Autumn Angling on Lake Champlain: Lures, Tactics, and Hot Spots for Late Season Bass, Salmon, and More.

Chilly start to November out on Lake Champlain this morning, and as your local fishing expert, Artificial Lure, here’s the scoop you need before you launch the boat or hit the bank. Sunrise is coming at 7:04 a.m.; sunset is at 4:53 p.m. Days are getting short, so make each cast count. Air temps are hovering in the 40s at dawn, climbing to the low 50s with scattered clouds and a brisk northwest breeze, which will keep the main lake choppy and push fish tighter to any wind-protected structure. No tidal action in Champlain, though tides up north (like North Point, PEI) are running low just after 9 a.m. and peaking mid-afternoon, for those wondering about cross-regional water movement from St. Lawrence inflow, but here, it's all about the wind and water temp. Water clarity remains good, but the late autumn chill means bass and salmon are following bait deeper and relating tight to points, humps, and steeper drop-offs near deeper holes. The cooling surface water is pushing smallmouth bass down to the 20-35 foot range—places like the drop-offs around Split Rock or the ridges near the Four Brothers are holding strong numbers. Largemouth are tucked into still-green weedbeds and any remaining wood, best found in sheltered bays. Recent action has been hot for those targeting landlocked Atlantic salmon and brown trout, especially at river mouths and near old ferry docks. As of November 5th, biologists working on a tracking study confirmed boat and shore anglers are catching zero-age stocked landlocked salmon near the docks, with a few keeper browns mixed in, mostly on jigs and small spoons around the Winooski and Otter Creek mouths. According to interviews with recent MLF Elite Qualifier winner Emil Wagner, record bags of smallmouth up to 69 pounds over a multi-day derby mostly came on finesse presentations—drop shot rigs with green pumpkin and goby plastics, and Ned rigs fished slow and deep. Top baits for the day: - For smallmouth: **dropshot with finesse minnow or craw**, Ned rig in natural hues, or a deep-diving crankbait like the SPRO RkCrawler in shad or craw patterns. - For largemouth: **flipping a black and blue jig** or a watermelon red craw tube into remaining weed patches, slow-rolling a white-and-chartreuse spinnerbait along inside weed lines. - Salmon and browns: **small silver or gold spoons** (1/4 oz), marabou jigs, and slim stickbaits trolled or casted at river mouths. Live bait is producing, too—medium shiners or smelt below a slip bobber have drawn out bonus perch and the odd walleye at dusk. Catch reports this week have included solid numbers of 2–3 pound smallmouths in mid-lake rock piles, good largemouths to 4 pounds in Missisquoi and Keeler bays, incidental pike while targeting bass, and the occasional bonus jumbo perch near Colchester Reef. Salmon are running smaller but scrappy, with a few pushing 18–20 inches. A couple of hot spots you’ll want to check: - **Long Point, north of Basin Harbor**: smallmouth holding on the drop This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.