Lake Champlain Fishing Report: Late November Trout, Salmon, and Smallmouth Bite

Good morning, folks—Artificial Lure here with your Lake Champlain fishing report for Friday, November 28th, 2025.

We're waking up to that classic late-November chill this morning, with air temps hovering in the upper 30s and climbing just into the low 50s by midday. Water temps are sitting in the mid-50s across the shallower bays, and we've got partly cloudy skies with westerly winds gusting up to 10 miles per hour. No tide to worry about here on Champlain—she's a freshwater lake—but keep an eye on that wind for your drift and wave action today.

Sunrise came in around 6:45 this morning, and we're looking at sunset around 4:35 PM, so you've got just about 10 hours of good fishing light. Don't sleep on that early morning bite.

As for the bite, things are still heating up despite the cold. Lake trout and landlocked salmon are ramping up along the deeper drops—Split Rock and Thompson's Point are producing fish pushing the 8-pound mark if you're working heavy spoons and white tubes in 60 to 100 feet of water. Smallmouth are stacking along deep weed edges and rocky transitions in 8 to 20 feet, and you're seeing plenty of two- to five-pounders coming off points and humps. Largemouth are tucked into dying weedbeds in the back bays—Kelly Bay and Catfish Bay are holding good numbers on black and blue jigs and creature baits.

Walleye action is solid near the mouths of the Lamoille and Missisquoi Rivers at dusk on jig-and-minnow combos. Don't overlook perch either—they're schooling up in Malletts Bay and Dunn Bay on small minnows and chartreuse jigs.

For lures today, focus on blade baits like Steelshads, finesse drop-shots in green pumpkin and natural shad, 3-inch white or perch-colored swimbaits, and jigs with chunk trailers. If you're throwing live bait, shiners and fathead minnows are your money makers, especially in those cold morning hours.

Head to The Gut near Grand Isle for some reliable smallmouth action with walleye cruising the edges at dusk. Missisquoi Bay is holding largemouth stacked in the dying cabbage beds, plus some bonus slab crappie.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI