Expidia
Commander
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2006
- Messages
- 2,368
Re: Satellite Imagery for fishing- finding ice-out?
I put in at Whitehall early in the season last year and cruised north on that southern leg of Champlain up to Ticonderoga. Scenery was great. lotsa lilly pad and tree filled shallow bays along the way. Would love to get back there and fish for bass. Water was cold at that time of the year. Bass are more active in warmer water temps so we just cruised. That last leg was the only part of the lake we never covered until that trip. The leg between Ti and Burlington is very scenic too.
Two other places to cruise around that if you have not been there is Mallets bay just north of Platttsburg on the VT side and and Shelburn bay just south of Plattsburgh. forget about cruising the 5 mile tributary up to Vergennes on the VT side. It was like out of the movie deliverance. Most boring cruise I ever took. Is no wake the whole trip. Some of the guide books say its a must see. I say don't bother.
The Lund is 14.9 just shy of 15 feet. Has a 76 inch beam which gives it the feel of a bigger boat. We look pretty funny though when we dock at plattsburg next to the bigger boats because they are huge and so high up next to the size of my boat. But last year I waited behind a rig at Burton Island as he was filling up maybe a 26 footer and his tab was over $700. Topping off my 6.5 gal tank came to $17 as we just came from cruising from Plattsburgh up to the Canadian border and back down to Burlington for lunch in the town. We cruised around 20-25 mph as we covered the northern most part of the lake that day.
If its windy we just stay in a bay on the NY side and venture back out when the wind dies down.
We usually are on the water by 9am and the winds are usually calm at that time. But you have to plan for wind so you don't want to be on the wrong side of the lake from home when the wind kicks up. You could always wait it out in a bay, the later it gets the less wind, but then you have to deal with the oncoming darkness. So keep glued to NOAA.
You can usually tack along close to the shoreline to get to where you want to go without having to go out on the bigger waters.
When the weather kicks up we don our auto inflatable vest. They used to be expensive, but many places now sell them for around $80 each. You still need other preservers on board cause if you are not wearing them, they don't count. Cheap insurance if we have to cross big waters and the wind starts up. Champlain has many narrow crossings. We just cruise a little north or south until the crossing narrows. One can usually cross by jumping from island to island which provides some cover from the wind. The Gut and the hero islands in the middle make the crossing pretty easy on nice days. Where ever the lake is wide
Champlain takes us about 2 3/4 hours, and since I'm with with my wife we stay in a motel in Plattsburg which is great for its location to 3 state launches. So I don't fish Champlain all that much, its such a great lake for cruising around. We slow troll the bays for bass. There are many bass fishing tournaments on Champlain. I like to troll for Lake Trout with my down rigger , so I'll go myself to Lake George myself because its only 45 min from my home. When you are just moving at 1 mph for hours on end, it gets pretty boring especially for a passenger.
I wouldn't rush to get out on Champlain though too early. We start maybe early May and that's pushing it because if you ever go over in cold water its the hypothermia that will kill you in a very short time, life preserver or not. It's just not worth the risk in a small boat to be out there when the waters are still so cold.
I put in at Whitehall early in the season last year and cruised north on that southern leg of Champlain up to Ticonderoga. Scenery was great. lotsa lilly pad and tree filled shallow bays along the way. Would love to get back there and fish for bass. Water was cold at that time of the year. Bass are more active in warmer water temps so we just cruised. That last leg was the only part of the lake we never covered until that trip. The leg between Ti and Burlington is very scenic too.
Two other places to cruise around that if you have not been there is Mallets bay just north of Platttsburg on the VT side and and Shelburn bay just south of Plattsburgh. forget about cruising the 5 mile tributary up to Vergennes on the VT side. It was like out of the movie deliverance. Most boring cruise I ever took. Is no wake the whole trip. Some of the guide books say its a must see. I say don't bother.
The Lund is 14.9 just shy of 15 feet. Has a 76 inch beam which gives it the feel of a bigger boat. We look pretty funny though when we dock at plattsburg next to the bigger boats because they are huge and so high up next to the size of my boat. But last year I waited behind a rig at Burton Island as he was filling up maybe a 26 footer and his tab was over $700. Topping off my 6.5 gal tank came to $17 as we just came from cruising from Plattsburgh up to the Canadian border and back down to Burlington for lunch in the town. We cruised around 20-25 mph as we covered the northern most part of the lake that day.
If its windy we just stay in a bay on the NY side and venture back out when the wind dies down.
We usually are on the water by 9am and the winds are usually calm at that time. But you have to plan for wind so you don't want to be on the wrong side of the lake from home when the wind kicks up. You could always wait it out in a bay, the later it gets the less wind, but then you have to deal with the oncoming darkness. So keep glued to NOAA.
You can usually tack along close to the shoreline to get to where you want to go without having to go out on the bigger waters.
When the weather kicks up we don our auto inflatable vest. They used to be expensive, but many places now sell them for around $80 each. You still need other preservers on board cause if you are not wearing them, they don't count. Cheap insurance if we have to cross big waters and the wind starts up. Champlain has many narrow crossings. We just cruise a little north or south until the crossing narrows. One can usually cross by jumping from island to island which provides some cover from the wind. The Gut and the hero islands in the middle make the crossing pretty easy on nice days. Where ever the lake is wide
Champlain takes us about 2 3/4 hours, and since I'm with with my wife we stay in a motel in Plattsburg which is great for its location to 3 state launches. So I don't fish Champlain all that much, its such a great lake for cruising around. We slow troll the bays for bass. There are many bass fishing tournaments on Champlain. I like to troll for Lake Trout with my down rigger , so I'll go myself to Lake George myself because its only 45 min from my home. When you are just moving at 1 mph for hours on end, it gets pretty boring especially for a passenger.
I wouldn't rush to get out on Champlain though too early. We start maybe early May and that's pushing it because if you ever go over in cold water its the hypothermia that will kill you in a very short time, life preserver or not. It's just not worth the risk in a small boat to be out there when the waters are still so cold.
