As the years pass......

[GMD52]

I have lived here on Lake Champlain, at Long Point for 34 years, and the family has been here for 51 years this year. I would like to ask this forum a question.

In the 70's and 80's, I could, and did troll the Little Otter Creek, The bay around Gardner's Island , and Kingsland Bay, and have huge sucess on Walleye. Enter the 90's, and salmon and brown trout filled the live well, as they do today. All this success was with minimal equipment, lead core, surface streamers, stick baits, and heaven forbid, a nitecrawler on a harness. Move into the next decade and we all have bgger boats, more electronics, outriggers, downriggers, planer boards, dipsey divers, video cameras, side scan sonar, and onboard heads....But do we catch more fish, or does it just seem that we do.

My best luck still falls to the old methods....Longlining, and lead cores....But I'm a known dinosaur.
What are your memorys of days past, and your forecast for the future of the Lake Champlain fishery?

[Tire Jockey]

I've been here all of my life 47 years. I live just up the road from Long Point on Mt. Philo road. I remember going fishing with my Dad when i was a kid, leaving long point heading up the river with just the bare necessities. Couple of rods and some crawlers, we always caught lots of fish for dinner Dad loved his green mountain grabbers caught a lot of eyes on those back in the day.

No electronics no down riggers just lots of fun! We never trolled back in the day wasn't dad's thing. He loved perch fishing!
I have some old pics of him and his friend with stringers full of really nice eyes from the 70's.

Seems like things are turning around for the eye's stocking programs are bringing them back but i think a slot limit would help out a lot with the stocking program.

[fishmaster176]

When I was a kid, there were no Salmon or Lakers. You could catch huge Catfish, Bass, Northerns, Perch, Muskies, Walleye and an eel wasn't rare. The "simpler" times are still here. All we have to do is slow down and make it so. I love our lake and the enjoyment of the catch.
Whether the boat is big or small doesn't matter. It's the heart of the person in the boat that does.
I've seen downriggers on 12' aluminums and worm fishing from 30' cruisers, so.....
I just want it to stop raining so I can go fishing!!!!

[Captain Paul]

I have fished the Lake for 30 years and I believe if the state and Feds keep up on Lamprey control and start killing more cormrants that the future only looks better it seems like all the fish are much healthier than they were a few years ago but I think we are still losing a lot of our stocked fish and native fish to cormrants they need to be brought under control

[Wallyandre (Andre)]

Seems like things are turning around for the eye's stocking programs are bringing them back but i think a slot limit would help out a lot with the stocking program.

They introduce such a rule in Québec 3-4 years ago and we already seeing a major improvement. The other thing is to improve the spawning area and a too early opening season.

I have fished the Lake for 30 years and I believe if the state and Feds keep up on Lamprey control and start killing more cormrants that the future only looks better it seems like all the fish are much healthier than they were a few years ago but I think we are still losing a lot of our stocked fish and native fish to cormrants they need to be brought under control

Absolutly right!

[mac]

I grew up on Lewis Creek in the Hollow and can remember lampreys swimming between my legs while bass fishing. I remember the first year when the Feds surveyed the creek with their traps pulling hundreds out at a time. No doubt when VT stopped the lampricide program the trout and salmon population suffered in the late 80's.

My father and I would launch out of Lewis Creek and troll for salmon and trout with riggers, planner boards , and a paper graph back in the 80's. Stick bates, Chev chase, Suttons, and speedy shiners were the typical lures used. No GPS, temp, speed, speed and Temp at ball, etc. The early 80's was a tough one as we had to figure it out on our own without the help of a forum. Mid 80's and early 90's we had 20 , 30 plus fish days of lakers, salmon and the occasional walleye in the spring. The 90's the fishery got better but nothing like today in regards to quantity and size of Salmon boated the past three years. A big salmon back in the late 80's and early 90's was 3 lbs for us. I stopped fishing Salmon from the mid 90's until recently getting back into trolling with my friend.

Today with GPS, speed control, sonar, temp n speed at ball is a huge advantage as my friend and I consistently boat 10, 20, 30, 40, plus salmon days in the spring. Same spots, speeds, colors, and tactics as used back in the 80's.

I believe there are more Salmon around today then back in the day as NY has stepped up the stocking efforts and lampricide control along with VT. Alewives have fattened up the fish..

VUHS alums know how to catch Salmon on Champlain! Just saying !

[Crazy Ivan]

VUHS alums know how to catch Salmon on Champlain! Just saying

Ya killin me...... The next generation is already putting up some good numbers