If you follow any of the big tournaments on Lake Champlain then you likely know. The best largemouth territory is roughly defined by the Champlain Bridge. The shallows south of the bridge are full of tournament winning bass. Launch your boat right in the middle of the action from either the Port Henry or Ticonderoga state launch sites. As a general rule, smallmouths are more dominant in the lake’s northern half, while largemouths are most common in the southern half. But don’t take that rule too seriously, as the two species cohabitate in many areas. Bass weighing 2 to 3 pounds are average for both species, and it’s not uncommon to catch smallmouths over 5 pounds and largemouths over 6. The south end is shallower, weedier, and warms more quickly, and bass might start spawning here significantly earlier than in the north end of the lake. Here’s some can’t miss spots on Lake Champlain to find bass!

Rouses Point

Just south of the Rouses Point Bridge and stretching south past Isle La Motte, the contours flatten out a bit, and abundant rock, grass and bait make for arguably the best smallmouth fishing on the lake. There are largemouths as well, but places such as Point Au Fer (point leading to King Bay) have hundreds of yards of prime offshore rock and grass that are perfect for smallmouths. You can expect a lot of brown weight to come from this part of the lake.

Missisquoi Bay

The far northeast corner of Champlain is a special one. There, the Missisquoi River flows into Missisquoi Bay. It’s home to some of the best largemouth action in the entire north end. The river delta can be very productive, and the river itself holds fish as well. The bay away from the river can also be very good. There’s a lot of shallow rock and grass, and the water is a little dirtier than the rest of the north end. All that makes it a prime place for largemouths (and some smallmouths) to live and feed!

The Inland Sea and the North End

As Champlain runs north, the lake begins to broaden and is broken up by a string of big islands that essentially divide the lake into the Inland Sea, which is solely in Vermont, and the upper reaches of the main lake, shared by Vermont and New York. Mallets Bay is nestled at the south end of the islands, and it is geographically pretty unique, with more bluffs and cliffs that drop into deep water than the rest of the north end, but the fishing there isn’t too different from elsewhere up north.

The Gut, Carry Bay and the Alburg Passage

There are three ways to get from Plattsburgh to the Inland Sea. The first is to run south below the islands and cross through between Mallets Bay and South Hero (the southernmost of the big islands). The other two are passages between the islands. The closest and easiest for anglers is the Gut. North of that, the Alburg Passage leads up toward the north end of the Inland Sea and the mouth of Missisquoi Bay. Both Carry Bay and the Gut are loaded up with grass and largemouths, but the openings to the big lake also have plenty of smallmouths on them. Because of the old railroad causeway that runs up the islands, the current flowing out of the Inland Sea (east to west at the causeways and turning toward the north) is concentrated at a few gaps. Those gaps concentrate bait and bass. They’re well-known areas, but they’re sure to produce plenty of bites.