Sturgeon Moon Rising: Chasing Legends on Lake Champlain

Good morning, anglers—Artificial Lure here, bringing you the Lake Champlain fishing report for Saturday, August 9th, 2025.

We’re kicking off the day under the glow of August’s Full Sturgeon Moon, just past peak. The name comes from the legendary lake sturgeon that called these waters home, and if you’re after legend-sized fish, today’s a fine day to be out. The sunrise at Burlington hit around 5:47 a.m. and we’ll have sunlight until about 8:10 p.m., giving you over fourteen hours of opportunity to chase ‘em.

Weather’s coming in hot—expect highs pushing 94°F, with heat indexes up to 100 thanks to thick humidity. There’s a 30% chance of showers and the possibility of a rumble of thunder this afternoon, mainly after lunchtime, so keep one eye on the sky and plan accordingly. Winds will be out of the south at 8 to 11 mph. With the water warm and the skies patchy, early morning or late evening is your best bet for a strong bite. According to the latest NOAA forecast, high temps will keep fish moving deep during mid-day, so target drop-offs, ledges, and shaded structure[10].

On the bite: The lake has been productive this week. Wild lake trout numbers are on the uptick, with consistent catches reported near Thompson’s Point and around the deeper humps off Juniper Island. Local reports mention solid smallmouth and largemouth bass hauls from rocky points northeast of Valcour Island and in the weedbeds along the New York side at King’s Bay. Word from the Westport launch is that the perch bite remains steady, especially jigging small minnows or plastics near submerged timber.

Hot catches: Anglers trolling the main lake basin have landed lake trout in the 5–8 pound class, mostly on silver-blue spoons pulled 50–70 feet down. Bass folks are doing well on soft plastics—think green pumpkin tubes and creature baits—in 10 to 20 feet, particularly when fished slow along drop-offs. I’ve been hearing chatter about some nice walleye taken at dusk along the mouth of the Winooski River with deep-diving crankbaits and big nightcrawlers.

With the Sturgeon Moon lighting the night, nocturnal catfish action has picked up, especially using chunk bait near the mouth of the Bouquets and Missisquoi River. On the muskie front, efforts have been rewarded near the Champlain Bridge using oversized jerkbaits like the Kanata Megabass—worth a shot if you’re after a toothy giant.

Best lures and bait for today:
- Lake trout: Silver or blue flutter spoons, white tube jigs tipped with smelt strips.
- Smallmouth/Largemouth bass: Green pumpkin tubes, Ned rigs, topwater poppers in low-light, and black Senkos.
- Perch: Small chartreuse jigs tipped with worms or fatheads.
- Catfish: Cut bait (dead perch or sucker) or heavy stinkbait near structure in slow-moving water.
- Walleye: Deep-diving shad-imitators and crawler harnesses at dusk or dawn.

A couple hot spots:
- Thompson’s Point drop-offs for lake trout and smallies.
- The northern side of Valcour Island for a mixed bag, especially bass and perch.
- The mouth of the Bouquets River for evening walleye and catfish.

Flows on the local rivers like the Saranac and Bouquets are down but still fresh from recent rains, so tributary mouths are worth attention for opportunistic trout and walleye. Remember that with the hot sun, take plenty of water and keep your catch cool—released fish will appreciate a gentle touch and quick revival in these summer temps.

Thanks for tuning into today’s Lake Champlain fishing report. I’m Artificial Lure, reminding you to subscribe for daily updates, tips, and a bit of local know-how.

This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, anglers. Artificial Lure here bringing you the Lake
Champlain Fishing Report for Saturday, August ninth, twenty twenty five.
We're kicking off the day under the glow of August's
full Sturgeon moon just past peak. The name comes from
the legendary Lake Sturger that called these waters home, and
if you're after legend sized fish, today's a fine day

(00:23):
to be out. The sunrise at Burlington hit around five
forty seven am, and we'll have sunlight until about eight
ten pm, giving you over fourteen hours of opportunity to
chase them. Weather's coming in hot. Expect highs pushing ninety
four degrees fahrenheit with heat indexes up to one hundred
thanks to thick humidity. There's a thirty percent chance of

(00:44):
showers and the possibility of a rumble of thunder this afternoon,
mainly after lunchtime, so keep one eye on the sky
and plan accordingly. Wins will be out of the south
at eight to eleven miles per hour, with the water
warm and the sky's patche early morning or late evening
is your best bet for a strong bite. According to
the latest Noah forecast, high temps will keep fish moving

(01:07):
deep during mid day, so target drop offs, ledges, and
shaded structure ten on the bite. The lake has been
productive this week. Wild lake trout numbers are on the uptick,
with consistent catches reported near Thompson's Point and around the
deeper humps off Juniper Island. Local reports mentioned solid smallmouth
and large mouthed bass halls from rocky points northeast of

(01:28):
Valcore Island and then the weed beds along the New
York side at King's Bay. Word from the Westport launch
is that the perch bite remains steady, especially jigging small
minnows or plastics near submerged timber hot catches. Anglers trolling
the main lake basin have landed lake trout in the
five to eight pound class, mostly on silver hyphened blue

(01:49):
spoons pulled fifty to seventy feet down. Bass folks are
doing well on soft plastics think green punkin tubes and
creature baits in ten to twenty feet, particularly when fished
slow along drop offs. I've been hearing chatter about some
nice walleye taken at dusk along the mouth of the
Winooski River with deep diving crank baits and big night crawlers.

(02:11):
With the sturgeon moon lighting the night. Nocturnal catfish action
is picked up, especially using chunk bait near the mouth
of the Bouquets and Missus Squaw River on the Muskie Front.
Efforts have been rewarded near the Champlain Bridge using oversized
jerk baits like the Knatamega Bass worth a shot if
you're after a toothy giant that's lake trout, silver of

(02:33):
blue flutterspoons, white tube jigs tipped with smelt strips, small
mouth largemouth bass, green pumptin tubes, ned rigs, top arnered
poppers in low light and black sencos ned rigs, small
chartruse jigs ticked with worms or fat heads, catfish, cut bait,
dead perch or sucker or heavy stink bait near structure

(02:54):
in slow moving water. Walleye deep diving, shat imitators and
crawler harnet at Dusker Dawn a couple hot spots Thompson's
Point drop offs for lake trout and Smalley's the northern
side of Valcour Island for a mixed bag, especially bass
and perch. The mouth of the Bouquets River for evening
walleye and Catfish flows on the local rivers like the

(03:18):
Saranac and Bouquets are down but still fresh from recent rains,
so tributary mouths are worth attention for opportunistic trout and walleye.
Remember that with the hot sun, take plenty of water
and keep your catch cool. Released fish will appreciate a
gentle touch and quick revival in these summer temps. Thanks

(03:38):
for tuning in to today's Lake Champlain fishing Report. I'm
Artificial Lure reminding you to subscribe for daily updates, tips,
and a bit of local know how. This has been
a quiet please production. For more check out Quiet please
dot ai