Lake Champlain United - Forums

I don't have much useful to report, but I figured I'd just get it out there in case it's helpful to anyone. I've been out quite a bit.

The first day I went out, I fished from shore and found salmon. I have since been unable to duplicate my success.

I've fished twice near White's Beach in Grand Isle. I put the kayak in at Allen Point both times. The first time had a North wind (last week). Skunked. Yesterday I had a south wind around 10-15mph. There's a lot of fetch for waves there in a south wind. I caught one fat laker off the small point between Allen point and White's beach.

It seems like a promising spot, in theory: a south-facing beach to warm the water and attract salmon and browns. Does anyone fish there?

I've fished three times in Town Farm Bay. Skunk festival! Today I made my way from Town Farm into Converse to get shelter from the south wind. I hooked up by Garden Island! Yo-Zuri brown got the bite, around 20 feet down in 25fow. It didn't feel like a laker. And I lost it! Dammit.

I've mostly been fishing close to the surface. A ShadRap runs about 6 feet down (with no weight), and last year it was my best lure for browns. My other line has a stickbait or a spoon with a splitshot, depending.
Today I changed it, and put on snap weights and ran the two rods at 16-20 and 27-30 feet.

I had a snap weight on with the fish I lost. I made an error that I've made before. You have to keep extra pressure on the fish when using snap weights! I only had one line out, so I turned the kayak towards the fish and even pedaled towards it a little. Don't do that!

I hope to see the fleet soon. As much as I love solo adventures, it's a lot safer with the fleet around!

(Kayak fishermen if you're reading this please be safe and stay near shore. The water is deadly cold! I'm wearing a drysuit, and I've practiced self-rescue).

great report maybe you better stick to shore safer and at least you will catch salmon. good luck

thanks for that report, troutcrazy. Lots of good info, plus it always makes me feel better when someone else gets skunked once in a while

good to see at least you got the one fat laker, hopefully many more to come !

Thanks for the report troutcrazy. All info is good info. Like Dilly said, it's good to hear that others besides me get skunked from time to time. That's what makes the CATCHING even more exciting for us folks.

Another kayak fisherman was coming in at Converse launch about 6pm last evening...No fish...

Repeated skunking here too. I have only caught perch in open water this year so far, boo. And I've lost several favorite lures to debris while all the tackle shops are closed I could try Walmart or Colchester Ace but I feel scummy going in for just a lure with all the restrictions. Oh and I broke my main rod at home trying to set the drag. Great start to 2020 open water...will post a report if I ever have anything worth reporting!

The water is 32- 35°F here in the Outer Bay. Cold! I am only heading out on very calm days and trying to stay close with the girlfriend and or/neighbors watching closely...

troutcrazy wrote: A ShadRap runs about 6 feet down (with no weight), and last year it was my best lure for browns.

troutcrazy the Shad Rap is my favorite lure! Do you mind saying what color / size you use?
My favorite is a #5 or #7 in the Silver pattern (looks like a plain minnow with black top and white bottom). I have caught lakers as well as tons of bass, pike, and fat perch on this. I also really like Challenger Minnows early in the season, especially the silver-black, green shiner, and metallic purple patterns. They also have a Junior Minnow which is the same but smaller. No, I don't work for Challenger! But their lures work well and are a few dollars less than Rapalas. They sell them at Dattilios and Colchester Ace.

Good luck everyone!

the_doctor wrote: troutcrazy the Shad Rap is my favorite lure! Do you mind saying what color / size you use?
My favorite is a #5 or #7 in the Silver pattern (looks like a plain minnow with black top and white bottom). I have caught lakers as well as tons of bass, pike, and fat perch on this. I also really like Challenger Minnows early in the season, especially the silver-black, green shiner, and metallic purple patterns. They also have a Junior Minnow which is the same but smaller. No, I don't work for Challenger! But their lures work well and are a few dollars less than Rapalas. They sell them at Dattilios and Colchester Ace.

