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Lake Champlain Ice Fishing Update: Healthy Fish, Hazardous Conditions

Lake Champlain Ice Fishing Update: Healthy Fish, Hazardous Conditions

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 This is Artificial Lure with your Lake Champlain fishing report.

We’re locked in full winter mode now, with most of the big lake carrying decent ice in the protected bays, but conditions still vary a lot by shoreline. Local bait shops around the Burlington and Plattsburgh ends are reporting 4–7 inches on many sheltered coves, with thinner, sketchy ice out toward the main lake. Treat every step like it’s your first of the season: spud bar, picks, rope, and a buddy.

No tides to worry about here on Champlain, but water levels are a touch low and stable, which helps keep the ice from shifting. Sunrise is right around 7:30 in the morning with sunset close to 4:30 in the afternoon, so your prime bite windows are short and sharp around first light and that last hour before dark.

Weather-wise, we’re in a classic January pattern: cold nights in the single digits or teens, daytime highs in the 20s to low 30s with light northwest breeze and occasional snow squalls. That cold is building ice, but watch for drifting and pressure cracks, especially off points and near bridges.

Fish activity has picked up the past couple days. Local reports have steady **yellow perch** and **bluegill** action in the shallower weeds, **northern pike** cruising the flats, and a mix of **lake trout**, **smelt**, and the odd **walleye** showing in deeper basins. According to regional tournament coverage from Major League Fishing out of Ticonderoga and the Inland Sea area, Champlain’s smallmouth and largemouth populations are as healthy as ever; a Phoenix Bass Fishing League event this week was won with strong weights of brown bass, confirming there’s no shortage of quality fish roaming under the ice.

Recent catches in the popular bays include buckets of hand-sized perch, scattered 8–10 inch pumpkinseeds, pike into the low teens, and lakers pushing 6–8 pounds for the folks willing to walk a little farther and fish deep structure.

Best lures right now:
- For panfish: tiny tungsten jigs in chartreuse, glow white, or pink tipped with spikes or mousies; small gold or silver spoons when the school fires up.
- For lake trout: 1/2–3/4 oz white or glow tube jigs, airplane jigs, and slender spoons jigged 40–80 feet over humps and drop-offs.
- For pike: quick-strike rigs with dead bait under tip‑ups, with a backup jigging rod rigged with a loud rattle spoon or flutter spoon to call them in.

Best bait:
- Panfish: live spikes, mousies, and small shiners.
- Pike: medium to large golden shiners or frozen smelt and sucker chunks on tip‑ups.
- Lakers and the odd walleye: live or dead smelt, or shiners on a drop-shot or just above a heavy spoon.

A couple of hot spots to consider:

- **Malletts Bay**: Good early‑ice producer, with solid perch and bluegill action in 8–15 feet and pike working the weed edges. Look for inside turns and any remaining cabbage beds.

- **Port Henry / Bulwagga Bay area** on the New York side: Historically strong for lake trout and mixed panfish. Focus on points and breaks dropping from 20 into 60+ feet for lakers, and shallower flats for perch.

Closer to Burlington, the sheltered cuts and back bays around the ferry landings and river mouths are also worth a look for panfish and the occasional bonus pike, but ice there can be fickle with current, so use your head.

That’s the word from Lake Champlain today. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
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