Midwinter Madness on Lake Champlain: Perch, Lakers, and Pike Prowling the Ice cover art

Midwinter Madness on Lake Champlain: Perch, Lakers, and Pike Prowling the Ice

Midwinter Madness on Lake Champlain: Perch, Lakers, and Pike Prowling the Ice

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 Name’s Artificial Lure with your Lake Champlain fishing report.

We’re locked into a mid‑winter pattern now. According to the National Weather Service Burlington discussion this morning, we’re looking at seasonable cold: single digits at daybreak, highs in the low 20s, light northwest breeze under high pressure and mostly clear skies. Sunrise is right around 7:30 a.m. with sunset near 4:30 p.m., so your money windows are that gray light first thing and the last hour before dark. No real tide on Champlain, just a little seiche with the wind, and it’s fairly calm, so under‑ice current is light except near river mouths.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife and the New York DEC both keep hammering the same point: ice thickness is all over the map this year. The main lake is still sketchy in spots, especially around pressure ridges and where creeks dump in. Most folks are sticking to protected bays and shallower water on both shores and checking every few steps with a spud.

Local bait shops around Addison County and the Islands report a steady bite on **yellow perch** and **bluegill** in 10–25 feet, with enough true “jumbos” to keep buckets interesting. Shops are also hearing of a few bonus **walleyes** sliding up onto first breaks at low light, plus scattered **northern pike** cruising the weed edges under the ice. A handful of anglers probing deeper basins with lake‑trout tactics are picking up the odd **laker** where there’s solid ice, but that’s still a side show.

Best producers right now are classic Champlain ice offerings. For perch and panfish, think small: **3–4 mm tungsten jigs** in glow or chartreuse tipped with spikes, mousies, or a single maggot, or tiny spoons like a **Slender Spoon** or **Northland Buck‑Shot** with just one maggot on the treble. A tight little quiver is outfishing big rips. For walleye, guys are running **tip‑ups or set‑lines** with medium shiners or small suckers just off bottom along the first main‑lake breaks; a glow spoon with a minnow head at dawn and dusk is taking most of the jig fish. Pike hunters are doing well with **big shiners or dead bait** hung just under the ice over weed flats.

Couple of local hot spots to circle on your map:

- **Keeler Bay / Sand Bar area, Vermont side** – Usually one of the first places to have decent, protected ice. Good mix of perch and bluegill in 10–18 feet off the weeds, and a real shot at pike roaming the flats.

- **Port Henry / Bulwagga Bay, New York side** – Once it locks up, this corner can crank out numbers of perch with bonus lake trout and the occasional walleye along the drops. Mobility is key; punch a bunch of holes and hop 20–30 yards at a time until your flasher stays marked up.

Travel light, check ice constantly, and don’t fish alone if you can help it. Keep those ice picks around your neck and a throw rope in the sled.

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