We are booking for Spring! Are you ready?

Hi Guys,

Is Spring ever coming??!! Believe it or not, as of this writing, we still have over 30 inches of ice on Long Pond and over 20 inches on Champlain?! That is the most ice we`ve had in over 20 years I bet! But you know, as soon as the temperatures stay above freezing both day and night, the ice will go quick. I sure hope it is soon cause we officially open on April 24th?! That is a week later then we usually open. But usually right off the bat, the fishing is “HOT”!!!

NICE SEEING YOU

I would like to thank all of you who came to the sport shows this winter and stopped to see us at our booth. It is always nice to see you guys, it is by far the most fun about doing the shows, talking with you.

I would also like to thank all of you who came up to ice fish with us. It definitely was a cold one but all of you did real well as these photos show!

WE`RE BOOKING FOR SPRING

Looks like everyone had a tough winter and can`t wait for spring. We have never had so many booking so early as we`ve had this year. Most weekends in May and June are almost all booked up already, and quite a few weekdays also?! If any of you were planning to come up with us this spring and have not already booked, give me a call as soon as you can, ok? You might want to have several dates in mind. If that doesn`t work out for you, don’t forget the fall. Most of our biggest fish of the year are caught in October thru mid November. I hope you can all make it, cause I hate to turn anyone away.

TROUT AND SALMON ARE BACK

I`m sure all of you know about our Great Smallmouth fishing on Champlain, but 20 year ago we also had some of the best “WORLD CLASS” Landlocked Salmon fishing anywhere!!

Then came the invasive LAMPREY, which devastated the Trout, Salmon and Pike populations on the big lake. Now after so many years the Lamprey are controlled and the fish are back, Big Time!! Last fall we caught a lot of browns, landlocks, lake trout and monster pike, and if that is any indication, this spring should be a bonanza?!! In the early spring the salmon and trout are all along the shore lines in shallow water and you can troll for them right under the surface with small spoons, spinners, rapala type lures and streamer flies. They also run up the rivers and streams that feed Champlain and you can get them casting with those same lures and flies and the best all around bait to use at that time is the “NIGHT CRAWLER”!! In the spring more salmon and trout in the rivers are caught on “Worms” then anything else?!

Our lodge is very conveniently located just a few miles from the 3 main rivers that flow into Champlain, so if you guys are booked to stay more then a day or so in the April thru June time frame, bring your trout tackle as well as your bass tackle!!

PIKE

As I mentioned, the lamprey control has led to more and bigger pike in recent years. And by last years photos, you can see we are catching much bigger pike then we have in Years!! Last year we landed many pike in the 10 to 15 lb range! It seems we catch quantity of pike in the spring, and the quality in the fall, and that is probably true for for most species we fish for.

LAKERS

In most lakes in the country where there are lake trout, they are almost always caught “way down deep”,but in Lake Champlain in the early spring and the late fall, you can catch them shallow and many are caught casting for them from shore or from a boat just as you would bass fishing?! It`s a lot of fun catching a big laker casting, and they have been running up to 15 lbs!! Last summer was one of the best summers for deepwater trolling for lakers, a lot of “NUMBERS”. Late June thru Sept is the best times for deep trolling.

LARGEMOUTH

Our largemouth fishing up here doesn`t get hot until around mid May and they are usually found in very shallow water which is the “warmest” water. At that time we are using jigs, Plastic worms, and senko type lures worked very slow on the bottom. Then as the water warms we graduate to shallow crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and suspended jerkbaits. Around late June/early July the largemouths move to the deeper weedbeds and the weedier reefs way off shore. They basically remain there until the fall when they once again come shallow.

SMALLMOUTH

Smallies are probably our most abundant and most sought after fish we have. Because of their tough skin and heavy scales, they were not as affected by the Lampreys as were the other fish, so their populations have been steady. We fish for smallmouths from mid April, when the ice first goes out, till ice in about late November/early December. The very best months are April thru mid July, and mid September thru mid November. Again the most being in the early season and the biggest in the late fall. Many days in the spring we have 60 to 100 fish per boat days and they average around 3 lbs with many over 5 lbs!! In the fall we get quite a few over “6”!!!

LONG POND

Right behind our lodge is Long Pond, which is over a half mile long and is one of the most “ACTION” lakes you will ever fish. It has largemouth, smallmouth, pike, perch, crappie,and sunfish. The most action months on the pond are May, June,July,Sept,and Oct. Also, Incredible ice fishing in the winter!! For those of you who have booked with us for more then a few days, you should take advantage of the hundreds of lakes ponds streams and rivers which are all within a fifty mile radius of our lodge, by fishing some of them. Some have ramps for bigger boats, but the majority of them are for car top boats, canoes, and kayaks. So if you got em, bring em!! Of course, this info is for our new guys, you old timers already know this!

Well Guys, Lets go Fishin!!!!!

Hope to see you all real soon

HAVE A GOOD ONE!!!!

Pete