Post by rgang4 on Nov 13, 2017 17:53:29 GMT -5
Felt like it was now or never time for a Champlain trip on Sunday so despite the recent cold snap and a not so comfy forecast for the day I headed out at 6:30 for the lake.
I was apprehensive even though I had myself convinced it was my best option and all would be fine but that feeling changed quickly as I passed the Retreat Meadows and saw ice............not just on the shore but also in the middle and the entire south end!😳😳😳😳
Again I reassured myself and headed north. Temp was dropping as I passed Okemo. Snow guns blazing on the mountain. Even colder on Mt. Holly at 15. Rutland 18. Uh oh. Gotta get warmer in the Champlain Valley I thought. Not much, 22. Made an out of the way pit stop in Shoreham for coffee and took a slow roll to the lake.
It was 28 when I arrived and a bit breezy. Skim ice covering some of the bay but open to launch 😎
Water temp was 35 in the bay, pretty much what I guessed after seeing the Meadows. What really mattered was the main lake temp. That was better than I guessed at 43😁👌
Went out on the T motor being the outboard would not pump water. Fished or should say tried to fish for a half hour or so. Hands and face were freezing. Could barely hold the rod when I cast. Cork is very slippery when it’s that cold, something I did not know before Sunday.
I did have a good bass hit and another follow and a small pike as well but as soon as the motor thawed I made a bee line for shelter. Best part of the morning to that point was putting my gloves on. Damn that felt good.
Fished slow and fast high and low trying to make something work in the protected area but nothing worked, including my tackle. Any rod I picked up had to be de-iced after a few minutes. This continued until noon🙄. Gave in and moved again. Wind was wrapping around the Point I was hoping would give protection as well as a big fish or two. Nope. But the sun finally popped out, my rods stopped freezing and I actually caught something, a 23.5” pickerel 😎
And then the white caps rolled in. Moved again. Was a good move. Some protection and I actually had a bite on a jig in deeper water on rock,
but nothing there when I swung.
A few years back I had a similar day. Not nearly as cold air but water temp was lower, barely 40. Around 1 pm that day I went to a shallow sparsely weeded area and started throwing a Trap. The 1/2 oz. model ran too deep so I switched to 1/4 oz. and ended up having probably my second best November day ever.
Repeated the process Sunday and though I didn’t get the exact same results they were very similar. First bass came at 1:30 and from then on it was steady until when I quit at 5:07😁
Until the sun got low bass were off the deep weededge and taking a Trap steadily. When the Trap bite died the swim jig and chatter worked.
Ended the day with 13 bass, six pike and four pickerel. The pickerel were all the bigger ones that seem to show up late in the year. They were the most fun of all to catch hitting so hard they’d knock slack into your line, dart back and forth and pull like a train.
24.5” Master Angler pickerel
Was a challenging day for a lot of reasons but sure glad I went. The last hour alone was worth the trip. Love it when the lake goes calm in the evening.
Probably was it looking at the upcoming weather. It’s been fun! Hope to get back up for some ice fishing soon.
I was apprehensive even though I had myself convinced it was my best option and all would be fine but that feeling changed quickly as I passed the Retreat Meadows and saw ice............not just on the shore but also in the middle and the entire south end!😳😳😳😳
Again I reassured myself and headed north. Temp was dropping as I passed Okemo. Snow guns blazing on the mountain. Even colder on Mt. Holly at 15. Rutland 18. Uh oh. Gotta get warmer in the Champlain Valley I thought. Not much, 22. Made an out of the way pit stop in Shoreham for coffee and took a slow roll to the lake.
It was 28 when I arrived and a bit breezy. Skim ice covering some of the bay but open to launch 😎
Water temp was 35 in the bay, pretty much what I guessed after seeing the Meadows. What really mattered was the main lake temp. That was better than I guessed at 43😁👌
Went out on the T motor being the outboard would not pump water. Fished or should say tried to fish for a half hour or so. Hands and face were freezing. Could barely hold the rod when I cast. Cork is very slippery when it’s that cold, something I did not know before Sunday.
I did have a good bass hit and another follow and a small pike as well but as soon as the motor thawed I made a bee line for shelter. Best part of the morning to that point was putting my gloves on. Damn that felt good.
Fished slow and fast high and low trying to make something work in the protected area but nothing worked, including my tackle. Any rod I picked up had to be de-iced after a few minutes. This continued until noon🙄. Gave in and moved again. Wind was wrapping around the Point I was hoping would give protection as well as a big fish or two. Nope. But the sun finally popped out, my rods stopped freezing and I actually caught something, a 23.5” pickerel 😎
And then the white caps rolled in. Moved again. Was a good move. Some protection and I actually had a bite on a jig in deeper water on rock,
but nothing there when I swung.
A few years back I had a similar day. Not nearly as cold air but water temp was lower, barely 40. Around 1 pm that day I went to a shallow sparsely weeded area and started throwing a Trap. The 1/2 oz. model ran too deep so I switched to 1/4 oz. and ended up having probably my second best November day ever.
Repeated the process Sunday and though I didn’t get the exact same results they were very similar. First bass came at 1:30 and from then on it was steady until when I quit at 5:07😁
Until the sun got low bass were off the deep weededge and taking a Trap steadily. When the Trap bite died the swim jig and chatter worked.
Ended the day with 13 bass, six pike and four pickerel. The pickerel were all the bigger ones that seem to show up late in the year. They were the most fun of all to catch hitting so hard they’d knock slack into your line, dart back and forth and pull like a train.
24.5” Master Angler pickerel
Was a challenging day for a lot of reasons but sure glad I went. The last hour alone was worth the trip. Love it when the lake goes calm in the evening.
Probably was it looking at the upcoming weather. It’s been fun! Hope to get back up for some ice fishing soon.
. Thanks for the invite, we'll hook up again in the spring. I knew you'd find some fish up there because you always do. I think the fall cold water is a bit more predictable than the spring cold period. I've got a feeling that you'll boat some more fish this fall...somewhere 