northern lake champlain

[cedarjunki]

anyone itching to get out up here? or have you been out yet? just curious,,,

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

anyone itching to get out up here? or have you been out yet? just curious,,,

Not out there yet, but YES dieing to go fishing...

I can't go this week (or maybe better said shouldn't!) but maybe Monday April 5th or Sat Apr 3.

What do you fish out of? Are you looking for a boat partner or a partner with a boat? LOL

My operational boat is the 14' Niagara referenced in my sig. I also have a 19' Starcraft closed bow in need of a motor, so I am stuck with not fishing if the seas are over two feet or so right now. Unless I REALLY fall in love with the Starcraft after I power it, other than Champlain I will probably stick with the Niagara most of the time, too. Probably a "habit" thing- I have had this same boat since '93 and I fish it pretty well.

So what do you have in mind?

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

Not out there yet, but YES dieing to go fishing...
What do you fish out of? Are you looking for a boat partner or a partner with a boat? LOL

My operational boat is the 14' Niagara referenced in my sig. I also have a 19' Starcraft closed bow in need of a motor,

So what do you have in mind?

i mostly fish out of my 68 glass sc closed bow..aka..ssminnow....nothin special but somehow it knows how to find the fish most days its been out in some of the nastiest weather we see here in champlain with no major problems....(knocking on the computer desk as i type this)
also a 12 and 14 foot aluminum for ponds n such..... but prefer the
minnow.. i usually fish mainly from "coopersville" up to vermont bridge, ny and vt...for bass, northerns, bowfin.....try to find the salmon around port douglas a few times each year too.. with little luck
recently aquired a 75 sc 18' ss openbow i/o..... hope to get to work on it soon but gotta finish multiple other projects first...
what ya lookin for for a motor?? might be able to help.....
how far north are you? im hoping to get her wet soon.. if you like i could give you a shout sometime. thats if you wanna teach me how to fish
what do you like chasing?

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

i mostly fish out of my 68 glass sc closed bow..aka..ssminnow....nothin special but somehow it knows how to find the fish most days its been out in some of the nastiest weather we see here in champlain with no major problems....(knocking on the computer desk as i type this)...

I assume you are over 24'. Must be big to forgive you for being out in 6' or 8' seas!

...i usually fish mainly from "coopersville" up to vermont bridge, ny and vt...for bass, northerns, bowfin.....

Never fished west of the Inland Sea- yet.

try to find the salmon around port douglas a few times each year too.. with little luck

Never fished over there. There and usually further south in the big lake is where some of the "big boys" troll for landlocks, but the volume of salmon is less than in other areas I hear, though the sizes are up quite a bit. I haven't cruised over there since my boat is small. That's a 10-mile run across open water for me, and there are few days I can count on the seas staying somewhat short throughout the day.

I just started fishing Champlain last season. Been on Champlain in the past but not with the intensity and regularity I did last year. I mostly fish the Inland Sea and sometimes below the Sandbar. Other trips have been out of Converse Bay south into the Narrows. Kept meaning to run west around Split Rock but so much water, so little time

...what ya lookin for for a motor?? might be able to help.....

OEM was an 85 Johnson, so prob need an older 85 or a "modern" 70hp to be properly powered. Would like a "newer" motor as I have outgrown the intrigue of tinker toys. I loved my old Johnson but it become more unpredictable as my time became less. And with older kids now, they don't want to see you re-time the flywheel while bobbing about when they really want to be tubing or jumping wakes.

......how far north are you? im hoping to get her wet soon.. if you like i could give you a shout sometime. thats if you wanna teach me how to fish what do you like chasing?

Salmon and walleye are my regular targets, with an occasional go at smallmouth. We also troll for rainbows pretty regularly as well.

I am in the Stowe/Johnson area- I drive about an hour west to hit Champlain. I use the Van Everest launch or Converse Bay, but I have put in at Mallet's Bay though not recently.

As far as teaching you how to fish... ahem. Well, I do OK and maybe I can show you a few things, but I am not Babe Winkelman. I was sortof thinking that if I fished with you I might learn something

I am usually open to share, and I love seeing new things, how other people do them. Sometimes little things have changed my fishing a lot.

Most days I check in with iboats with my coffee- you could send me a PM if you have any plans you want to suggest....
I try to go fishing on Mondays because that's when my fishing buddy's fishing/tackle store is closed. We used to do thursdays, which I prefer, but then he bought the store.....

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

I assume you are over 24'. Must be big to forgive you for being out in 6' or 8' seas! Salmon and walleye are my regular targets, with an occasional go at smallmouth. We also troll for rainbows pretty regularly as well.

actually shes only 18'

i can catch the salmon all day long in lake ontario but i cant seem to have any luck here


check this out http://plattsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/1665627160.html or just give him a call....very reasonable guy to deal with! he has alot of stuff!!

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

actually shes only 18'...
i can catch the salmon all day long in lake ontario but i cant seem to have any luck here ...check this out http://plattsburgh.craigslist.org/boa/1665627160.html or just give him a call....very reasonable guy to deal with! he has alot of stuff!!

Thanks- I may check it out. Right now I may have a chance to buy the original motor on the boat. Funny how things can come around.

Anyway, 18' in Champlain's worst makes me a little leery. Once navigation becomes a more critical factor for safety rather than position while trolling I don't have as much fun.

