Lake Champlain United - Forums

3/27 and 3/28 2021 saturday morning headed north for shore fishing for lakers. north wind was breezy and cool. fished for an hour casting a blue streak krocodile and had one hit. went back in the afternoon with fishy2 [ALAYNA] she did the casting with my rod with the blue streak kroc. after about 15 minutes she has a freight train hit and noone home. then a half hour later she was jigging and had one on and she pulled the hooks. she was excited but cold. so we went home . sunday morning i headed north again looking for some lakers but the south wind was at 15 mph so i had to tuck in an fish salmon on a private lot in very shallow water. about the tenth cast i have a hit and fish on busting water with my kroc in its mouth. got it 10 feet from shore and it didnt like the 10 inches of water and it started thrashing and shook loose okay with me might have been 17 inches. another hit later and then the rain started so i headed home. saw several silvers bust water.

What size/weight krocodile Matt? Got a picture?

raz wrote: ↑Mon Mar 29, 2021 12:45 pm What size/weight krocodile Matt? Got a picture?

gerry i like the 2 and 1/4 inch 3/8 ounce for casting on champlain for ontario the 2 and 3/4 inch and 1/2 ounce or 3/4 ounce. the shorter kroc casts better in the wind and stays down a little more than the bigger ones. ill take a pic of one.

Nice! I'm glad to hear you encountered some silvers-- that's some inspiration to keep at it. The wind has been hard.

I've been mostly skunked so far, both from shore and from the kayak. I did lose a couple fish from the kayak but I don't know what they were. I think my hooks were dull so I replaced them. Then a fish broke off my favorite Shad Rap--- either it was a pike or my 8lb fluoro leader had a nick in it because it didn't take much.

I did have an interesting time when I paddled up Keeler Creek. The water temp was about 10 degrees warmer in there than in the bay. The water was so low that my kayak fins and rudder were touching bottom. Maybe 1 or 1.5 feet of water. I spooked a lot of big fish with the kayak. My stick baits kept picking up weeds so they weren't biting. So I switched to the rainbow Kroc. That did the trick. Caught a medium pike and very large bowfin. I'll call it my PB even though I've never measured a bowfin. It was a very impressive fish and thankfully I was able to release it in the water, because big toothy fish can be difficult to handle in the kayak

3/31/2021 headed North to test some casting Honeybees got there around 7:15 am with 3 footers coming in on me ugh. Casted for 1/2 hour and had one hit had a big bow in my line from the wind saw it straightened out fast then nothing. Was glad to get a hit on that bee it's a new color fishy2 drew up. Wind has been terrible of late storm coming tommorow hope my shore fishing improves

4/13/2021 got a message from my friends who have a camp in the bay where I cast for swamp salmon but can't get to that spot anymore because of health issues. Got there about 8 am and alita greeted me and bark was in his boat casting. Mark came in and they both immediately went and started cutting a trail to my favorite spot. It was awsome and when they were done it was very safe for me. I can't thank them enough. Went out and tossed a few cast's and had a follow. Mark was in his boat a ways from me and landed a steelhead. Can't wait to start shore fishing there again.

5/19/2021 after Mondays Catch of walleye I ended up in bed for 18 hours with side affects and dehydration. But this morning I said I'm going to shore fish for Lakers close to home solo. Didn't know the outcome of landing them and getting them off the lure with no help. Started fishing at 730 am with a honey bee fishy1 casting lure and the very ist cast a hit and noone home. About 15 minutes later another hit and it shook loose. Then right after that a freight train hit and fish on and fighting like crazy wow drag zzzzzing and after awhile got it to the net but couldn't get it in the net after missing it several times I finally get it in and said to myself now what do I do it was really thrashing still. I decided to keep it for a friend. I ended up 7 for 10 and kept my limit. What a blast I had with those fighting Lakers don't know how I did from my camp chair but did. I was fishing in 8 to 15 clear fow. Caught 4 on fishy1 and 3 on silver/blue krocodile. Those Lakers have some power .

Awesome catches, especially from shore! Several of my fondest fishing memories were catching salmon from the beaches in Alaska while on kayak expeditions. Fresh fish on the fire ALWAYS beats freeze dried rations! Yet, I haven't yet caught a salmon or a laker from the beach on Champlain! Kudos! And glad to see you persisting!

Good going Fishy!!!

so the lakers are that close to shore this time of year.

Yes the Lakers are still on shore and will be awhile as long as there is forage and this is why

5/23/2021 fishy1 and fishy2 headed north for some shore fishing for Lakers. After a slow start around 10 am alayna has a freight train hit and it shakes loose she said it hit so hard it hurt hurt wrist. Them shortly after another hit and fish on alayna lands a beautiful lake trout with no clipped fins. Colors on its fins were awsome. Alayna says pa pa these Lakers battle you right to the end and now I know why you have a hard time netting them from your chair. She had 3 more hits then the wind/ rain storm chased us home. Once again ng 8 to 15 fow .

5/24/2021 headed north this morning for some shore fishing action for Lakers. Got off to a very slow start so I decided to move 15 feet and cast south instead of east. Ist cast fish on wow. From that point to the heavy pollon came in it was steady in fact 3 cast's 3, Lakers. I ended the morning 10 for 16 despite the heavy pollon. Not to big but great fighters. Kept my limit for friends Lakers need thinning. I also had 2 smelt hits.

Man the pollen is heavy. We saw big patches of it in the inland sea that were about a 1/4 acre...

Thanks for the looks Matt!

Fishy1 - you are an inspiration to shore fisherman!