Methodology: We blind cast tubes to structure as the guide searched for spawning beds. When we found a bed, we would drop tubes to harass the fish into a strike. In several instances, it took 5-10 minutes to trigger a strike.

King of the Boat: Everyone was a winner on this trip, but I am taking the title on this one. Intentionally flubbed the first cast to avoid bad luck. Two casts later a 22 inch, 4+ pound smallie.

Guide Information: Captain Gilbert Gagner of Brozeback Guide Service is the winner of the 2012 FLW Federation National Championship. After fishing with him for the day, I can see why he won. He is very focused on finding and catching fish. He is very knowledgeable and easy to fish with. If you want to successfully fish Lake Champlain, Capt. Gil is your man.

http://http://www.bronzebackguideservice.com/

John’s Thoughts on the Day: Six and half hours after picking up Mike, we deposited my first born and his companion at the youth camp where they would be working for the next month. After the farewells and hugs, the cornerstone rationale for the 7 state blitzkrieg tour accomplished, we steered my pick up northeast and then true north towards one of the crown jewels of smallmouth bass fishing, Lake Champlain. At this point I could lapse into a stream of penultimate sports analogies, except for the fact I really don’t follow sports, and I am not sure exactly which hole at Augusts is legendary, what I know of baseball would fit on the head of a pin and college football, well whatever. However if you are a halfway serious smallmouth bass fan, I had you at “Champlain”. The drive north, especially once north of Albany New York was stunningly beautiful. Lake Champlain is 120 miles long and for the last three hours or so, it lay just off to the east of our track, out of sight but palpably there, calling for us. Just as we approached Plattsburgh we drove through a violent thunderstorm, lightning and thunder ripping the mountain air and the rain hammered us torrentially, almost as a ritualistic cleansing required before we came to close. The sky cleared, the setting sun to our west put on an incredible light show against the low clouds, competing with a double rainbow over the lake to the east. We had arrived, the sun set as we crossed Lake Champlain via the bridge between New York and Vermont.  Somebody pinch me, I though I heard angels singing.

The next morning, almost giddy, we arrived at our rendezvous with our guide half an hour early. Killing time we drove about and discovered we were but 2 miles south of the Canadian border. Fortunately, the frontier was quiet as we gazed north from a highway overpass and secure from the Canuck hordes. Soon thereafter we met up with Captain Gil. It did not take long to realize the Mike had managed to find and retain the best possible guide….bar none! It was immediately obvious the only person within a hundred miles on either side of the border who was as excited as we were to be fishing Lake Champlain that morning, was our guide. He has fished it for years and he assured us to looks forward to each day. In short order we were backing down the ramp and I backed the bass boat off the trailer (how is that for a laid back fishing guide ?) and after picking Capt. Gil up off the end of a jetty we were heading to our first spot in Captain Gils Skeeter bass boat. Five minutes later we were launching avocado tender tubes, doing our best to follow Captain Gil’s instructions on presentation. Mike quickly threw and muffed his ritual first good luck cast and then….in moments he hooked the first fish of the day. Any doubts that existed up to that moment, that this was a holy endeavor, a calling sanctioned by the fishing gods, evaporated when Mike's first fish launched skyward and  hoots and expletives erupted from all three of us. Mike's first fish, the first fish of the day, the first fish of the 7 state blitzkreig tour, was a monstrous 22” 4 pound plus smallmouth that only looked bigger as he jumped and was brought to the boat. It was easily the biggest smallmouth we had ever seen or caught on our Fish Fifty adventure!! And that, as they say, was only the beginning. We caught one incredible fish after another. Even the rock bass, which savaged the tubes as eagerly as the smallmouth, were large in Champlain! In between the smallies and rock bass, Mike landed a nice yellow perch. In our next spot, I cast off to the shore and a strike that almost jerked me out of the boat, resulted in the largest Largemouth I had caught in several years !

And so it went, we started catching them on top water as well as tubes, all the fish were fat, even the smaller fish. Eventually the wind picked up and we called it a day about noon. We have compared notes and this was easily the best trip to date. We had the biggest numbers and both the biggest individual size as well as overall average size of smallmouth.. The lake was exceptional, the guide was exceptional and the fishing was exceptional…it was the holy grail of smallmouth fishing.  Lake Champlain is so big and has so many species willing to cooperate (smallies, largemouth, pike, salmon, lake trout to name but a few), you could fish a lifetime there. If you are a serious fisherman…er person, and want a world class fishing experience on a breathtakingly beautiful lake, do yourself a favor and book a trip or two with Captain Gil on Lake Champlain. I will forever be dying to get back to Lake Champlain.