Artificial Lure with your Lake Champlain fishing report for Sunday, September 28th, 2025. The crisp early fall air has returned, with sunrise at 6:46 AM and sunset coming up at 6:39 PM—plenty of daylight for a full slate of casts and catches.

This morning, anglers hit the water just after a heavy dew, with overnight temps dropping to the low 40s and daytime highs expected in the mid-60s. Winds will be light and variable, settling out of the northwest at 5 to 10 mph. Cloud cover thickens around midday, then gives way to clear skies for the afternoon. According to the Lake Champlain Daily Fishing Report, these conditions line up for classic early fall patterns—expect fish to push shallow early, then slide off a bit as that sun gets higher and the surface warms up.

Lake Champlain isn’t tidal, so tides don’t factor in today’s planning, but water levels are still a touch higher than average for late September thanks to earlier rains. Surface temperatures hover in the upper 60s to low 70s across much of the lake, setting up active feeding windows, particularly for bass and pike, as lake turnover hasn’t quite started yet.

The bite this week has been strong, with reports rolling in from both sides of the border. Tournament news out of Plattsburgh shows big bags of smallmouth coming from main-lake points and rock piles, with anglers boating five-fish limits over 22 pounds—shout out to Bailey Eigbrett, who took home the win using a mix of Ned rigs and drop shots with green pumpkin plastics. On the Vermont side, largemouth bass are holding around milfoil beds south of the Champlain Bridge, and folks have pulled in several 5-pounders on weedless swimbaits and black-and-blue jigs. Northern pike remain aggressive, especially in Missisquoi Bay and the Inland Sea, where spoons and silver spinners are fooling plenty of 30-inch class fish.

Multi-species action continues with perch schools thickening up near the mouth of the Otter Creek—live minnows and small jigs work well here. Walleye are being caught in the evenings along deeper edges near the Sand Bar, with jigging Rapalas and nightcrawler harnesses producing strikes right before sunset.

Best lures right now include:
- Ned rigs and drop shots (smallmouth on rock and gravel).
- Black, blue, or green pumpkin jigs (largemouth in weeds).
- Silver spinners and large spoons (pike, especially during low-light).
- Lipless crankbaits and jerkbaits fished briskly along weedlines for both bass and pike.

For bait, you can’t beat live shiners for perch and walleye, while soft plastics in natural baitfish colors are topping the charts for artificial presentations.

A couple of hot spots for you to try:
- The rocky humps southeast of Valcour Island: Big smallmouth are stacking here, especially around 10 to 15 feet deep.
- The weed flats off Sandbar State Park: Both largemouth and pike have been hammering baits on the edges of thick grass.
- Missisquoi Bay: Northern pike and perch both running strong, especially if you get out at first light.

A small word of caution—if you boat a lake trout or landlocked salmon, check for sea lamprey scars. The invasive lamprey is still around but being managed, so please report any catches with new wounds to Vermont Fish & Wildlife.

That wraps up Sunday’s on-the-water report for Lake Champlain, Vermont and New York sides. Thanks for tuning in to your local fishing update with Artificial Lure. Be sure to subscribe so you never miss a bite. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI