Northern Division anglers take on a wetter-than-usual Champlain

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Setting out after a night of rain, the pros and Strike King co-anglers of the Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Northern Division will take on Lake Champlain, which is one of the most prolific lakes in the Northeast. The second event of the season, it’s presented by Suzuki Marine and should feature big weights and a ton of bass of both the brown and green variety.

Invitationals event sets the stage

This week’s Toyota Series event is preceded by the early June Tackle Warehouse Invitationals event, which saw Jacob Walker earn the win with a two-day total of 42 pounds, 5 ounces, while both Nick Hatfield and Alec Morrison averaged more than 20 pounds a day behind him. Going into that event, there was a solid chance that spawning fish would be a big storyline even after a very warm May. By the end of Day 2, that was decidedly not the case, as the best spawn-time anglers on the lake were only nipping at the Top 10.

With postspawn smallmouth and shallow largemouth dominating a few weeks ago, folks can probably expect more of the same this week, albeit ramped up a bit. While weights like the August 2023 Elite Series event — when it took 20 pounds a day to crack the Top 10 and nearly 22 a day to win — are unlikely, it’s a sure bet that the winner in this one averages 20 pounds or better, though the question of “how?” certainly hangs in the air.  

How does it go down?

There are a lot of ways to catch a bass on Lake Champlain right now, but just catching one isn’t enough. The winner will need to catch a lot of big ones.

“I think an angler can do all kinds of things right now, for sure,” said Kyle Cortiana, an Oklahoman who has been enjoying the North for the last month or so. “I caught a 5-pound largemouth the other day out of an isolated clump of milfoil. There are anglers here that love chasing the green ones, and they can go do it. But, the smallmouth rule here, in my opinion. You’re going to see a ton of minnowing, a ton of forward-facing sonar. And I think jerkbaits and A-rigs are going to play — you’ll see some key fish come on those.”

According to Cortiana, there are a lot of smallmouth shallow, where they are a little less prone to predation from forward-facing sonar and feeding up after the spawn.

“There’s a lot of bait out deep, but there’s still not a ton of fish on them,” he said. “But, if you spend your time looking, you can find a few, and some of the big ones are out there. You’ll see people really deep on the bait, but I had 22 pounds yesterday on a Spook – so there are still plenty of fish shallow.”

To a degree, Morrison echoed Cortiana – the open water roaming bite isn’t super easy.

“Some places it’s really, really slow,” said the New York pro. “But when you get around them, it can be pretty crazy.”

Kurt Mitchell did well in the Invitational on largemouth and also reports problems with the smallmouth.

“I went to Malletts Bay and fished every area I know – I probably trolling motored and LiveScoped for a good 3 miles, and I never saw a bass,” he said. “It’s Champlain, so obviously somebody has found them, but not me.”

While the open water bait bite has been the name of the game recently, it’s not the only jam in town. Running isolated cover for smallmouth still has a place, as well as traditional shoals and humps. Plus, there are plenty of largemouth shallow, and both Cortiana and Mitchell reported success running that sort of pattern – with some of the best largemouth anglers on the lake signed up, you can figure on some big bags of green ones.

Does the rain change the game?

Almost exactly a year ago, a slow-moving storm dumped between 3 and 9 inches of rain over the Green Mountains, flooding out parts of Vermont and sending plumes of mud and wastewater rushing out of the rivers into Champlain. The remnants of Hurricane Beryl threatened a similar scenario, and while it was not as bad, some parts of Vermont got more than 5 inches of rain, and a number of towns are experiencing flooding. As a result, dirty water is rolling in and Champlain has come up almost half a foot overnight, which is a lot when the lake is 100 miles long.

Near the more significant tributaries, there should be some dirtier water than usual. And there’s a good chance that we’ll see more flow out of the Inland Sea than is typical for this time of year – the gaps in the causeways could be poppin’. Though fishing in the rain might not be super ideal, the effects from a non-catastrophic influx of water could be positive.

“I’ve been here for like a month now and intentionally decided not to go fish when it is raining,” Cortiana said. “I don’t think we’re going to have the really bad conditions initially forecast, but I think it’s going to be raining for a good portion of the day, and in my opinion, the fish bite better here when it’s sunny. I’m hoping the influx of rain might generate some current in places that don’t have current – I feel like when the current is moving good the fish set back up faster.”

What does it take?

So, what’s the game plan? Does Bryan LaBelle sack up 23 pounds a day of largemouth for an epic win? Does the ‘Scope crew get it done?

“I think it’s doing good, it’s fishing strong, the fish are fattening up,” Cortiana said. “I think you’ll see the weights go up — it will take 17 1/2 or 17 3/4 a day to get paid. Obviously, it’s going to take three bags over 20 to win.”

“I think the smallmouth will reign supreme, as usual,” Morrison said. “But there have been some big largemouth weighed recently, not only in the Invitational but also in some local tournaments as well. I think we’ll see quite a few big largemouth in this one – more so than the Toyota Series event we had last year.

“As a competitor, you have to go into a tournament at Champlain knowing that you’ll always need at least 20 pounds a day in order to be there at the end,” Morrison said. “I think for this one it’ll take upwards of 63 pounds over three days to win. The top end weights will be similar to the Invitationals. But I expect the cut line weight to be a little higher for this one – maybe even a pound more.”

Sounds fun, even if it’s going to take a while to get everyone’s carpet dried out.