fla. I'll let you know.