Mallets Bay Lake Trout

[dbr138]

Hello everyone. First post on the forum, long time fisherman, rookie on hard water.

I am going to be up in Colchester, VT next weekend and am staying right on inner Malletts Bay.

I have never fished Malletts before so I keep going back and forth if I should fish right there in inner Malletts or venture out into outer Malletts or some other part of Lake Champlain.

Our main goal is to find some lake trout but would also like to get some pike if they are around. I would be willing to sacrifice the convenience of being right by our house if the lake trout/pike fishing dramatically improves in a different area.

If anyone knows the area up there your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[bootstrap]

i dont know that area well. an hour south from there, near the crown point bridge is a popular place. short walk out too. ice conditions currently unknown by me.

[Honest_John]

There are plenty of northerns in the bay, but I don't know about lakers. I have never targeted them there through the ice, but catch plenty all over the bay open water fishing.

In the central part of the lake, I only hear about lakers on hard water when the broadlake freezes and people walk out over real deep water.

[the_doctor]

PM sent. If I were you I'd try for pike in Inner Malletts... better odds.
Probably no lakers in the Inner Bay. Outer, yes, but wouldn't count on it.

[dbr138]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Looks like focusing on Pike is the play. I'll stick on inner Malletts, set the tip ups shallow in the weeds with our jig hole a little deeper.

[Nthaburgh]

If you're going for pike try right out in front of Bayside park. Caught them tipup fishing there. Easy lake access too. Good luck

[bootstrap]

good luck what ever you decide post us some pics.

[lowaccord66]

Stayed on outer mallets last year in Cholchester.  Took a 45 minute drive each day to hit lakers.  They were no where near mallets.  Good luck!

[vtmable1]

I'll echo what everyone else said, outer bay is your best shot for lakers, I've picked them up in front of the Lamoille in the past.
P.s. IDK the ice conditions out there this year yet.

[Light liner]

Outer Malletts people catch them, I wouldn’t target them though. I don’t think there’s enough of them to speak of.
Inland sea is your best bet for lakers.
Good luck hope you find them.

[lowaccord66]

Outer Malletts people catch them, I wouldn’t target them though. I don’t think there’s enough of them to speak of.
Inland sea is your best bet for lakers.
Good luck hope you find them.

Agree.  When you find them really well its worth the effort assuming the ice isnt treacherous.  Ive been on some wild stuff chasing lakers on champ including ice breaking up because of big open water waves. To wicked variable ice out deep, including stacked ice my auger never hit the bottom of.  All fun.

[the_doctor]

Inland sea is your best bet for lakers.

Not trying to start anything but is this an inside joke, people trying to throw others off, mistaken geography, or what? I've seen people on a few places now mention lakers on the Inland Sea.
As someone wrote somewhere once, if you catch a laker on the Inland Sea, be sure to buy a lottery ticket on the way home. I've seen exactly ONE lake trout come from the IS, and I'm half-sure it came out of someone's livewell at the Apple Island launch.

[JK47!]

Not trying to start anything but is this an inside joke, people trying to throw others off, mistaken geography, or what? I've seen people on a few places now mention lakers on the Inland Sea.
As someone wrote somewhere once, if you catch a laker on the Inland Sea, be sure to buy a lottery ticket on the way home. I've seen exactly ONE lake trout come from the IS, and I'm half-sure it came out of someone's livewell at the Apple Island launch.

I agree.  I fish the IS all the time and Lakers are not going to be found there. 

[TRT]

x3 Inland Sea is not for lakers. Main lake

[Light liner]

Huh?

[Pike Panther]

I totally agree, the Inland Sea north of the Sandbar is not a place to catch lakers.  I'm not sure if Shelburne Bay is frozen yet with this cold weather.  That would be a good place to tarket for the person who started this thread who is staying in Colchester.   Bring a chisle and check the ice frequently if others are not fishing nearby.

[KevinM68]

I think we all can agree the Inland Sea isn't the place to target Lake Trout but it isn't a rare occurrence to catch one there.

We catch them occasionally perch fishing.  Me and my buddy each caught one last winter on a bibbits.  We caught them 2 weeks apart in two different locations in the middle of the Inland Sea.  Heck of a fight on a perch rod and light line.

[dbr138]

I totally agree, the Inland Sea north of the Sandbar is not a place to catch lakers.  I'm not sure if Shelburne Bay is frozen yet with this cold weather.  That would be a good place to tarket for the person who started this thread who is staying in Colchester.   Bring a chisle and check the ice frequently if others are not fishing nearby.

We will probably stick to Inner Malletts tomorrow and focus on northerns and maybe head over to check the ice on Shelburne the following day. Thanks for the tip.

[vtcountrychamp]

I've caught 2 derby winning lakers in mallets bay. We would ice 20-30 a day and other days only 1 or 2. They're predatorial fish that constantly move around for food, so if you set its only a matter of time before you catch one. We have caught them out there in 20 FOW and my personal best 11.80lb in 65FOW there. I've been fishing walleyes for the last 2 years, but the top 3-4 lakers in every LC derby still come from there.

[lowaccord66]

We will probably stick to Inner Malletts tomorrow and focus on northerns and maybe head over to check the ice on Shelburne the following day. Thanks for the tip.

Dont take the spud/chisel advice lightly if you check other laker water. 

[BubbaJunior23]

I have never fished Malletts before so I keep going back and forth if I should fish right there in inner Malletts or venture out into outer Malletts or some other part of Lake Champlain.

Haven’t fished IM much on the hard water but there are plenty of lakers on outer mallets. I’ve never been skunked on the hard water out there. Plenty of good structure. Not sure of the ice just yet, I’m going out in a couple more weeks just to be safe. Good luck!

[keithm87]

Will echo that IS isn’t place to target lakers. They exist, hell some kid caught a 36 incher in the mississquoi in 2020, but just because they swim through doesn’t make them worth targeting. Outer bay, alburg, shelburne bay and crown point are all better.

[thefishingweatherman]

Inland Sea is good and frozen now - you should find safe ice everywhere there. I have only gone looking for lake trout there a few times, but it was discouraging enough to make me not want to try again, especially coupled with all the similar reports I hear. But, it freezes over almost every year, so if you're looking to explore, it's a reliable area. When the entire lake is frozen (doesn't happen often, but might happen this year) I like to target the main lake channel, especially around Shelburne, Burlington and Colchester. There, you can jig for lakers and if you're over a good spot where they are hanging around, can have some pretty incredible days. As for inner and outer mallets, never caught, or even heard of anyone getting them reliably on inner Mallets. Every time I go there all I seem to get is perch. There is some good pike fishing in spots though. Outer Mallets has lakers, in what seems like relatively light numbers. They seem nomadic and just constantly cruise around, making them hard to consistently catch, at least if you're jigging. You could always throw out a mess of tip-ups to increase your odds though, but that's too much work for me. Hopefully this cold weather results in the main lake freezing this winter, and then it'll be tough to beat jigging for shear numbers.