Dialing-In Lake Champlain’s Largemouth

Growing up fishing for Lake Champlain largemouth, I spent most of my time on the southern end, around Ticonderoga. Back then, the lake felt smaller and narrower, and I remember fishing it with my father before I even had my own boat. The waters were familiar, and the abundant largemouth bass were usually eager to bite.

Though I caught smallmouth, largemouth were more relevant to where I lived, surrounded by lakes and ponds where they thrived. Around that time, many professional and semi-professional tournaments were held on the southern end of the lake. Ticonderoga, in particular, became famous as a hotbed for big bass, where anglers like Timmy Horton made their mark, running over an hour from Plattsburgh to fish in the milfoil. I recall watching Horton make the long run for four consecutive days, catching over 83 pounds of largemouth, eating pizza on the dock at noon on the final day, and walking away with a victory margin of over 13 pounds.

At the same time, I got my first Humminbird side-imaging fishfinder. Although I remained focused on largemouth fishing in the south, my best friend, Ben Cayer, and I started spending more time “graphing”—identifying offshore structures, grass edges, and shell bars. This opened our eyes to the idea of targeting less-pressured fish using new techniques, and it completely changed how we approached bass fishing on the lake.

Lake Champlain largemouth bass fishing — The author and his longtime fishing partner Ben Cayer, (shown here), have fished together for over 20 years. The pair competed in collegiate fishing from 2009-2013 for Vermont Technical College, earning two Northern Regional Championship qualifications. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

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A Change of Scenery, and Species

Once I moved to the northern end of Lake Champlain, everything changed. Somewhere along the way, I transitioned into being a “smallmouth guy,” and quickly learned the ins and outs of catching them. At the time, mapping technology was still lackluster, so I was fishing random spots, slowly (very slowly) learning the lake. I hardly knew my way around the north end or where the prime fishing areas were. I spent countless days “graphing,” marking rock piles, humps, trees, boulders, and anything I could find. To this day, many of those waypoints haven’t yielded a single fish, but it was rewarding to watch my collection grow.

Lake Champlain largemouth techniques — Generally, the southern end of Champlain has better largemouth habitat while the northern end of the lake is prime smallmouth water. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

Over the years, I began to identify patterns and started to see the value in all those marked locations. With a little help from friends who shared knowledge, we all improved at catching smallmouth each year. Technology evolved, too, and I adapted to those changes. One of the biggest game-changers was the introduction of Humminbird Lakemaster VX Mapping, which provided high-definition contours of lakes, including Lake Champlain.

Today, the professional events are held on the northern end, out of Plattsburgh Boat Basin, with few anglers running south. In fact, even in big regional and local events, anglers run from Ticonderoga to the north to target both smallmouth and largemouth bass. But, with the increased attention, the fishery has changed.

I remember driving over humps and reefs, marking fish on Humminbird CHIRP 2D sonar, making a waypoint, then turning around and catching those fish. It was a simple yet effective method—until more people started doing it, and the fish caught on, so we had to get stealthier. I could pull up to an old waypoint, cast a few times, and still get a bite, but the fish seemed to sense the sonar waves, and, more often than not, vanished. As technology has evolved, so have the fish.

On one outing last season, I spent a couple hours “scoping” with Humminbird MEGA Live, searching for fish on a flat. I drifted into an area with several fish, and each time I cast to one, I watched my bait sink and the smallmouth slowly swam to the bottom before disappearing. There are still days when the fish bite well and react to the bait positively, but for the most part, anglers really have to earn their fish these days.

Evolving technologies and increasingly pressured fish have led to more technical fishing for Champlain smallies. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

Several Elite and MLF anglers fishing Lake Champlain this year remarked on the drastically decreased catch rates. When Kyoya Fujita won the 2023 Elite Series, the situation seemed different. Anglers were catching more bass and landing a higher percentage of the fish they targeted, making it more efficient to cast at only the bigger fish—something that, in itself, is a skill.

Enter the Largemouth Bass

Largemouth have always been a player on Lake Champlain, and not only on the south end at Ticonderoga. Local hammers such as Tom Lavictorie Jr., Bryan Labelle, Jimmy Kennedy, Jason Stoddard, and JJ Judd have made lots of money catching largemouth bass on the north end.

Just like smallmouth, northern largemouth are willing to bite if you know where and how to find them. Common spots include Gut, the Alburgh Passage, Mallets Bay, Missisquoi Bay, St. Albans Bay, and the Inland Sea. However, knowing where to find them and actually catching them are two different things.

