Fishing mallets bay

[Icecracka46]

I'm fishing mallets bay the 15th - 19th.
I have never fished there and i was wondering if anyone has any advice.
 :tipup:Any advice for getting prepared would be appreciated.

[Icecracka46]

Champlian

[Gezzah]

If you are after Lakers, park at the causeway which links colchester to the islands and walk along the causeway until you see a big dead tree, I think it is about 2/3 of a mile.... From there head out into the bay until you get into around 30 feet of water, probably another 1/3 of mile walk. There is slight current out there and it has been known to produce nice Lakers.

[Icecracka46]

I'm totaly new at this.What do you use for lakers?
I have jig rods and tilts.
We rented a house on the water too.
Thanks

[Gezzah]

I use heavy mediums on my tip ups with them set a foot or two off the bottom..... If you can jig up some smelt they would be better though. When jigging use a bucktail or aeroplane jig with the tail half of a minnow attached to the end, working each area of the water column for a few minutes before moving up a few feet. You can also use a swedish pimple with a live minnow attached with some success. 

[Icecracka46]

Thanks alot!
Sound good i can't wait to get up there!

[fishandbeer]

I have fished the area Geezah described a lot over the years. There is a channel that comes out from the causeway that has quite a bit of current and seems to draw a lot of big predator fish. I have had my best luck square in front of the first cut in the causeway. I find that 20-35 foot of water works the best for me. I used to use emerald shiners fished right under the ice to 10 feet down. Now we can't get the emerald, but I have also had good luck with medium golden shiners. I use a #10 hook on a 8lb mono leader with the smallest split shot that will keep the bait out of the hole, yet not interfere with it's natural ability to swm. When we fish out the we find if we get our bait too far down the water column we catch BIG perch. Always have perch guys that want to fish inside our setup after they see the size of the perch on the ice. They try jigging then get frustrated and leave. They don't realize that we are catching those perch in the top half of the water column. The biggest lakers that I have seen come from Champlain came from this spot. I have a few on film.....hope that helps you out. good luck

[Icecracka46]

Great info!
Thanks

[fishstalker]

bring a chisel and a lifejacket

[Icecracka46]

bring a chisel and a lifejacket

Why?
I fished the state fishoffs there last year in the summer and i was brutal.
I know it will be cold but why a chisel and jacket?

[vermonner]

We lost most or all of our ice over the last week or so, that's why you want a chisel and life jacket--not a lot of ice to auger and you could go for a swim.  Be careful, as the ice is re-forming.  Good luck