After a weeklong steelhead trip that proved to be quite disappointing, I was back on the water with my wife, Christiane and Darren. I decided to head to Lake Champlain in Mississsquoi Bay. The air temps were slightly above freezing and the water temps were in the mid to upper 40’s. Clouds covered the sky and an occasional break showed sunshine now & then. With the winds almost non-existent I knew it would be difficult to get a good drift going and decided to try casting tubes. Christiane hooked up almost immediately with three fish in a row, but it took Darren a little longer to get into his first smallmouth. Most fish were coming from 12 to 15 feet of water by slowly crawling these offerings. The bite was very difficult to detect at most times as the bass were just picking up the jigs and holding on. If you couldn’t feel the weight difference you wouldn’t even know they were there. We fished only a couple of areas, but concentrated on the deeper rocks, finessing these slow biters. By the end of the day, there were at least 40 bass caught up to almost 4 pounds. Most of these fish were in the 2.5 to 3 pound range but there were plenty over 3 pounds as well. All in all a good day with numbers of these medium sized bronzebacks being caught & released.

David & Jeff joined me on Lake Champlain today for a fiesta of smallies! This was the first time Jeff had ever handled a spinning rod let alone landed a smallmouth bass. He was in for a real treat as it was about to become a numbers day for all. It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning as we launched the boat into water below 50 degrees. Air temps were barely over the freezing mark, but the sunshine made it feel warmer. With almost no wind at all, it was easy to teach Jeff the basics of casting and retrieving. I was able to give him a great example of this as I slammed into a smallie of over three pounds on the first cast. I love it when the fish cooperate! Jeff was a quick study, as he didn’t take too long to begin hooking fish on his own. The water was dictating the activity level of the bass and we had to slowly crawl tubes on the bottom just to entice them into biting. This was going to be the ticket to catching the bass today! The water clarity was terrible due to all the rain & wind we had been having this pat week and the strike zones were very small. If you weren’t right in their faces, you didn’t get bit! By slowly crawling these offerings, we were able to land over 25 bass in the first place we fished. The second spot was even smaller and when the wind picked up we were able to get a good drift happening. Each time we passed a certain area, someone locked up on a bass. There were even a few double headers by Jeff & David! We stayed there for as long as the fish were willing to bite and managed to land another 25 or more smallmouth before changing locations again. With the sun beginning to drop low in the sky, I knew we weren’t long for this day. David managed to get a couple more bass, but this time they were largemouth. Jeff got to see the difference between the two before we headed off he water. All in all a great day with over 50 bass landed and plenty more lost. I think Jeff is now hooked for life! He definitely landed more than David, but that was the plan! His was the largest at almost 4 pounds, but David had plenty almost as big to add to the bag. All fish released to fight another day!

After a few cancellations due to foul weather, I was back on the water today with Jay. We were looking for big fish only and knew that they would be hard to come by! The weather called for cloudy condition with sunny periods throughout the day, but all we got were the clouds. Air temps were in the low 40’s and the water temps were in the upper 40’s. Light & variable winds were a welcome with temperatures like these. The fish were a little slow in coming, but every one was big! Jay hooked the first one of about 3.5 pounds and I told him that it was below average. Eventually he caught some over 4 and I informed him that was more the norm for this area. We didn’t catch anything that was over 5 pounds but had several that were between 4.5 and 5 pounds. Plenty of others were missed and lost that were larger, but that’s always the way when you’re on big fish. We did have a slow period during the afternoon but that eventually changed as the day neared the end. Jay caught a few more large fish in the last hour that made up for the dead period we had earlier. All in all a good day with around 20 smallmouth bass caught & released.

Another day off and time to check out the lower St-Lawrence River for future fishing. My wife, Christiane & I were going to see just what the conditions were like! With all the rain and winds we had experienced in the last couple of weeks, I was expecting the worst, but was amazed when I saw the color of the water and it wasn’t brown. The clarity wasn’t great, but I’ve caught them in much dirtier water before! On the first drift in 15 feet of water, I locked up on a smallie of 3 pounds. Christiane caught another within minutes and we began to get into them regularly. The sky was an overcast one and the air temps were mid 40’s at best, but the fishing was worth staying. The wind was from the N/NE once again and against the current flow making for difficult drifts. Water temps were around 52 degrees and cooling like the rest of the lakes I fish also. Everywhere we fished, we caught some bass and I even caught a lost, 3-pound largemouth in a smallmouth zone. That was definitely a bonus fish! In a five-hour period, close to 30 fish were caught and many others were lost as well. The river is definitely fishable, but the water clarity could be a little cleaner in order to get into those 100 fish days. Hopefully in the next few days, it will filter some of the dirt & debris and have better visibility. All in all, a pretty good day for only five hours of fishing!

I had the day off so I decided to fish with an old friend of mine from Ottawa. Keith was about to experience one of the finest fall fishing days of his life as we targeted huge smaallmouth bass. The weather was a beautiful sunny cool one with air temps in the mid 40’s and no wind. The sunshine definitely makes a difference at this time of year for the warmth! Water temps were 53 degrees and cooling daily with the night temperatures nearing the freezing mark. Keith started his day off right with a smallie over four pounds within the first 5 minutes. Nice fish for a starter, but I knew the best was yet to come. Not wanting to let him lead for too long, I slammed into one even bigger shortly after and showed him what a five-pound smallmouth looks like. Several more fish were caught and a few others lost before Keith finally hooked into what I was searching for. This one came aboard and weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces. A personal best for him! The rest of the day was a little slow, as the fishing seemed to shut down after the big one was caught. We covered plenty more water and caught a few other fish, but nothing really over 4 pounds. I figured we’d take a few quick photos and fish for a little longer before we called it quits. With the sun going down and the temps getting cooler, a few more casts were about all that was left in this beautiful day. I landed one more 4 pounder on a tube and Keith should have topped that one if the hooks would have stayed in. A 4.5-pound smallie went airborne and I’m sure I saw it laughing at Keith as the hook went flying out. With this, I knew it was time to call it quits and headed for the boat ramp. It would have been a sin to have not been out there on this spectacular fall day!