Artificial Lure here on this fine October 29th morning, bringing you the true local rundown from Lake Champlain’s shores and bays. We kicked off at sunrise—officially 7:25 a.m. today, with sunset coming on at 5:46 p.m. According to the National Weather Service, we're looking at a chilly start, low 40s warming just shy of 56°F by afternoon. Winds are light from the west at 7 to 12 knots, giving the lake a little chop perfect for drifting, but not so rough you’ll need to stay tucked behind the breakwalls.

Lake Champlain isn’t tidal, so no true tide charts to muck around with, just keep an eye on the wind for drift and wave action. Surface conditions this morning were partly cloudy, crisp, with pockets of fog on the Vermont side burning off around mid-morning.

In terms of bite, it’s classic late October fall fishing—smallmouth bass and walleye are chewing hard, as reported by locals and podcast regulars on the Lake Champlain Daily Fishing Report. Recent catches have been impressive, with a lot of anglers boating smallies in the 2-4 lb range, and several chunky 5-pounders coming off rocky points and isolated humps. Walleye have started showing in the shallows after dusk, with some nice keepers landed especially near river mouths.

Largemouth are mostly tucked into the dying weedbeds, especially in the south lake bays, but some surprising fish up to 4 lbs are still hitting if you find warmer pockets behind the islands. Northern pike are hot on the feed too—watch for those classic weed lines on the New York side.

Best baits lately? Locals swear by **topwater walking baits** at first light for smallmouth, with poppers and walking stickbaits pulling double duty if you get any surface action. When the sun rises, switch to **Ned rigs**, drop-shotting soft plastics, and **green pumpkin tubes** over rocky transitions. For walleye: small jigs tipped with crawlers or Gulp minnows are putting fish in the boat, especially on current breaks after sunset. Largemouth have been falling for dark-colored flipping jigs and slow-rolled spinnerbaits.

If you like artificials, the Toyota Series bass tournament just wrapped up on Champlain, and their “top 10 baits” rundown was all about Ned rigs, drop-shotting Z-Man and Yamamoto plastics, and Rapala jerkbaits fished slow as the water gets colder. Don't overlook blade baits for deep edges—they're money for hungry smallmouth right now.

Two hot spots you should absolutely check today:

- **The Gut near Grand Isle**: A reliable smallmouth haunt in autumn, with walleye cruising edges at dusk.
- **Missisquoi Bay**: Largemouth stacked in the dying cabbage beds, plus some bonus slab crappie pulling off the edges.

Sonar is helpful, but most folks are just working the classic structure—remember, tournaments may ban forward-facing sonar but the bite hasn’t slowed down for those fishing by feel and local knowledge. Shad have moved out, so the game is craws, perch, and whatever forage is dropping from dying weedbeds.

Thanks for tuning in to Lake Champlain’s freshest fishing scoop. Subscribe to keep up with the bite all season long. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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