Cow banks

[Light liner]

Anyone fishing cow banks? Curious how the conditions are.
Thanks

[wilec]

Saw one person out there Saturday afternoon although they didn’t look to be fishing

[shiveringjoe]

I was out there from around 130-330 on Saturday and it was cold! Ice looked great, probably 7". Two pressure cracks but both were frozen over. Caught a few perch at 40' and a few at 60'. All perch were coughing up small alewives. Marked a decent number of fish tight to bottom but they weren't very hungry. Action wasn't good enough to stick around once the wind picked up.

Saw one person out there Saturday afternoon although they didn’t look to be fishing

[Light liner]

Thank you. Planning on checking it out.

[mudchuck]

So how does it look after the snow over the weekend and now with the rain?
Is there a lot of drifted snow?
Slushy?

[Champlain Islander]

It was a mess yesterday at Vantines with both deep drifts and slush underneath. I am about to try out front of my place to see what affect the rain has done on the conditions. Raining pretty hard right now so it won't be pleasant.

[mudchuck]

It was a mess yesterday with both deep drifts and slush underneath. I am about to try out front of my place to see what affect the rain has done on the conditions. Raining pretty hard right now so it won't be pleasant.

This will knock down the snow and make lots of slush.
Will be interesting once it gets real cold again on what happens with the slush on top.
I'm happy to see the snow knocked down though, as I'm a walker and don't like pulling my gear wearing snowshoes.
Here's to hoping the cold coming again will freeze the slush solid on top of the ice!

[Champlain Islander]

I think we have enough warm and rain to drop the snow down and once it gets cold will harden everything left back up again and will be easy walking.

[Adam.love05]

This almost a best case scenario.. A few warm days to knockthe snow down.. And the extended forecast is back to cold! Next weekend should be good.. Fish on gents!

[Champlain Islander]

One other thing that the snow will give is snow packs or white patches which are some of my favorite places to fish.

[troutcrazy]

I stopped by to look today.  Didn't fish, and only walked out a little ways close to the access.  Plenty of slush, maybe 6".  Not much white snow, though!  Less snow farther out.  I'm optimistic.

I'll probably try to fish it tomorrow!

[DirtyDan23]

Anyone ever get any consistent smelt near cowbanks? Tried outer mallets and only caught a few.

[Champlain Islander]

Wasn't Cow Banks but did get out today at my place on the broad lake side of North Hero. There was quite a bit of snow left with some bare patches which were covered with slush. I pulled my fish trap out and didn't put on my creepers due to snow figuring it would be OK. Big mistake. It was loading up with snow and slush and it was hard to pull without the creepers. I finally went up and took my wheeler out to tow it in. Was a little heavier going back in lol. Steady rain all day which did beat down the snow. Should be pretty firm by morning.

[troutcrazy]

Anyone ever get any consistent smelt near cowbanks? Tried outer mallets and only caught a few.

If there are consistent smelt anywhere on Champlain, I'd love to know about it.

I got excited when I caught one smelt at cowbanks last year!

[mudchuck]

If there are consistent smelt anywhere on Champlain, I'd love to know about it.

I got excited when I caught one smelt at cowbanks last year!

I still catch smelt at Cowbanks on occasion, not many, usually only a handful.

[gogetthegaff]

If there are consistent smelt anywhere on Champlain, I'd love to know about it.

I got excited when I caught one smelt at cowbanks last year!

If Basin Harbor and Barrow's lock up this year I'll give it a try and will let you know. Seems like that area only freezes every 2 or 3 years these days. That's where I got my start at about the age of 5, (54 years ago!). I'll never forget losing my dad's friend's handmade jig stick down the hole. What about Shelburne Bay? That used to be another go-to spot.

[spb802]

I’d like to get out, hopefully this rain and snow will settle and become hard...walking through knee deep crap doesn’t sound fun to me...

[troutcrazy]

I'm at cowbanks now on about a foot of ice.  There's an inch or so of water on top, and a hard crust on top of that.  The crust is almost strong enough.

The access is the worst part-- there's about 8" of water on the ice.  It's not for the faint of heart.  But once you get out of the cove it's ok.

Oh, and nothing's biting.  I did see a giant gar swim under my hole in 40' of water.  That was surprising.

[bootstrap]

If Basin Harbor and Barrow's lock up this year I'll give it a try and will let you know. Seems like that area only freezes every 2 or 3 years these days. That's where I got my start at about the age of 5, (54 years ago!). I'll never forget losing my dad's friend's handmade jig stick down the hole. What about Shelburne Bay? That used to be another go-to spot.

basin harbor and barrows smelting. now there is a blast from the past. no ice yet as far as i know.

[Light liner]

Hit cowbanks this morning. Ice conditions are good,8-10".
No water on the ice solid.
Perch bite was slow did manage a few good ones. Drilled alot of holes looking for fish.
Not many, never did find any lakers. Perch were full of alewifes.