Late Summer Bite on Lake Champlain - Bass, Pike, and Panfish Thrive in Ideal Conditions

Artificial Lure reporting with your Lake Champlain fishing update for Sunday, September 14, 2025—coming to you local-style, right outta the heart of Champlain country. We kicked off the morning under mostly sunny skies after a crisp start, temps warming to the upper 60s by the afternoon, dropping again with a cool late-summer breeze rolling in at sunset. Sunrise came in at 6:32 AM and sunset hit at 7:05 PM, so evening anglers had a solid window to work the bite. The lake stayed calm early, with light southwest winds picking up mid-afternoon, then settling back once the sun started to sink. Lake Champlain isn’t tidal, but water levels are holding steady after some light rain earlier this week, with clarity on the Vermont side particularly good. Weed edges remain lush—perfect for largemouth, smallmouth, and those elusive pike cruising the shallows. Lots of folks’ve been waiting for the American Bass Anglers tournament results, and they sure didn’t disappoint. Reports from Swanton to South Hero said the largemouth were aggressive on the southern bays, especially on chartreuse spinnerbaits fished just above the weeds. Anglers are still pulling solid smallmouth from rocky points near the Sandbar and around Isle La Motte with swimbaits and drop-shot rigs. Corey Gillis took a wire-to-wire win at Swanton just two weeks back, focusing on moving baits over rock piles and punchin’ jigs into grass mats, and those patterns held strong today according to word at the ramp from the regulars. Quantity-wise, today’s take saw plenty of bass in the 2–3 pound range, with several quality smallmouth pushing 4 lbs landed between Rouses Point and Missisquoi Bay. Pike are showing up in better numbers now with the cooler nights—look for them where creeks dump into the lake and work silver spoons or big white paddletails right along the channel breaks. Hot lures? No surprise, a green pumpkin tube jig remains tough to beat for smallmouth, especially with a rattle inside. Largemouth are slamming black/blue chatterbaits and topwater frogs around thick pads—especially early morning and dusk, when the water’s glassy. If you’re chasing perch or looking for a mixed bag, a live minnow under a slip bobber near the old railroad bridge at the Sandbar was steady business, with some nice slabs coming up this afternoon. For bait, lively nightcrawlers and small shiners have outfished plastics for those targeting panfish and walleye, especially around dusk. Folks along the causeway also reported a decent evening crappie bite pitching small jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp minnows. Hot spots today: - The mouth of Malletts Bay: fast-moving water drew hungry bass and a couple hefty pike. - Carry Bay north of North Hero: active smallies on rocky humps, also a big school of yellow perch. You can’t beat September on Champlain—with stable weather, healthy weeds, and the fish putting on the fall feedbag, now’s the time to get out. Thanks for tuning in to the Lake Champlain fishing report! Do This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.