I will be staying on Lake Hortonia in Vermont next week. I will also get to fish Lake Bomoseen and maybe Lake Champlain. I only have a limited knowledge and 14' boat with no outboard. I was told that Hortonia is weedy and I can find the pike there. Any tips for these three bodies of water would be greatly appreciated!

Stay a week on Lake Bomoseen every summer (just over a week from now, in fact).  Great body of water.

 

There's a southern part of the lake is the creek channel... Shallow - except for the boat channel itself - very weedy.  There's good pike and largemouth fishing down here, but there's a TON of traffic that you're constantly having to manage.  Most of the docks are private marina types and, while legal to fish, get people up in arms.  

 

The main lake has two lobes... Both are gin clear (thanks to the zebra mussels, and more on that in a moment) and generally rocky.  Naturally there are pockets of grass, but it tends to be mainly subsurface and thin.  Great smallmouth fishery, along with numerous spots that will product largemouth, pike/pickerel, and more panfish or perch than you can eat.  Water tends to stay fairly cool, so fishing is solidly active though there are warmer pockets where a more 'summer-y' pattern will likely rule the day.

 

There's a bridge that runs across the lake as it thins to the north.  Above that is slow water, warmer, weedier, shallower... Great pitching, flipping, punching, frog water for largemouth.

 

The week I'm there, I spend most of the time handling fish for my kids and their cousins... But, when I get a chance to fish, I consistently get good, quality bites on almost everything I fish as long as I'm not being cavalier.

 

FWIW, I mostly use:

• Green pumpkin or bluegill colored Siebert brush jigs with a matching craw
• Soft plastics - typically senkos and ikas - fished weightless and slow... almost dead-stick'd.
• Spinnerbaits, including large ones when I'm interested in trying to target pike.

You'll have a great time... 

 

re: the Zebra Mussels ->  Make sure to clear your livewells and clean your boat when exiting some of the waters up here.  While I'm not one of these people who believe zebra mussels kill fisheries (the best lakes I fish are typically ones that have 'em), I do believe in trying to keep invasives out of native ecosystems. Protect the resources here by making sure your boat isn't used by any hitchhikers. 

https://vtinvasives.org/get-involved/slow-spread/clean-drain-dry

15 hours ago, HeavyDluxe said:

Stay a week on Lake Bomoseen every summer (just over a week from now, in fact).  Great body of water.

 

There's a southern part of the lake is the creek channel... Shallow - except for the boat channel itself - very weedy.  There's good pike and largemouth fishing down here, but there's a TON of traffic that you're constantly having to manage.  Most of the docks are private marina types and, while legal to fish, get people up in arms.  

 

The main lake has two lobes... Both are gin clear (thanks to the zebra mussels, and more on that in a moment) and generally rocky.  Naturally there are pockets of grass, but it tends to be mainly subsurface and thin.  Great smallmouth fishery, along with numerous spots that will product largemouth, pike/pickerel, and more panfish or perch than you can eat.  Water tends to stay fairly cool, so fishing is solidly active though there are warmer pockets where a more 'summer-y' pattern will likely rule the day.

 

There's a bridge that runs across the lake as it thins to the north.  Above that is slow water, warmer, weedier, shallower... Great pitching, flipping, punching, frog water for largemouth.

 

The week I'm there, I spend most of the time handling fish for my kids and their cousins... But, when I get a chance to fish, I consistently get good, quality bites on almost everything I fish as long as I'm not being cavalier.

 

FWIW, I mostly use:

• Green pumpkin or bluegill colored Siebert brush jigs with a matching craw
• Soft plastics - typically senkos and ikas - fished weightless and slow... almost dead-stick'd.
• Spinnerbaits, including large ones when I'm interested in trying to target pike.

You'll have a great time... 

 

re: the Zebra Mussels ->  Make sure to clear your livewells and clean your boat when exiting some of the waters up here.  While I'm not one of these people who believe zebra mussels kill fisheries (the best lakes I fish are typically ones that have 'em), I do believe in trying to keep invasives out of native ecosystems. Protect the resources here by making sure your boat isn't used by any hitchhikers. 

https://vtinvasives.org/get-involved/slow-spread/clean-drain-dry

 

thanks for all the help. ill let you know what i get!

An 8.07 Big head just came out of Bomo a couple weeks back...  Bomo is big water for a 14ft without a motor, but doable.  Hortonia and around the Larrabee Launch on Champlain could work out nicely for you.

1 hour ago, webertime said:

An 8.07 Big head just came out of Bomo a couple weeks back...  Bomo is big water for a 14ft without a motor, but doable.  Hortonia and around the Larrabee Launch on Champlain could work out nicely for you.

 

Thanks for the info!

Inquiring minds (who just got back from Bomoseen) want to know:  How was your trip there?

On 8/5/2017 at 6:15 PM, HeavyDluxe said:

Inquiring minds (who just got back from Bomoseen) want to know:  How was your trip there?

 

I caught 25 pike and 15 bass, mostly 3-5 lb bass, a few smaller ones. biggest pike was 9 and 8 lbs