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Last Updated:
Saturday, September 25, 2010

Adirondack-Champlain Guide Service Newsletter Share

Fall 2010 Edition

[Quality Fishing, with Quality People]

Hi  Everyone:

The Lodge Welcomes You

Are you ready for a nice cool fall, I know I am and I'm hoping that is what we receive.  I don't know now about your summer but ours has been long and hot!  Even though the early season was much warmer than normal the fishing was fantastic right up through mid July.  The last couple of weeks of July were our very best for topwater action.   As I write this newsletter the fish are still in their summer pattern.  Most fishing has been slow this month except for the smallmouth fishing which has been surprisingly good.  We didn't catch great numbers of fish but the ones we did catch were big!  It's surprising because the mean water temperature on Lake Champlain has been in the 70's.  That is calculated six feet under, in the center of the lake, which means the shallower areas are much warmer and I don't believe that it has ever been that warm at this time in the season! 

REMINDER !!!
This is just a friendly reminder that your present New York State fishing license expires on September 30, 2010.  If you plan on coming up to the lodge to fish with us this fall you will need to purchase a new license that is valid 10/1/10-9/30/11.  We are often asked this question, "if we are going to fish only Long Pond do we still need a New York State fishing license and the answer is yes".  We do not sell fishing licenses at the lodge so it is always advantageous to purchase your new license before arriving at our lodge.

LOSS OF A GOOD FRIEND
It is with a heavy heart and a feeling of deep felt sorrow for his family that we at Adirondack-Champlain Guide Service announce the lost of a really good friend and also an experienced and talented fishermen.  Jerry Molinari from Saddlebrook, New Jersey passed away unexpectedly this week.  Jerry and his wife Diane have been coming to our lodge for years to fish together.

LUNKER TIME

Alewives

We've been in business for over 32 years now and so much has changed over the years as pertaining to the weather.  It used to be that the temperature "cool down" for the fall was in late August-September and were our top fall months for bass and pike and October for our Lakers and salmon fishing.  Now it's October for bass and pike and November for Lakers and salmon..

Anyway, no matter when it comes, fall is the time for our biggest fish of the year in almost all species.  With the illegal introduction of alewives into Lake Champlain as a forage base most of our game fish are growing even bigger.  Already this year the Lake Champlain Lake Trout record has been broken three times.  We've caught and released post spawned smallmouth bass that were almost six pounds, which means that those same fish in the fall will be over 7 pounds!!  I can't wait to have one of our clients hook into one of those brutes and it could be you!! 

LAMPREY

Big Lamprey

I'm sure you must get tired of me asking you to sign the lamprey petition but it is very important.   They say a picture is worth a  thousand words so here's a recent picture of a sea lamprey taken while fishing in Lake Champlain.  I can only hope this picture will motivate you to use the active link below to take you directly to the lamprey petition which we hope you will sign.  This sea lamprey is huge and just imagine how much damage it can cause attached to numerous lake trout and salmon.  We need everyone's help to get this parasite under control.  Please add your name to this ever growing list of concerned citizens by signing this very important document.  If you have already signed I personally thank you and for those readers who have not signed please, please do so. 

http://www.petitiononline.com/lamprey1/petition.html

PIKE
Northern Pike are one of the first fish to become active in the fall.  Now prime time days are usually late September thru early November.  Last year our biggest pike were caught the last two weeks of October and the first two weeks of November.  We were catching many 10 to 15 pound pike on consecutive casts.  They slammed suspending jerkbaits, shallow running crankbaits, inline spinners and spinnerbaits.  We caught more big pike in that short period of time than we did the entire rest of the season. 
 

Sam Proctor
Circleville, NY
Rich Savage
Newbury, NH

LARGEMOUTH
Largemouth's start their fall feeding about the same time as the pike.  Last year we were still catching them long after the pike had stopped feeding.  As you saw in last year's updates we landed many 5 to 7 pound trophies during October and November.  Besides using spinners, buzzbaits and shallow running  crankbaits in and around weed beds we also landed many on weedless jigs and worms while fishing old railroad pilings, sunken barges and other solid structures on the bottom of Lake Champlain.  Fall is definitely our very best time for structure fishing. 
 

