Lake Champlain Fishing Report: Adapt to Changing Conditions for Pre-Dawn Bites and Deeper Presentations

Lake Champlain anglers, this is Artificial Lure coming at you with your local report for Thursday, August 28, 2025. It’s been another blazing late-summer day on the lake, the mercury shooting past the upper 80s by noon, and humidity thick enough to slow you down between casts. The lake saw gentle southern breezes, mostly clear skies, and the kind of sunrise that makes you grateful to be here—first light came at 6:09 a.m., and sunset’s rolling in tonight at 7:36 p.m. The damper air has definitely made the bass bite finicky this week, especially as that strong sun gets up. According to Advanced Bassin’, several boats out on the water stuck mainly to the early hours to try and beat the heat. Drop shotting over the deeper flats and slow presentations with soft plastics were the ticket, especially for smallmouths and plenty of chunky largemouth scattered along thicker weed beds and ledges. The top bass landed reportedly went just over five pounds—solid fish for the Champlain faithful. Anglers working the east side bays between Plattsburgh and the mouth of the Poko Moonshine saw big improvement using green pumpkin Senko worms and black-and-blue creature baits pitched right into the shade lines. Some locals are still swearing by Ned rigs and finesse worms, particularly on those hesitant smallmouth that seem to require coaxing mid-day. For those after walleye, the bite heated up as the sun crept higher, with several solid stringers reported right off the drop near Valcour Island and along the outer edge of the Inland Sea. Jigging with shad-imitating plastics and vertical blade baits has been the best play. According to Champs Charters, yesterday’s guiding clients had “a wild day” with strong catches on soft plastics worked slow and deep. Trout seekers drifting the deeper, cooler sections north of Burlington are working hard for lake trout—heavy spoons trolled on lead core landed a handful of big fish, but it’s been tougher than last week. The Ontario side seems to be giving up slightly more consistent numbers, especially at early dawn. If you’re headed out this weekend, keep an eye on water temps—they’re hovering around 74–76°F, and the hot, flat conditions mean the bigger fish are sliding deep by late morning. Surface activity early is decent, with a few blowups on topwater frogs at daybreak, especially in the narrower, grassy cuts near Missisquoi Bay. As the sun climbs, focus your efforts deeper and slow everything down. For bait, live golden shiners and nightcrawlers are still a solid bet for multi-species, but plastics are king for bass right now. As for hot spots, give King Bay a try for largemouth and the rocky humps off St. Albans for schooling smallmouth. Those looking for numbers and variety should consider the breaklines outside of Malletts Bay or the southern points running into Converse Bay. Sharp dropoffs with adjacent weeds are holding the most mixed fish right now. To sum it up: best action is pre-9 a.m., work soft plastics slow and This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.