A Labor Day to Remember

Rachel Lynn Vickers
Angler Magazine field expert Rachel Vickers with a beautiful Champlain Laker – for more great pictures check out www.instagram.com

By Rachel Lynn Vickers
Angler Magazine Field Expert

GSLFF Chair Member

I play in a pool league every Sunday, and for months my teammate Bert Frasier, what I thought to be “fish stories” of he and his brothers domination over the Salvelinus Namaycush… {Lake trout} fishery at Lake Champlain. Week after Week, he would boast…”We caught 0ver 30,40 each, all were 20 inches plus”…And “My father, Brother, and I, last weekend set a single day catch record of 122 Lakers, you should really come up for a couple of days”. Honestly… I, figured he was embellishing on numbers to try and impress me which, when it comes to Fish & Fishing is NOT easily done. I earned my B.A. with Honors, in Fisheries & Aquaculture from SUNY Cobleskill, and I am an active Chair Member of the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation (GSLFF). Fisheries and sport fishing has been my greatest passion for as long as I can remember, and I’m always looking for new fishing opportunities to experience.

I finally decided on Friday of Labor Day Weekend that I would take Bert up on his invitation, I have never fished Lake Champlain before, or caught a Laker and I was eager. After a picturesque drive we arrived, and my attention was immediately caught by the sparkling  20’ Bayliner Trophy sport-fishing boat, complete with outriggers on top and 2 Downs, on the bottom sides, and many other sport fishing bells and Whistles. During a quick introduction to Bert’s brother Steve, I thanked him for the invitation and said “If I catch one nice fish it will be worth the trip” Steve looked at his brother Bert and smiled, as if he knew something I didn’t, my confidence that my trip would be a success in producing at least some fish was solidified, when I saw that an entire section of Steve’s living room including a couch was occupied by 30, or so Shimano rods of mixed, medium to ultra heavy actions and 10-12 boxes of Shimano reels price-tags unremoved boasting costs of $280 and more! I knew these brothers meant business.

We launched at first light, in glass-like calm water, from what I was told that is very rare for Lake Champlain. We stopped, in about 100ft of water and the brothers started to gear up. I was given a 6’ Shimano Trevalla medium action rod, equipped with a Shimano Calcutta reel, and braided line.  As I was tying my lure, Bert tells me the female single day catch record for their boat was 22 and asked, “Are you going to break it? Now do exactly as I say, when I tell you to drop, open the bail, and when I say reel, start retrieving at a quick steady pace without stopping or hesitation” Bert instructed…and so I did. Just like that it began, on my first retrieval, the strike felt like a cinderblock bending my rod almost to the surface, I set the hook and retrieved my first Laker!, both Bert and Steve were also hooked up and working fish in also!!  We were able to release the fish back. The Bites were so consistent that 2 hours passed, and we had 27 Lakers on the boat counter before we had a chance to set out rods down and look at the time! The brothers had 10 fish each and me with 7. All of the fish caught were respectable in size ranging from 19-30 + inches, and weighed between 6-12 ½ lbs . When the bite Slowed in one spot we would simply move a short distance where another school was marked and repeated their method. I was respectfully asked by the Brothers not to reveal the exact method or lure used. The hook ups continued consistently many times all three of us had fish on at once, By 2pm, I landed my 22nd  tying the Female catch record with 5 hours left to fish, the brothers had over 45 fish a piece! We all realized that The Single Day combined catch record for the boat, was very close to being reached, and we decided to go for it. The Brothers realized that I had watched very closely to What they were doing, learned how to identify and read my own line position on the Hummingbird, and picked up on their method where I could start hooking up without any instructions. About 2 hours passed before I caught my 23rd Laker, surpassing the previous female catch record and setting the bar. When the Brothers reached 99 fish combined, the single Day Catch record was tied. The Brothers allowed me the honor of catching the 123 fish to set the new record and filmed it. The heaviest fish I caught weighed in at 11 ½ lbs!

On Sunday all three of us were so worn out  that we didn’t make it out onto the water until almost 11am, and for a half day we still enjoyed steady action all afternoon long. I ended the the day with a total of 16 lakers, and the brothers with over 30 fish each. On Monday, we ended the trip relaxing mostly and caught caught 26 Lakers, adding a few more to my standing record .My total number of Lakers caught was a 65. The Brothers also pulled in 15-16 each putting our total number of Lake Trout caught in 2 ½ days by 3 people just under 200!  We kept 8 fish for filets and the rest were released safely back. I told the Brothers that This Labor Day was one I would Never forget, and that next season I will absolutely be joining them again on multiple occasions! The running joke now is Burt saying to me…. “Well Im glad you at least caught ONE fish!”  I can hardly wait until my next time fishing for Lakers with the Frasier Brothers, Bert and Steve the absolute experts on this specific fishery on Lake Champlain.