Champlain smallmouth stage for the fall turnover under a full moon

What's next

Expect water temperatures to keep easing through the high 50s and low 60s over the next several days as nights lengthen, which should accelerate the shift of smallmouth bass toward main-lake points, rocky humps and river-mouth current seams — the classic early-fall staging areas on this kind of northern lake. Wired 2 Fish's recent smallmouth coverage describes bass pulling into deeper water and keying on baitfish as overnight temperatures drop, a pattern Champlain should follow closely as the cool-down continues.

With the full moon behind us by midweek, the best windows through the weekend are the first and last hour of daylight, when low light concentrates feeding activity regardless of the moon phase.

Context

Late September is on-schedule for this stretch of Lake Champlain — surface temperatures typically ease through the 60s into the 50s over the next month as the lake works toward fall turnover, and smallmouth activity generally holds strong through this transition before slowing once temperatures drop into the mid-40s. Nothing about this week's reading suggests an early or late season; it tracks the normal calendar for a northern Vermont lake this time of year.