If you are looking for Lake Champlain smallmouth hotspots, then start your search here.

Lake Champlain, considered by some as the 6th Great Lake, is  a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States (states of Vermont and New York) but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.  Source

Here is what FLW Outdoors magazine has to say about Lake Champlain

Named one of the top five bass fishing destinations in the United States by FLW Outdoors magazine, Lake Champlain has eight major tournaments scheduled this year, including the lake-wide, summer-long Lake Champlain International Derby running from June 1 – September 30, with prizes awarded every month in specific categories. There is also a Father’s Day Derby.  Source

Mike Iaconelli’s view of Lake Champlain:

Iaconelli chooses Lake Champlain on the New York-Vermont border as destination #1. He chooses Erie second.

“I’ve had the chance to fish some of the best rivers, reservoirs and lakes in the country and nothing beats Lake Champlain on the New York-Vermont border for natural beauty, accommodations and an unbeatable number of three- to five-pound smallmouth,” says Iaconelli.

First, Ike explains why the Autumn Smallmouth fishing is so good on Champlain. “The bait that the smallmouth key on such as alewives and small perch begins to move from deep summer locations up to much shallower water depths of 6- to 12-ft. When the primary forage goes shallow, massive wolf packs of big smallmouth bass follow and eat them. So find a shallow flat and use fast-moving search baits like a ¾-oz. spinnerbait with small #4 willow blades that you can retrieve super-fast. Or try a jerkbait, or a Rattling Laser Lure in the Spicy Shad color. Cover a lot of water. And hold on tight.”

Lake Champlain smallmouth hotspots

“On the New York side of the lake, Plattsburgh is the place to be for great food and your pick of hotels. My favorite place to stay is the Marine Village Cottages, they sit right on the lake, and there’s a boat ramp conveniently located about a mile from the cottages,” said the Iaconelli, the 2006 Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year.”  Source

Dale Brown of the New England Sportsman, has an incredible knowledge of Lake Champlain:

Right at the Westport ramp is a good place to start, don’t even trim the motor down. Put on a white spinnerbait with gold blades, and start along the shore heading for the marina, you can work your way in and out from the shore to 150 yards off shore, in and out around the sail boats. When you get to the marina, check under those boats also. This place is loaded with Largemouth, Smallmouth, Northern and loads of bait fish. Work around the marina and over to the Yacht club, just throw every where in all directions. move slowly along the shoreline. Don’t miss a boulder or a weed. And even throw out into deeper waters. A Sluggo with a white bottom is one of my favorites.

Every dock should be given your attention. If you have a spook, turn it lose. What’s a spook, well it ain’t no ghost. That’s a double negative. A spook is a Zara Spook, a lure, looks like a six inch piece of broom stick with a point on each end and lots of hooks. Throw it into the water and twitch your rod and the lure will dart from side to side, which is called “walking the dog”. When there’s Smallmouth in the area, this is about as much excitement as this sport has to offer. The lure stays on the surface, and when the fish attack, and I do mean attack, there is splashing, crashing, and somersaults with a lot of screaming and yelling, and that’s just from the fisherman. In the water there’s a great deal of yelling, screaming and thrashing around also.  Read the full article here

Lake Champlain is so large and vast, it is difficult to cover the whole lake in one article. To learn more about Lake Champlain smallmouth hotspots, branch out and explore the links to articles on this page and sign up for our newsletter to receive future articles, videos and news.

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