Artificial Lure here with your Lake Champlain, Vermont and New York fishing report for Monday, October 20th, 2025.

Classic autumn air greeted anglers this morning along Champlain—mostly clear skies, a light south-southwest breeze, and air temps climbing out of the upper 40s into the upper 50s by mid-morning. Sunrise came just past 7:10 AM and sunset will be around 6:05 PM today, so if you’re planning an evening bite, keep that narrowing window in mind. Lake Champlain doesn’t get tides, but water is running a bit higher than average after last week’s rains. Water clarity is solid with shifting weed beds around the bays and some nice rocky drop-offs primed for action.

Recent days have seen a flurry of activity, and fall patterns are in full swing. According to Advanced Bassin’ Plus, smallmouth bass are stacked tight to main lake points, rock piles, and deeper ledges. Anglers reporting from the Lake Champlain, Vermont/New York Daily Fishing Report say the action’s steady, with crews around Point Au Roche and the mouth of the Lamoille boating 30-plus smallmouth in a morning, most running 2 to 3 pounds with a handful up to the 4-pound range. Largemouth bites are scattered but quality’s high—weed beds near Sand Bar State Park, submerged cover in the southern lake, and the outside edges of docks have all given up bucketmouths edging past 5 pounds in recent outings. A notable catch to mention: last week, a 7.5-pounder was boated near St. Albans Bay on a white spinnerbait worked slow along the weed edge, a true Champlain trophy.

Northern pike and walleye are showing up more for anglers trolling deep-diving crankbaits and harnesses in 20 to 35 feet, especially off the flats by Deep Bay and the mouths of deeper bays. Those chasing sturgeon and muskie haven’t fared quite as well, but big-fish folks grinding hard in the channels or around the bridges might still get lucky.

Top lures right now: for smallmouth, the drop shot with 3" shad-hued plastics and brown pumpkin worms remains unbeatable on breezy days. Ned rigs and tube jigs worked along rocks add numbers and size, particularly on exposed main-lake structure. Largemouth are chomping green pumpkin jigs, black and blue creature baits, and chatterbaits pitched along grass edges. If you prefer moving baits, bladed jig patterns like Z-Man Chatterbait and white spinnerbaits, especially in the Inland Sea and St. Albans Bay, have scored chunky fish. Panfish are still biting, with bluegill and crappie plentiful in Missisquoi Bay and Bulwagga Bay—small jigs with worms are the ticket there.

For live bait, local tackle shops strongly recommend medium shiners and nightcrawlers rigged on slip sinkers—especially near reeds and pilings for both bass species. If you’re chasing lake trout out deep, spoons or white/chartreuse tubes tipped with a hunk of cut bait have been catching.

A couple of hot spots worth hitting today:
- Main lake drop-offs west of Point Au Roche State Park and into Deep Bay for mixed bags of smallmouth, pike, and walleye.
- Rocky ledges and breaks south of Juniper Island for big smallies, especially through mid-morning.
- Sand Bar State Park and the mouth of Missisquoi Bay for shallow-water largemouth and piles of panfish.
- The Burlington Ledges and between Westport and Cumberland Head if you’re targeting lake trout—look deep, 80 to 100 feet, trolling silver or green spoons.

With the wind ticking up this afternoon out of the southwest, lean into the leeward shores and mouths of bays—baitfish pile up there, and the predators won’t be far behind. Layer up too, Champlain winds can have a bite this time of year!

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