Adam.love05

I fish Champlain a lot as well as the surrounding Waters in northern VT.. and anything perch usually works great.. I've seen smallies caught with 6" perch half digested.. I think they are pretty willing to grab a snack anytime they get a chance, whatever it may be.. my most productive jerkbaits are perch pattern.. only bad news is those slime rockets (northern Pike) like them as well.. d**n things

For anyone interested, the white perch are starting to move into St. Albans bay.. it you've never fished them I highly recommend it.. usually you catch 2-3x the amount vs yellows and they are also at least twice the size of jumbos with twice the fight! Tip your jig with your favorite bait and hang on! Message me if you wanna know where they are, I'll be chasing them around for the next month or so!

A fun place to fish is lake Arrowhead in milton, VT.. it is definitely a hidden gem.. connects to a river for great Smallmouth fishing, or move down through the canals for pads, grass and other shallow opportunities. Then there's the main lake (it's small) where you can find them a little deeper.. it also holds some big Pike and the sporatic walleye..

Thinking about it.. we use the same graphite in the rods for ice fishing and they don't seem to be bothered by the cold.. and those things get wet, freeze, dropped and about bent in half.. so I guess it's not as bad as I initially thought it could be..

What about using rods in the cold? And by cold I mean 15-20°f... I've never experienced any problems, but this thread got me thinking about the blanks getting cold and possibly getting hairline cracks because it isn't able to flex as well.. I guess worse comes to worse, they break and I'd have to buy myself some new ones! Haha

I gotta go with Lew's..I used to always get Shimano, but since I started fishing a lot more and putting my gear to use Shimano doesn't seem to last quite as long.. Tried one Abu and hated it.. Thinking about trying out a daiwa.. hear a lot of good things about the reels and company..

Update: the bay is on fire right now.. also out in front of air Force beach (off of Hathaway point) has great numbers but average size. Fished the cow banks (across from sandbar beach) on Wednesday, healthy northern on the weed lines in about 8-10 feet.. decent size perch.. and the salmon are chasing and feeding right below the ice..

Are you the one way out there in the white vehicle?! I've seen a lot of people out there. Figured they were having luck. Any size to them.. Went out off of Hathaway point (kill Kare) and had numbers but nothing with size.. Thanks for the reply. Thankfully the weather is gonna make it more enjoyable to fish out there!

Looking to get after some perch through the ice.. anybody willing to give me a few spots where they're biting? Mainly looking for the northern part of lake Champlain around the inland sea would be ideal.. but anything would be appreciated.. thanks guys.

Thanks Tom. I'll check it out. Yea I usually always change out my split ring that my snap or line connect too.. exactly for the same reason. I don't often change out hooks unless the stock hooks are garbage.. I usually run most of my cranking on 10-12# fluro, on a M or MH crankbait rod.. running on a Lew's 6.4:1 for squarebills and cranks running 6' or less and everything deeper I have a Lew's in 7.1:1.. but I tend to fish too fast sometimes, so I'm considering dropping down some gear ratio.. idk.. the wife says it's just an excuse to get another set up! She's good! Haha

I wish I could find something in a lower gear ratio.. but I'm a lefty and it seems like 6.4:1 is usually the lowest that's available, especially in my price range $150-$200.. What do you usually use for line? Mono or fluro?

I've really gotten into crankbait fishing this past year.. especially squarebills and recently round bills that dive up to 10 feet.. 6th Sense seem to be my go too, great color patterns And an awesome company.. anyways, a fee questions I have.. what's the best gear ratio for squarebills and deeper divers? I generally use a 6.4 for squarebills and 7.1 for anything deeper.. is that sufficient? Could I use a 7.1 for everything? Pros and cons? Also, I usually throw them on 10-12# fluro.. is mono better? Having more stretch to help play the fish out or better abrasion resistance? What do you guys prefer? Thanks

Thanks guys.. glad to see there are so many other nor'easter boys on here! Anybody near northern Vermont?!

Thank you, it is a great fishery! .. unfortunately it might be a while until I get to post a pic.. old man winter is starting to beat up on us pretty bad!

Hey all, just wanted to introduce myself to the community.. I've frequented this forum many times looking for information and I figured it was time to join to benefit even more from the knowledge available here. I live in the northeast only 5 minutes away from lake Champlain. We also have many small ponds and rivers that provide great bass fishing. My favorite ways to fish are frogging, cranking, jerkbaits, and finesse. Looking forward to everything this site has to offer!