Post by rgang4 on Jul 5, 2019 7:16:18 GMT -5
I knew one of these years my vacation week on Champlain would be a bust. It had to sooner or later, been too good for too long. Kind of thought going in this was going to be the year being how everything is kind of off including me!
Got to the cottage and when I looked into the water from the deck above what did I see? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No fish, no beds, no old beds, no small fish, no dock and no beach being water was up to the steps leading down to the now submerged beach.
Fished from the bank later in the afternoon. Not much action as I expected but did catch some smallies, this one my second cast.
In the following days I don’t think I got anything close to this size from the bank. Fortunately things began to workout later in the week in a few spots I could get to in my kayak🙏😎
Going in fishing was going to have to be my secondary focus. My wife has been going thru a lot with serious health issues in her family and mine too but to make matters worse she lost her job recently and has been very stressed over that. Pissed off too and rightfully so. Glad she is not as pissed as me😉😆
So we started out slow kayaking on the lake making a few casts here and there for two days 😏 but the weather was most enjoyable and it was pretty hot so beaching the kayak and taking a swim gave quick relief and I mean quick!
Main lake temp was 57 when we arrived Saturday, surely that had a lot to do with why smallies where scarce. The momentum I took my first plunge I knew it was not a matter of the fish moving out after the spawn it was that they had yet to move in!
Monday I launched at the bridge. Made a few casts around the eastern abutment but no bites🥺 weird.
Headed south to where the magic happened last year. Pulled up and waited to see if alewives were there......nope😏 uh oh. Missing also were weeds. Dang. Pike? Not a chance. I knew I was in no mans land. My instinct said get out of there but my confidence said make it work.
And pretty much so went my week. If anything worked it was shallow mostly near rock. I may have got more LM on a squarebill than anything. Swim jig was second and a few times chatterbait worked but I had to use a small trailer and pop it and drop it. Hard on the the arms and shoulders, wears you out kind of like a jerkbait after a long day. Fish were ALL post spawn for a change and I think some were guarding fry.
What saved my vacation was the great weather which was nice for us and sparked a good prespawn smallmouth bite.
Does anyone think I’m crazy for saying prespawn fish at the end of June? This area has fair LM population too but none were present. I expect they are there now.
One warm afternoon after a lack luster day on the south lake my wife and I were fishing out of the kayaks catching perch and gills. She went in around 5 to make dinner. I stayed out and moved out to a smallie spot armed with a 5 ft ultra lite rod and a 1/16 oz Rooster Tail.
Second cast a four lb SM eats my lure boat side. Didn’t want to tangle with light tackle so I let it jump and throw the lure never setting the hook.
Went in but came back after dinner with a medium action rod and 8 lb line.
Seven nice bass, three like this one on a #2 Mepps that night.
Great lure for kayak fishing because you don’t need to set hook hard and flip your rig over😉 not that I have ever done that ..... in a canoe.........twice😱😆
The good smallie bite continued until we left Saturday morning. I got this one on my last cast!
Back south yesterday. Fishing much better. Listening to my instinct. Doing things I knew I should have but did not want to. No more of that. Instinct rules from here on out.
Water is clearing in many places. Saw some Champlain Green water yesterday north of the ferry. Weeds coming in and water dropping slowly. Hope to get it going again like in summers past. If there will be a summer peak it should happen soon.
B, sorry to say no pike around anywhere. Hooked up a big one but it snapped me off. Couldn’t hit the thumb bar fast enough. No lake monsters for me other than a 26” sheephead on a swimbait😱. My neighbor got a nice cat on the main lake.
Never thought to fish hem in that area. I will now😉
Got to the cottage and when I looked into the water from the deck above what did I see? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No fish, no beds, no old beds, no small fish, no dock and no beach being water was up to the steps leading down to the now submerged beach.
Fished from the bank later in the afternoon. Not much action as I expected but did catch some smallies, this one my second cast.
In the following days I don’t think I got anything close to this size from the bank. Fortunately things began to workout later in the week in a few spots I could get to in my kayak🙏😎
Going in fishing was going to have to be my secondary focus. My wife has been going thru a lot with serious health issues in her family and mine too but to make matters worse she lost her job recently and has been very stressed over that. Pissed off too and rightfully so. Glad she is not as pissed as me😉😆
So we started out slow kayaking on the lake making a few casts here and there for two days 😏 but the weather was most enjoyable and it was pretty hot so beaching the kayak and taking a swim gave quick relief and I mean quick!
Main lake temp was 57 when we arrived Saturday, surely that had a lot to do with why smallies where scarce. The momentum I took my first plunge I knew it was not a matter of the fish moving out after the spawn it was that they had yet to move in!
Monday I launched at the bridge. Made a few casts around the eastern abutment but no bites🥺 weird.
Headed south to where the magic happened last year. Pulled up and waited to see if alewives were there......nope😏 uh oh. Missing also were weeds. Dang. Pike? Not a chance. I knew I was in no mans land. My instinct said get out of there but my confidence said make it work.
And pretty much so went my week. If anything worked it was shallow mostly near rock. I may have got more LM on a squarebill than anything. Swim jig was second and a few times chatterbait worked but I had to use a small trailer and pop it and drop it. Hard on the the arms and shoulders, wears you out kind of like a jerkbait after a long day. Fish were ALL post spawn for a change and I think some were guarding fry.
What saved my vacation was the great weather which was nice for us and sparked a good prespawn smallmouth bite.
Does anyone think I’m crazy for saying prespawn fish at the end of June? This area has fair LM population too but none were present. I expect they are there now.
One warm afternoon after a lack luster day on the south lake my wife and I were fishing out of the kayaks catching perch and gills. She went in around 5 to make dinner. I stayed out and moved out to a smallie spot armed with a 5 ft ultra lite rod and a 1/16 oz Rooster Tail.
Second cast a four lb SM eats my lure boat side. Didn’t want to tangle with light tackle so I let it jump and throw the lure never setting the hook.
Went in but came back after dinner with a medium action rod and 8 lb line.
Seven nice bass, three like this one on a #2 Mepps that night.
Great lure for kayak fishing because you don’t need to set hook hard and flip your rig over😉 not that I have ever done that ..... in a canoe.........twice😱😆
The good smallie bite continued until we left Saturday morning. I got this one on my last cast!
Back south yesterday. Fishing much better. Listening to my instinct. Doing things I knew I should have but did not want to. No more of that. Instinct rules from here on out.
Water is clearing in many places. Saw some Champlain Green water yesterday north of the ferry. Weeds coming in and water dropping slowly. Hope to get it going again like in summers past. If there will be a summer peak it should happen soon.
B, sorry to say no pike around anywhere. Hooked up a big one but it snapped me off. Couldn’t hit the thumb bar fast enough. No lake monsters for me other than a 26” sheephead on a swimbait😱. My neighbor got a nice cat on the main lake.
Never thought to fish hem in that area. I will now😉