Still going to try to get out this weekend or Monday.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

Thanks-

Anyway, 18' in Champlain's worst makes me a little leery.

im not saying i troll out in the middle when its nasty!!! if it gets too bad i either head home or hide in the bays.... but she has seen some pretty nasty weather and kept me afloat..


good luck on the motor

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: northern lake champlain

There are bowfin in Lake Champlain? I wouldn't have guessed that

We've caught some "dogfish" as they call them here in Michigan in our local slow-moving river. They fight about as strong as a salmon

Did you know they are roughly 250 million years old? Living fossils they call em.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

There are bowfin in Lake Champlain? I wouldn't have guessed that

We've caught some "dogfish" as they call them here in Michigan in our local slow-moving river. They fight about as strong as a salmon

Did you know they are roughly 250 million years old? Living fossils they call em.

there quite plentifull here too.....average is around 4-8# but seen some nice 10-12#+ caught.....very fun too catch and yes prehistoric ugliness too..
theres more species of fish in lake champlain than most people think......actually caught a damn snakehead last year

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: northern lake champlain

Do you specifically fish for bowfin with different tackle..or do you catch them when you're chasing trout and pike?

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

Do you specifically fish for bowfin with different tackle..or do you catch them when you're chasing trout and pike?

we do pick them up when trolling or casting for bass and pike....not very often but we have...ones i do remember where on red n white daredevil, mepps spinners, last year i drug around a big black and purple j-plug looking for a big pike and had one take it....ya i know what your thinking..... j-plug for pike??? those are for big salmon and steelhead,my father said the same until i started landing some really nice pike when they wouldnt touch anything else...
but if im targeting them i use small perch mainly..... just pull out the light tackle catch a perch, slice the back a little bit to make it bleed, cast it out....many times before i could get another perch i already have a bowfin taking it....sometimes its so fun, they hit so fast my kid cant keep up catching the perch for me

in case your wondering when i target them im in less than 6 feet of water too, muddy and weedy areas...they love to sun bathe in 1-2 feet of water in heavy weeds....

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

....actually caught a damn snakehead last year

I hope you killed it and turned it in to the Fish & Wildlife or DEC!

I personally hate fish that hurt the native forage, spawning, or the fish I want to catch.

I installed the new tires on the trailer yesterday- next need inspection sticker on the trailer, gas in the tanks, and new spark plugs.

Toying with the idea of going Saturday, but have semi-committed plans to go out Monday for salmon Plus, that is a good day on the Solunar calendar Not a guarantee, but good fishing days often coincide with it...

 

[tpcowfish]

Re: northern lake champlain

Hey vt. I'm in nw. Ohio, I was just curious as how the weather effected u all over there, did u get the rain and flooding, I hope not, hope all is well. Went out here yesterday for first time in new boat walleye fishin, Lake Erie, it was all good, Boat ran good, and limit on fish, well good luck Tim

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: northern lake champlain

but if im targeting them i use small perch mainly..... just pull out the light tackle catch a perch, slice the back a little bit to make it bleed, cast it out....many times before i could get another perch i already have a bowfin taking it....sometimes its so fun, they hit so fast my kid cant keep up catching the perch for me

in case your wondering when i target them im in less than 6 feet of water too, muddy and weedy areas...they love to sun bathe in 1-2 feet of water in heavy weeds....

Sounds like you guys have a pretty good fishing routine, sounds like fun to me My 4-year old loves catching perch and bluegill too.

Interesting info, we use cut bluegills or sunfish in a similar way for pike and bowfin. I've caught most of my bowfin on jigheads with worms playing just off the bottom in about 10-15ft of water.

When you are running the j-plugs are they on downriggers?

I agree that any snakehad will quickly meet it's demise if I'm around. Bad enough we have cheap plastic crap from China at walmart, we don't need their ugly fish over here causing problems.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

Hey vt. I'm in nw. Ohio, I was just curious as how the weather effected u all over there, did u get the rain and flooding, I hope not, hope all is well. Went out here yesterday for first time in new boat walleye fishin, Lake Erie, it was all good, Boat ran good, and limit on fish, well good luck Tim

Huh! Walleye doesn't open here until May 1, but congrats on the good day.

As far as the weather, we got a lot of rain, but not enough up here for floods like down in NH and Mass, and they didn't get it like Rhode Island did. And most of the lakes up here are either iced in, closed season, or both. Champlain has no closed season on salmon, trout, pike, perch, etc.

For lakes other than Champlain, trout opens 2nd saturday in April, walleye May 1, and bass 2nd Saturday in June.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

When you are running the j-plugs are they on downriggers?

just flatlined em....we were fishing from maybe 4' to 20' max.... they got some wicked action... and dive really good too.....with about 100' feet of line out they dive around 10-12', and dart side to side about the same...

 

[tpcowfish]

Re: northern lake champlain

Hey VT, glad to hear no flood, walleye doesnt close here , but limit drops to 4 till May !st, Hair jigs, stinger hooks, and drift sock on boat. Just jig over side on bottom in bay or reefs. I guess your closed for the spawn, whuch probably isn't bad idea, well Good luck to ya Tim

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

Well, I couldn't get out saturday, but the weather was ideal with 6-inch seas... Was going today but with a 25-knot south wind on the lake we opted out. Almost went to shorefish near colchester, but wound up just working on the boats and completed a much needed cleaning out of the tools in the trunk of my Saturn LS "work truck."

cedarjunki- did you make it out?

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: northern lake champlain

cedarjunki- did you make it out?

well ive been in a boat the past 4 days...sadly enough all the time is being spent replacing foam and glassing in a new deck, after that i need to get his new, old motor in and running.....
my boat is currently sitting on a newer trailer waiting for me to get time and set it up
but i did check out a couple brooks around me but no luck water is way too fast considering we didnt get hardly any snow..
oh btw....i hate fiberglass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! had too say it..

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: northern lake champlain

...but i did check out a couple brooks around me but no luck ...

Other than Champlain, trout fishing isn't open in Vermont until 2nd Sat in April - this weekend! Can't wait. Torn about hitting Champlain, or simply going to Caspian or Memphremagog. Maybe have to let the wind predictions determine it Saturday AM...