Late Fall Champlain Bass & Walleye Report - Rigs, Patterns, and Hotspots for the Changing Conditions

Lake Champlain gave us a cool November morning, with the water temp sitting right at 59 degrees according to Seatemperature.info. Air temps started in the low 40s and will edge up to the low 50s by midafternoon, with overcast skies early giving way to patchy sun. The breeze is mild but persistent out of the southwest, chopping up the open water but leaving protected bays calm—classic fall Champlain conditions. Sunrise was at 6:33 a.m. and sunset will hit around 4:33 p.m. It’s a short window, so get out while the bite is hot. No tidal influence here on the lake itself, but downstream in the Richelieu or up toward the St. Lawrence, fish might cue to rising or falling rivers. Recent tournament action saw both smallmouth and largemouth bass cooperating, with Major League Fishing reporting over 1,000 scorable smallmouth and nearly as many largemouth in their latest event. The standout pattern? Drop-shot rigs and Ned rigs for smallmouth in deeper, rockier areas, especially mid-lake humps and near the islands. The Googan Baits Rattlin’ Ned in Smelt or Green Pumpkin and the Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm on a drop-shot have been absolutely deadly. For largemouth, anglers are still getting bit on frogs around the remaining weed mats and in the slop, with a brown SPRO frog getting so much action it lost its paint. Swim jigs with a Zoom Speed Craw trailer, particularly in green pumpkin and black, are falling right in that late-fall sweet spot in shallow coves. Smallmouth are schooling up, chasing bait near rocky points and offshore structure—think Isle La Motte or the areas off Valcour Island. With lake water holding in the upper 50s, baitfish like shiners and perch are still active. Match the hatch with natural-colored swim baits or soft jerkbaits if you’re after bass or northern pike. Pike and pickerel have also moved into shallower weedlines—the bite should stay strong until water temps dip into the 40s. Multi-species anglers are reporting decent perch catches near the mouths of Otter Creek and Missisquoi Bay—live minnows or small jigs tipped with wax worms have been the ticket. The odd walleye is still being picked up after dark on stickbaits trolled slow along the deeper channel drops by the Sandbar and near the Crown Point Bridge. Don’t overlook the corners of Malletts Bay or the rocky drops out in front of Point Au Roche—both are reliable when the bass push shallow on sunny afternoons. The Inland Sea is another old standby, and the south end around Ticonderoga has turned up some stout largemouth, especially with a chatterbait ticking through the dying grass. If you’re bank fishing, the community access at Colchester Causeway or the South Hero fishing pier puts you right in line with moving schools of perch and the occasional bronzeback. Best baits and lures this week: - Rattlin’ Ned rig, Green Pumpkin or Smelt for smallmouth - Drop-shot with MaxScent Flat Worm (black or goby) for both bass species - Brown or green frog for largemouth in This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.