I believe the color is "Helsinki Shad". It's the smallest size. It has a blue back , a chartreuse stripe on the lateral line, a white belly, and a black spot that suggests alewive. One of the reasons that I like it is that the action is very aggressive, and I can just clip it right to a snap swivel. Also, it's easy to feel it's vibration, and see it in the rod tip. It dives a little. It works slow or fast. You can cast it.

I bought a brown trout pattern Challenger at Norm's a couple years ago, and I've been using it this spring for the first time. It seems pretty similar to the yo-zuri pin's minnow, too.

Ooh, I caught a nice salmon today on the shad rap! In 16fow. The water temp was almost 3 degrees warmer than everywhere else.
Big fat salmon, just short of 22"! Boy, did it jump! I've caught them slightly longer, but I think this was my best one.
Keeler. It was my first time fishing salmon there. I did a LOT of pedaling before I found it.
I also caught a big pickerel.
There was one other boat, with planer boards, who seemed to know what they were doing. They reported no fish.
I was starting to wonder about the shad rap as a salmon lure. I did catch a couple on it last spring, but maybe it was a fluke. Today, I was also pulling a Yo-Zuri brown, which didn't get bit.

1st Keelers Salmon of the year and it was a jumper!!! Hmmm I was thinking Keelers today? Thanks for the report Troutcrazy.. Love reading your updates and the discussions on lures.. Some days a salmon will hit a beer can lid if they are in a feeding frenzy.. Those are great days to have a rod in your hand... Those shad raps seem to be a very versatile lure, a white one hammered a snook for me a few years ago in florida...

Fish on!

I bet that water is still pretty cold. I took a temperature of Lewis Creek above Rt 7 on Thursday and it was 41 degrees.

fishfarmer wrote:I bet that water is still pretty cold. I took a temperature of Lewis Creek above Rt 7 on Thursday and it was 41 degrees.

Surface temp was around 36.5 degrees in deep water. I caught the salmon in about 38.9 degrees.

The thermometer did hit 39 a couple times.

Two days skunk-free!
I caught another fat, jumping salmon today. About 8' of water. Again, the water temp was about 2 degrees warmer than the surrounding water.
Sandbar. It's the first time I've had luck there. I'm making it a point to fish closer to home, with the pandemic, and it's starting to pay off.
This one bit the Yo-zuri pin's minnow brown trout pattern. The Shad Rap wasn't deployed at the moment, to be fair. I'm keeping a tally.
It's hard to take a good pic in the kayak. This one had some battle scars! The lure popped right out when I netted it, for an easy release. Yesterday's salmon is in the smoker now.

nice salmon and thanks for the info !

FishUSA is still taking orders and shipping, and I just ordered a Helsinki Shad Rap from them after reading your reports...

Yesterday was my first on open water this year, started at Button Bay and rowed around the bay then up the VT shore into North Harbor then doubled back. no wind and completely calm. Water was very clear for this area and temp was steady 36.6 except around 38.6+ in Button Bay. Tried jr thundersticks on planer w/ 1 color lead, plus speedy shiner at various depths on the other line. Saw a few of what looked like bait clouds down around 40-60' plus occasional bigger marks which i tried chasing with the speedy shiner. Only saw 1 other boat and zero fish.

It was great to get out and back on water after a week stuck in the house... can't wait to try again and hope for better results !

Oakledge park is another great spot to put in. Access to shelburne bay. North beach too Closer to you the mouth of the lamoil river can be productive circling the drop off

fishy1 wrote:great report maybe you better stick to shore safer and at least you will catch salmon. good luck

I know, I just cant seem to catch one from shore on my side of the lake! I try and try. I've got a new idea for a new spot, though. Don't worry, I'm safe in my kayak. It's super-stable, and I'm dressed to stay dry and warm if I were to fall in (I've never fallen in, except when I've done it intentionally to practice).