It was another spectacular day on the water again, with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70’s. Water temps were up to 64 degrees on Memphremagog with absolutely no wind at all. I fished one lake in the morning for lake trout with Dave, Rick & Dan and another lake in the afternoon for smallmouth with the guys. Not only did they land 4 lakers on the morning lake, but 2 smallies over 6 pounds as well! The afternoon bite proved to be even better as there were between 50 & 60 bass caught & released up to 5 pounds, in a 4 hour period. All in all, a great day of fishing for both size and numbers for these three guys!

What a day on the water! I fished with Bobby & Francois today on a couple of lakes. We started for lake trout & Bobby was the first to hook into a beauty of almost 5 pounds within the first 15 minutes. Into the livewell it went and shortly after, Francois lost one as well. Bobby landed his second trout about the same size and eventually, Francois caught one of his own, too. In only a couple of hours, there were three lakers taken and many other missed hits. By noon we were on Memphremagog for smallmouth bass and Francois was the first to score a real beauty of almost 5 pounds. Both of them were into fish consistently as over 50 bass were to be caught this afternoon. Fin-s tipped jigs were responsible for 100% of the entire day’s catch. With a warming trend finally here, the fish will definately be more active in the day’s to come. The conditions for today were absolutely spectacular! Air temps the mid 70’s with water temps almost 65 degrees in most areas. Sunny skies with no wind made for a very comfortable fishing day. All in all, just a great day to be on the water!!

With light precipitation falling this morning, I decided to try another lake once again. Smallmouth & lake trout were what I was after and it didn’t take long before I was hooked up. The first fish was a smallmouth of over 3 pounds and a lake trout on the very next cast. This time it took a little longer to land the trout as it sounded for deeper water immediately after I hooked it. Light line & a fin-s tipped jig would be responsible for every fish landed today! Water temps were 46 to 48 degrees and air temps topped out at 62 by day’s end. Little to no wind was present and the rain stopped by 10:30 AM. I literally had the lake to myself, as there wasn’t another boat in sight! Too bad, as it was an incredible day for the lake trout! By the end of the day I had caught 8 lakers and 6 smallies with the largest being a 7 pound lake trout. Plenty more strikes were had, but unfortunately, not all were hooked up. With the water temps being as cold as they are, it will be a little longer before the bulk of the smallmouth start to move shallower. Right now, the bass and trout seem to be in the same areas, deep water! Warmer air temps and sunshine are in the forecast for the next week and this should really trigger the smallies to feed before their rigorous spawn cycle, soon to come. All in all, a great day for lakers and one will be grilled for dinner tonight!

Another day on another lake with similar results! Air temps reached 52 degrees, as did the surface water. Overcast skies soon gave way to light drizzle, followed by steady rain. I fished for about 5 hours until I had had enough moisture to soak a sponge. Close to 30 smallmouth bass were caught up to 4.5 pounds. Shallow water as well as deeper edges accounted for today’s catch, as all areas held fish! The conditions need to change before the bulk of the bass begin to leave the deep water and start to feed. Most of the fish being caught are the smaller males, but occasional females are also being landed. Within the next week or so, a noticeable difference will occur with mostly larger females being caught. All in all, a pretty good day!

I spent about 4 hours fishing Lake Memphremagog this afternoon for smallmouth bass. With the special “Catch & Release” season that Vermont has to offer, the fishing starts early for me. The air temps were in the upper 60’s and the water temps were almost 52 degrees. Light & variable winds soon became stronger and by mid afternoon were blowing at 10 to 15 knots from the NW. An occasional sunny period broke through the cloud cover making the air temps seem more like June, rather than May 1st. To say these fish were sluggish would have been an understatement! By slowly dragging jigs, I was able to pick up about 15 bass in the first area I fished. The first bass came on a jerk-bait and it was another 2 hours before I had a fish hit it again. The most productive areas were the open water shoals that led to deeper water today. Their metabolism is still in the winter mode as they feel more like ice cubes when being released. I picked up another 10 or so smallies up to 4 pounds on jerk-baits fishing open water, totaling the afternoon at about 25 bass, 3 huge perch and 2 chain pickeral. All in all a good afternoon for 4 hours of fishing on my first day out!