This season, with limited time to fish and a work trip taking me away during the heart of the smallmouth spawn and most of the post-spawn period, I decided, with advice from my good friend Jimmy Kennedy, to focus on largemouth instead. To fully commit, I had to remove all my smallmouth gear from the boat. I had just upgraded to a Humminbird SOLIX unit and purposely left my waypoint chip out, which prevented me from defaulting to my usual offshore boulder and rock spots.

Lake Champlain

Straddling the border of New York and Vermont, Champlain stretches over 120 miles. It has 71 islands and over 580 miles of shoreline, most of which consists of prime bass habitat. It’s considered to be one of the Northeast’s premier bass-fishing destinations.

Size: 435 square miles of surface water
Width: 12 miles at its widest point
Depth: average depth is 64 feet but the deepest point is 400 feet

Learning The Lake Champlain Largemouth Bite

Later in July, during my first tournament of the year, I hadn’t had much time to fish, but my stepson Charlie and I headed out to catch post-spawn smallmouth in the morning before switching to largemouth in the afternoon. We didn’t catch much—only one decent fish—so we ran back north near takeoff and settled into an area with scattered milfoil and rocks. I started flipping a ½-ounce Beast Coast Lil’ Magnum Tungsten jig paired with a Berkley MaxScent Chigger Craw, while Charlie worked Z-Man Chatterbaits and Senkos. After some time, we found a school of largemouth.

For the next hour, we filled the boat, culling multiple times (Charlie did all the culling) and weighed in one of our smallest bags of the season, but we had a blast catching a ton of fish. From then on, whenever I had time to fish in the afternoons after work, I dedicated myself to finding patches of grass—both small and large areas of milfoil and coontail—and fishing until I got a bite. Almost always, if I caught one fish, I’d shake off additional bites to “save them” for later.

The idea of pulling into a spot during a tournament and catching multiple bass from a school was enticing. By the next tournament in late July, I had located spots I was confident would produce bites. My partner Ben and I planned to start shallow, targeting hard structures like rocks and docks, hoping to get a few bites before moving to the grass.

We were able to fill a limit from those spots, so all we needed were more quality bites from the areas I had been saving—and planned to continue “practicing” during the tournament. Ben and I managed to scratch out a 20-plus-pound bag, good for fourth place, but in doing so, we found another section of the lake with the type of grass and rock I had been looking for.

Lake Champlain largemouth in action — Ben Cayer boats a Lake Champlain largemouth at last light during a scouting trip. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

Charlie and I competed in another Inland Sea Bass Anglers (ISBA) event and finished in sixth place with a mixed bag weighing almost 19 pounds. We stuck to our program, incorporating the newer areas I had found between tournaments, continuing to explore and identifying more places to get a bite.

As the season progressed, we were getting into a groove, learning more about those fish—bait sizes and colors, and when they wanted to bite throughout the day. Next, Ben and I fished an annual team tournament that launched out of Mallets Bay. In the past, we ran south and successfully fished blind, but the weather forecast called for nasty winds and overcast skies. With no other options, we committed to largemouth.

The day was tough, with fish short-striking the Lil’ Magnum and Berkley Chigger Craw combo—yet the same milk run of spots produced key fish. Ending the day on a new spot I had recently found, Ben caught our biggest fish of the day. While tough overall, we managed to finish third with almost 23 pounds for six fish.

A beautiful Lake Champlain largemouth headed back to the grass. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

Stops four and five of the ISBA were back-to-back weekends, and I had no time to fish before either of them. So, Charlie and I launched into the roughest wind conditions of the season and fished wherever we could. With the strong south wind, we hit a couple of shallow smallmouth spots in the morning, as early September typically positions the brown bass where I can fish for them with a Chatterbait or spinnerbait. We managed five bites, all of which went to Charlie, two of which we weighed in.

Afterward, we fished two largemouth areas out of the wind. Charlie had the hot hand, while I lost more fish and struggled to hook the few bites I got. With the grass varying between sparse and thick, depending on the area, I threw a ¾-ounce Beast Coast, while Charlie used a ½-ounce. We ended up in 11th place with just over 17 pounds. At that moment, I knew I needed to adjust ahead of the final event the following weekend.

Adapting to Changes

The weather this time was high sun with little to no wind. The event was again in Missisquoi Bay, and we had a long run ahead of us. Charlie and I started by fishing “different” spots where we might get decent fish. It didn’t happen, and we moved on to other areas in our rotation.

Almost instantly, I hooked into the biggest fish of the day, just under 5 pounds. Knowing we had all day to fish and only a few good areas in which to do it, we settled in. Thirty minutes later, I hooked and landed our second fish, a 4.75-pounder. Charlie filled our limit with three more smaller fish, and we moved on.