Fred Johnson
Cohoes, NY
Sam Proctor
Circleville, NY

SMALLMOUTH
Smallmouth's are by far our most sought after fish.  We have become very successful at keeping track of them all year and we have worked very hard to accomplish that feat.  It does not matter what time of the year you guys and gals come to fish with us almost everyone will catch a trophy smallmouth.  Smallies in the fall are so much heavier and they look so much different than they do in the spring.  They are full and their skin is so tight from gorging themselves and they feel and look like footballs.  As I mentioned before we are expecting to catch 7 pound smallies this fall along with hundreds of 4 to 6 pounders.  Starting in early October smallmouth's start moving back to the shorelines and rocky points.  At that time we are using almost everything including topwater lures, suspending jerkbaits and spinnerbaits.  As the water gets cooler the bait fish, which they feed on, move deeper and the smallmouths follow them.  We then switch to deeper diving crankbaits, jerkbaits and also drop shotting.  Finally, from late October to late November when the smallies are 20 to 40 feet deep or more, the tube jig is usually all you need.  Tube jigs as well as speed craws, in crawfish colors are the most consistent and best lures to catch smallmouths no matter what depth they are in.  In my experience, smallmouths prefer crawfish more than any other bait. 
 

Rich Savage
Newbury, NH
Jim Savage
Wake Forest, NC

LANDLOCKED SALMON

Phil Zulli
Mahopac, NY

Great Eating

For all of you that have continually signed the lamprey treatment petition year after year we want to thank you so much.  It looks like the salmon and lake trout fisheries are really coming back!! All year, local fishermen have posted photos of great catches of big Lakers and salmon, almost every day on the internet.  I can't wait for November to arrive when these fish can be caught on the surface with lite tackle.  The four year old and older salmon return to the rivers that flow into Lake Champlain to spawn about late September.  The run of salmon usually last  through October.  The fishing regulation for catching these salmon in the rivers in the fall are: artificial lures or live bait may be used.  No Weight !!  This eliminates spoons, spinners, weighted lines, etc.  The reason for this is that these salmon don't die after spawning.  They can spawn several times during their life span.  Also, the ban on weighted lures at this time eliminates the temptation of snagging that might go on.  For fishermen who love to fly fish landlocks are one of the ultimate fish to catch on a fly, they jump like crazy!!  The best flies are usually streamers such as the gray ghost, green ghost, nine-three and the Edson Tigers.  Once the salmon are done spawning they return to the big lake and start to feed for winter.  They will school up and chase the smelt and alewives up to the surface with a feeding frenzy like a "Blue fish blitz" in the ocean.  The gulls and diving birds flock over them which gives the salmon's position away.  We then troll streamers and small spoons right in the prop wash right behind our boat, right thru the diving birds.  What a thrill !!  Sometimes you might have four lines out and four salmon on !!  We immediately stop the boat and play the fish in.  We do lose some because they jump so high and have a soft mouth.  Oh, by the way, these are Atlantic Salmon and they are "Delicious" to eat!!  Fishing like this goes on right thru November or until the ice forms.  The Landlocks run 2 to 8 pounds. 
 

LAKE TROUT
Well,  if you think salmon fishing sounded like fun, most of the lake trout fishing we do in the fall is done by casting !!  Just as in bass and pike fishing we drift certain shorelines and points casting spoons, spinners, crankbaits, jerkbaits and jigs in shallow water.  The Lakers are in their spawning areas but unlike salmon they do feed right up to and right after they spawn.  Before we had our last lamprey problem we were catching 20 to 30 lakers a day and that was back in the 80's and 90's.  The biggest ones back then were about 12 pounds but they are growing much bigger now and we should be catching some near 20 pounds very soon!! 
 

Tom Sommers
Collingswood, NJ
Doug Rockwell
Pine Bush, NY

BOOKING NOW
For those of you who are thinking about coming up and booking a trip with us this fall, please book ASAP, especially if it is a weekend, they book up first and fast.  If you would rather not have a guide, how about booking our lodging and meals package for fishing Long Pond:  3 days of fishing, 2 nights lodging and 4 meals for @ $210.00 per person or 4 days of fishing, 3 nights lodging , 7 meals all for @ $310.00 per person.  This also includes the use of one of our Jon boats on Long Pond.  We are located right near the Bouquet River where you can fly fish for the fall Salmon.  Less than 20 minutes from our lodge we have the famous Ausable and Saranac rivers to fish.  We have unbeatable rates and great fishing for many different species!! 

Well guys and gals, I guess that's it for another newsletter.  I hope you can all make it up this fall we look forward to seeing you.  Remember, this is the last great fishing of the year before that long winter ahead. 

Bye for Now,


- Pete and Jane


 
Adirondack-Champlain Guide Service © 2010