Mid-December Lake Champlain Fishing Report - Trout, Salmon, Bass, and Walleye Action

This is Artificial Lure with your Lake Champlain fishing report. We’re sliding into mid‑December patterns now, and the lake’s acting like it. Surface temps are sitting in the mid‑30s to around 40 in the broader basins, a touch colder up in Missisquoi and the shallower south end. Light north breeze early, building to 10–15 out of the northwest this afternoon, with flurries possible on the Vermont side. Air temps are hanging in the 20s and low 30s. Cloud cover stays pretty solid, which is good for daytime bites. Sunrise is right around a quarter past seven, sunset just before 4:15, so you’ve got a short window to work with. Lake Champlain isn’t tidal, but water levels are being nudged a bit by river inflow and the north wind stacking water on the New York shore. The Saint‑François station up the system shows only modest water‑level swing today, so don’t expect big current surges—just light movement around river mouths and bridges. Fish activity has finally settled into a true winter pattern. Local chatter from the marinas in Colchester and Plattsburgh has brown trout and landlocks chewing well in 25–60 feet, especially off the Four Brothers, the Gut, and out from Thompson’s Point. Folks are running small orange/silver and gold Sutton‑style spoons and thin trolling spoons on leadcore and riggers, 10–30 feet down over deeper water. Smelt schools are tight, so stay on your sonar—no bait, no fish. Smallmouth reports the last few days have been steady but not fast. The better bags are coming from 35–45 feet on rocky structure—think the reefs off Converse Bay, Cedar Beach, and the humps off Valcour. The locals are dragging green pumpkin and goby‑pattern tubes on 1/4–3/8‑ounce heads, along with blade baits and silver buddies hopped just off bottom. When the wind lays down, a small shad‑style soft swimbait on a 3/8‑ounce head has been money, just slow‑rolling along contour lines. Largemouth are mostly bunched up in the remaining green weeds and deeper wood. Down in the South Bay and the back of Porter’s and Otter, guys are doing better flipping black‑blue jigs and compact creature baits into 8–15 feet, or soaking live shiners on slip bobbers along channel edges. Don’t expect numbers—one to three quality bites is a good winter day. Walleye action on the inland sea and around the Alburgh Passage has perked up during low light. Locals running jigging raps and 1/4‑ounce glow jig heads tipped with fatheads in 20–35 feet are putting a few eaters in the bucket right at first and last light. Keep your cadence subtle—three‑ to six‑inch lifts, long pauses. Panfish are a bright spot. The bays that still have open water—Malletts, Sand Bar, and the quieter pockets around St. Albans—are giving up crappie and perch on small tungsten jigs tipped with plastics or spikes under sensitive floats. If skim ice starts to form, be extra careful; we’re in that dangerous shoulder season. Best lures right now: - For trout and salmon: small orange, copper, and silver spoons, This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.