Please select your home edition
Edition
Maritimo 2023 S-Series LEADERBOARD

Top 10 Baits from Lake Champlain

by Curtis Niedermier and Rob Matsuura, FLW Fishing 6 Jul 2019 15:50 UTC
Casey Scanlon © FLW, LLC

June is a fantastic month to be on Lake Champlain, as the FLW Tour pros showcased at last week's season finale, which was presented by T-H Marine. Smallmouths were spawning all over the place, but the winning pattern was catching postspawn largemouths down at Ticonderoga.

Regardless of where pros fished, they all caught a ton of bass, and they did it with a variety of finesse and power tackle. Here's what the top 10 used.

1. Tournament winner Casey Scanlon "junked it up" with a variety of baits and tactics. He fished rock and milfoil with a 3/8-ounce chartreuse and white Z-Man ChatterBait with a white soft jerkbait trailer, fished rock and lighter grass with a Luck-E-Strike Series 3 (green copper shad) square-bill crankbait with Hayabusa TBL 930 trebles, Texas-rigged a Luck-E-Strike Pow Stik with either a 3/16- or 1/4-ounce Bass Pros Shops tungsten weight and a 4/0 Hayabusa FPP Straight Hook, flipped a black and blue Bass Pros Shops tube, and targeted pencil reeds and dollar pads with a Trophy Bass Company 1/2-ounce Trophy Swim Jig.

2. Eric Jackson fished a ditch coming out of a backwater area using a sexy shad Strike King Tour Grade Swim Jig with a white Strike King Rage Menace Grub trailer and a Strike King Ocho rigged weightless Texas-style on a Trokar 3/0 worm hook.

3. Adding to his FLW Tour record for most top 10s, Bryan Thrift caught his fish with a shad-colored walking topwater bait, a Texas-rigged 5-inch watermelon candy Damiki Stinger and a 4-inch Tennessee shad Damiki Armor Shad.

4. Chris Brasher sought out dirty water that reminded him of lakes near his Texas home and caught his fish at Ti using a 6th Sense Crush 50X square-bill crankbait, a Yamamoto Senko either wacky- or Texas-rigged, and a black and blue Black Angel Lures Swim Jig.

5. A key area with spawning alewives produced most of Hensley Powell's weight. He used a chartreuse and white 3/8-ounce Z-Man Evergreen ChatterBait Jack Hammer with a white ice Zoom Swimmin' Fluke Jr. trailer. When the bite slowed, he tossed a 5-inch Trixster Custom Baits soft stick bait. The only other tactic Powell tried was throwing the ChatterBait or a chrome/blue Strike King Sexy Dawg for smallmouths up north once he returned to the takeoff area.

6. Daryl Biron fished at Ti and very slowly picked apart wood and milfoil with a wacky-rigged homemade soft stick bait in green pumpkin with purple and green flake.

7. En route to winning the 2019 FLW Tour Angler of the Year title, David Dudley caught spawning smallmouths with a straight-tail worm on a Ned head and a craw bait.

8. To catch spawning smallmouths, AJ Slegona used a 3-inch green pumpkin or black wacky-rigged Yamamoto Senko on a drop-shot rig with a WOO! Tungsten weight. He also mixed in a 3.3-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT on the beds and tossed a spinnerbait a bit in the wind.

9. Tyler Stewart flipped trees and brush on the main lake near Ti with a V&M J-Bug in watermelon red Texas-rigged with a 3/8-ounce weight. He also fished a culvert and bridge under a railroad bed with the J-Bug and a 6th Sense Crush square-bill crankbait in chartreuse and blue.

10. Texas pro Tom Redington fished milfoil with a junebug red Berkley PowerBait Power Hawg Texas-rigged with a 3/8-ounce weight and a Texas-rigged junebug Berkley PowerBait MaxScent The General with either a 1/8- or 3/8-ounce weight.

Related Articles

Maritimo propeller development
"High speed screw development definitely is a scientific approach to what is a black art" "High speed screw development definitely is a scientific approach to what is a black art," said Willaton in opening. "Propellers can be a tricky thing, and so we take the hull resistance figures from our in-house Naval Architect here at Maritimo." Posted today at 2:30 am
Bulwarks and Bulldust – watch Episode One
Episode One - Wes Moxey, CEO of Riviera Motor Yachts - is now up and running Episode One - Wes Moxey, CEO of Riviera Motor Yachts - is now up and running Posted on 8 May
SAY it with intent! SAY it in carbon…
You know, you might also have to SAY it in epoxy. You know, you might also have to SAY it in epoxy. Get all that, and you are certainly someone who needs to know about SAY Carbon Yachts. It's all about efficiency, acceleration, pace, and the amount of horsepower required to get there. Posted on 8 May
IGFA's 2025 "World Record Game Fishes" book
The iconic 82nd edition celebrates angling achievement, conservation, and record-breaking catches IGFA, the global authority on world records, is proud to announce the release of the 2025 IGFA "World Record Game Fishes" book, the world's most trusted and comprehensive resource on recreational angling records and international fishing standards. Posted on 8 May
Learn powerboating skills in Old Saybrook
From the basics to 2 new hands-on courses added for experienced boaters Recreational boaters are beginning to return to the waters of Long Island Sound. Are they prepared? Posted on 8 May
Bulwarks and Bulldust – new Vodcast Show launches
Join us as we pan for the gold dust, whilst sifting out the bulldust. Bulwarks and Bulldust looks at the serious subjects from inside the world of boating, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. The show covers off everything from Off The Beach to Superyachts, Powerboats to Ocean Racing, and the marine industry itself Posted on 6 May
ASA supports season changes for Chesapeake Bay
The new plan aims to reduce regulatory complexity, improve angler access during cooler months Maryland has submitted a proposal to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission to simplify and update the Chesapeake Bay recreational striped bass fishing seasons. Posted on 6 May
Huynh catches way more than walleye with FFS
Regarded by his peers as one of the best walleye wranglers in America Given the fact Vexus® Ambassador Tom Huynh is the 2024 National Walleye tour champion and is regarded by his peers as one of the best walleye wranglers in America, he's totally comfortable with his masculinity. Posted on 3 May
Bayliss Boatworks new construction updates
Big news from Big Deal! Big news from Big Deal! Late last month, she successfully completed her first sea trial—a major milestone as she moves closer to delivery. Posted on 2 May
Introducing the all-new Stingray Boats 259DC
Built on the exclusive, revolutionary high-performing Z-Plane hull We unveiled our all-new 259DC dual console model to the media and public during the 2025 Miami Int'l Boat Show in mid-February. It's the sister model to the 253CC center console in our line-up. Posted on 2 May
Palm Beach Motor YachtsMaritimo 2023 S-Series FOOTER