Bass and catfish fill the void as Connecticut River shad run closes out

What's biting

What's next

With the Connecticut River running lean at 39.3 cfs, the next few days will reward anglers who commit to low-light windows and stealthy presentations. Low, clear water makes fish more cautious under bright sun — doubly so with the Full Moon putting additional overnight feeding pressure on bass and catfish along shoreline structure.

**Bass — the primary draw through the holiday weekend.** The warm-weather topwater bite that Fishin' Factory 3 describes — fake frogs, Whopper Ploppers, and Senkos — should hold through the weekend, with the best sessions likely on overcast mornings when fish stay shallow longer. Tactical Bassin notes that bass metabolisms are at a seasonal peak in July, with fish "aggressively feeding on a variety of prey species." On Lake Champlain, look for smallmouth stacking along rocky points and emerging weed edges as the thermocline settles deeper. Keep your most productive targets in the pre-7 a.m. and post-7 p.m. windows; midday hours will likely be the slowest stretch of the day.

**Channel catfish and bowfins on the Connecticut River.** Per Fishin' Factory 3, these species have stepped in as the river's featured act now that shad have exited the system. Both tolerate warm, low-flow conditions well and are typically most active after dark. The Full Moon can draw cats into shallow current seams and eddies at night — cut bait and nightcrawlers on a simple bottom rig are the straightforward approach. Expect this pattern to remain productive through the first half of July unless significant rainfall raises flows and shuffles fish positions.

**Trout — a waiting game.** Without a cold front or meaningful precipitation, trout fishing in the Connecticut River drainage is likely to stay in its summer lull. If trout are the goal, concentrate on spring-fed tributaries and the deepest, shadiest pools in the very first hour of daylight. Water temperatures are the limiting factor, and a sustained rain event that drops temps and flushes cooler water into the system could temporarily revive the bite.

**Looking ahead for Lake Champlain.** Post-full-moon, feeding activity typically settles into a more consistent morning-and-evening rhythm by mid-week as moon intensity decreases. Smallmouth along rocky structure and walleye on transitional depth edges are the primary targets. Watch USGS gauge 01135300 for any upward flow signal — a meaningful rainfall pulse into the watershed would be a positive indicator for conditions across both the river and the lake.

Context

Late June on Vermont's major freshwaters is a reliable seasonal pivot: the shad run ends, bass settle into post-spawn summer feeding routines, and trout compress into the coolest available water. Fishin' Factory 3's report of the Connecticut River shad run wrapping up — with catfish and bowfins taking center stage — is entirely on schedule for this calendar date. The pattern plays out consistently year to year, and there is nothing anomalous about seeing it arrive in the final days of June.

The flow reading of 39.3 cfs at USGS gauge 01135300 is worth noting. A sub-40 cfs reading in late June suggests below-average runoff conditions heading into peak summer. Extended low flows can presage a difficult stretch for cold-water species: trout and landlocked salmon get pushed into ever-narrowing thermal refugia when river levels stay low through July and August, and if dry conditions persist, the trout picture in the Connecticut River drainage may remain subdued well beyond the holiday weekend.

For Lake Champlain, late June is historically a productive transitional window for smallmouth bass. By the final week of June in most years, the spawn is complete and fish have shifted from nest-guarding to active feeding along rocky shorelines, points, and island structure on the Vermont shore. Walleye, which spawn earlier and hold deeper as summer progresses, are typically settled into established mid-depth patterns by this date — check transitional structure in the 12-to-20-foot range.

The Full Moon on June 29 aligns with what Wired 2 Fish's July lure roundup identifies as a peak period for warm-water bass activity — elevated water temperatures drive metabolisms high and full-moon nights historically produce strong feeding runs along shoreline structure for both bass and catfish. Without comparative catch data from a Vermont state fisheries report in the current data set, a precise year-over-year benchmark is not available, but the overall picture — shad out, bass up, trout down, catfish active — is consistent with a typical late-June week on these waters.