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Author:
PECo
Date:
May 14, 2011
Subject:
Lake Champlain - Plattsburgh, NY 05/14 and 05/15
Message:
Fishface (aka Tim), DirtyDawg10 (aka Derek) and I fished Lake Champlain with Captain Mickey J. Maynard (aka Captain Mick) of Lake Champlain Angler Charters ([url]www.LakeChamplainAngler.com[/url]) aboard Float Me Alone, his 25 foot Bayliner: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] We had planned to fish from his 22 foot center console, but the weather absolutely sucked for a Spring weekend. We got on the water from Plattsburgh, NY, at 7:00 am. It was totally overcast and cold all day, with air temperatures from the high 50s to the mid 60s. The water temperature in the main body of the lake ranged from 42 to 46 degrees. There were just light winds as a storm front slowly moved through from the north and west. We headed across the lake to Grand Isle on the Vermont side: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] The warm 53 degree water flowing through the spot attracted bait fish and landlocked Atlantic salmon. We trolled small Rapalas 12 to 17 feet deep using downriggers and slid spoons down the lines to each downrigger in 20 to 28 feet of water. We missed the first two hooksets before I landed a two pound smallie. Shortly afterward, Tim also landed a smallie: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] Finally, Derek landed what we initially thought might be a steelhead trout because of it's vivid rainbow colors, but turned out to be an Atlantic salmon: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES98mlpdWpo[/youtube] The photo and video don't do justice to the fish. It was iridescent. We ended up with three smallies, five salmon and two yellow perch at that spot: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] [img:adca2c70bd]http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] I couldn't believe that Tim's fatty smallie weighed only three pounds, two ounces. The salmon hit the spoons dangling off of the downrigger balls and the other fish hit the Rapalas on the ends of the lines. When the bite slowed and the boat and shore fishing traffic picked up at the spot, we headed back over to the New York side to troll the bottom for lake trout in 70 to 74 feet of water. We dragged balls and chains on the bottom with willow blade flashers on the line above a lake troller/cowbell/propeller lure. The finder marked a ton of bait and fish around the edges of a 95 foot deep hole in the middle of the spot. We got one hit, but the treble hook on the lure flipped over and embedded itself in the lure. After that, the weather went to Hell. Captain Mick noticed that the rising fog had suddenly turned into a whiteout, so we raised the fishing gear, turned on the navigation lights and headed for the shore: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO88HlT-hVg[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3krR9HZOOrM[/youtube] Once we caught sight of the shore, we headed south to a less foggy and more protected spot: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlHD2dUn3fs[/youtube] As the rain came up, we finally got a hit and I landed a nine pound, six ounce laker: [img:adca2c70bd]http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/4329/20110514lakechamplainpl.jpg[/img:adca2c70bd] We trolled around until 4:00 pm, but didn't get any more hits. With the rain coming down in more than a drizzle and the fog continuing to rise, we called it a day and headed off the water.
Author:
Johnny Skeeter
Date:
May 14, 2011
Message:
Is the lake still rising ?
Author:
PECo
Date:
May 15, 2011
Message:
Dropped back a foot from crest to 102.1, which is still more than a foot over flood stage. With today's and the coming week's rain, it's going back up. On the boat now. One Atlantic salmon, one northern pike and one smallmouth bass so far. :D
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