Our next two stops were two smaller spots with high potential, but for whatever reason—bad timing or just bad luck—we got no bites. Still, we had one more area to check. I started away from the waypoints I had accumulated over the past few weeks and decided to fish off the grass to focus on the sparse rock. We quickly caught two smallmouth and culled smaller fish. A bit further down, I hooked into another quality largemouth before we took a break to weigh our catch. Those three culls gave us over 20 pounds.

We inched closer with the Minn Kota Ultrex QUEST, near to where I expected to get a bite, and sure enough, we did. Another 4-plus-pounder brought us to over 21 pounds. Thirty minutes later, with another cull, we were over 22 pounds.

After months of fishing in the same areas, the fish finally set up and bit. According to local expert Bryan Labelle, owner and operator of Mega Bass Charters, “After the spawn, that deeper grass continually gets better and better until the water drops to around 50 to 55 degrees. At that point, the fish start looking for rock. I’ve had some good times in the deeper grass later in the fall.”

Bait Modifications

Throughout the season, a ½-ounce Beast Coast Lil Magnum jig paired with a Berkley MaxScent Chigger Craw was my go-to bait. Early on, green pumpkin was the best color, with most bites coming on the fall, near the bottom, or directly off the bottom. The ½-ounce jig handled depths of 10 to 18 feet and worked well through thick grass clumps.

As the season continued, water levels dropped and the grass grew taller and denser. Switching to a ¾-ounce jig became necessary to penetrate the heavier cover. However, the added weight sped up the fall rate, and with bass moving higher in the water column to chase bluegills, darker-colored baits became more effective.

Throughout the season, a green pumpkin 1/2-ounce Beast Coast Lil’ Magnum jig paired with a Berkley MaxScent Chigger Craw drew bites for the author on the fall, near the bottom, or directly off the bottom. *(Photo by Justin Brouillard)*

To counter short strikes when the bass weren’t actively feeding, I adjusted by trimming the jig skirt to align with the hook, thinning the weed guard and downsizing to a 3-inch Chigger Craw instead of the larger 4-inch profile used earlier in the year. At the final event, everything came together—the grass held chunkier, bigger fish throughout September, and the tweaks paid off.

For gear, I relied on two rod-and-reel setups, both spooled with 50-pound Spiderwire braided line. The first was a Dobyns 736C FH (7’3” heavy action) paired with a Daiwa Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip reel. The second was a Fenwick Eagle Flip/Punch rod (7’5” heavy action), also paired with the Daiwa Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip reel. When conditions were tough and bites were scarce, a Texas-rigged Berkley MaxScent Creature Hawg fished with a dead-stick presentation worked wonders—a quick snap of the rod often drew strikes. Still, for most of the season, the Beast Coast jigs consistently delivered.

Final Thoughts

As summer transitioned to fall, the bigger bass shifted from the inside edges of the grass lines in shallower water to the deeper edges. Key areas often featured rock bottoms, and on sunny days, the bass suspended off the bottom within the thickest clumps of grass.

This is where Humminbird Mega Live excelled, especially when locating fish in heavy vegetation. The technology allowed me to easily spot bass moving along grass lines and pinpoint their exact positions within the thick grass. While it was often challenging to get a bait to the bottom because of the vegetation, Mega Live’s ability to contrast fish from the surrounding cover made all the difference. I could track their movements closely, whether the bass stayed near the bottom or suspended higher in the water column. Many key bites came from suspended fish, and I could detect subtle cues, like my line stopping mid-fall.

The author uses Humminbird electronics, including Side Imaging and 2D Sonar, to locate submerged grass.

Lake Champlain is a true gem of New England, cherished by bass anglers nationwide. At every event, both smallmouth and largemouth bass are legitimate contenders for victory, making it a versatile and unpredictable fishery. As technology advances and bass adapt to increased pressure, it felt refreshing to step away from offshore smallmouth fishing and reconnect with my roots by fishing for largemouth in a mix of shallow and deep environments.

There are countless ways to target largemouth bass on Champlain. This season, several big fish were caught in shallow water—the opposite of my primary strategy. For example, my friend Cam Chase from Massachusetts won two tournaments I competed in this year by balancing shallow and deep-water tactics. Whether it was docks, isolated boulders, or lily pads, Champlain’s diverse cover offers opportunities all season long.

The fish rarely follow a script, meaning success may come from fishing shallow, deep, or anywhere in between. Ultimately, sticking to what you’re most comfortable with is often the best path to success.