Greetings Lake Champlain enthusiasts! Spring is upon us and many boaters are already out navigating across the waters of the big lake. In spring it’s usually the fishermen who are first willing to endure the cold weather to cure their cabin fever. I pride myself in being one of the first few anglers to launch following ice-out. This year I was on the lake targeting lake trout and salmon during the last week of March. Believe it or not, I was catching some dandy lakers trolling just a few feet from the edge of the melting ice on Cumberland Bay. The lake trout fishing has been outstanding. As of this writing, May 1, 2009, my charters have landed 171 trout. Many fish where in the ten-pound range and the largest weighed in at just over thirteen pounds. I fish for Lake Champlain’s Seneca Lake strain of trout in 50 to 80 feet of water even in the early season. The Atlantic salmon fishing has been great too. The spring run in the tributaries brought in a good stock of salmon accessible to riverbank and fly fishermen. Those of us who trolled for salmon just after ice-out on the broad water in spots like Sandbar on the Inland Sea and Willsboro Bay on the main lake also did very well. The key to good salmon fishing in spring is finding slightly warmer water temperatures. The bass and pike fishing heated up in the rivers as well by the last week of April.

(more…)