With Summer finally here and 30 straight days of guiding during New York’s Spring Turkey Season behind me. I am jumping directly into Charter season on Lake Champlain with out a break! Work hard and play hard… right!? The Lake Trout during early June are still relatively shallow and spread out with plentiful forage and comfortable water temperatures. We have had a very wet and cooler than normal Spring which has allowed the Lake Trout to stay shallow on a more Spring like pattern longer than normal. The two main techniques we utilize while Guiding Fishing Charters on Lake Champlain are Trolling and Jigging. Early in the Spring and Summer fish are spread out and water temperatures are cold, Trolling is most definitely the best way to put fish in the boat! Showing your presentation to as many fish as possible will always be your best bet during this time! With that said there is nothing more fun and rewarding than pulling up Monster Lake Trout by jigging them vertically on light spinning tackle!! This technique is best employed though when fish are stacked up and more condensed on big deep water flats and deep structure. This usually is accompanied by high surface temperatures which drive the Lake Trout into deep water. Lake Trout prefer water temperatures near 45 degrees Farenheit  where their primary food sources which are Alewives and Rainbow smelt in Lake Champlain are found during the Summer Months. This factor also has to do with a dissolved oxygen level in the water at that temperature. So as a result Jigging will always produce more action during the Summer months. With state of the art sonar and GPS capabilities I am now able to dial in to the deep open water Lake Trout bite like never before! If you have never caught Lakers in this manner–it is a must!!! You will never again say Lake Trout do not fight or come in like a log.

With surface temperatures on Lake Champlain still below average in late June, the Lake Trout have been slow to jump onto their Summer haunts and stack up! The water temperatures are all over the place with no well defined Thermocline yet into late June. I graphed 56 degrees this morning on the broad lake at the surface. Hence the Jigging bite has been slow to materialize and we are now in late June and still employing both Trolling and Jigging techniques for success. Trolling is still putting better numbers into the net and we have caught some great fish this June! One fish caught by a Montreal angler fishing with us during the Rotary derby would have taken first prize in the derby earning over $2K had the gentleman entered into the derby! Isn’t that always the case! As the jigging bite upgrades and the bite is hot I will update when I can. I am fishing 6-7 days a week with often times multiple Guided Fishing Charters on Lake Champlain for Lake Trout daily! July through early September will be hot! Give us a call or email to get a reservation with Captain Bryce Collins to see the jig bite for yourself! Sincerely, Capt Bryce Collins

Giant Lake Trout caught on Lake Champlain on a fishing Charter with Captain Bryce Collins and Eastern View Outfitters