The need to feed

Fronts incite smallmouth hunger, bring wind at Lake Champlain

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The air temperature at the day-two launch of the Walmart FLW Series event on Lake Champlain was a nippy 38 degrees.

It might still be summer in many parts of the United States, but in upstate New York, fall has begun, and the bass know an ice roof will be forming over their heads soon.

Prilosec pro Koby Kreiger, currently in fourth place, knows what the bass know: The time to eat is now.

“When the first strong front or two comes in and starts dropping the water temperature, these fish know it’s time to put the feed bag on,” Kreiger chuckled. “Pretty soon they’ll be taking a long winter’s ice nap, and they want to be good and fat before that happens.”

Kreiger is targeting all smallmouths this week and believes the feeding frenzy is just beginning.

“They’re not quite in full-time eating mode like they were this time last year, but over the next couple of weeks, these fish are going to go bonkers moving up on sand spots and eating everything in sight.”

But with frontal systems comes Lake Champlain’s biggest monster: wind. Though FLW Series pros enjoyed a calm day one, the buzz at the launch Thursday morning was a bumpier day two and a much bumpier day three.

Indeed, southeast winds are forecasted to increase over the next 24 hours, and this could prove problematic for anglers on day three.

The day-two weigh-in of the FLW Series event on Lake Champlain begins Thursday afternoon at 2:30 at the Dock Street Landing in Plattsburgh.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:28 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 38 degrees

Expected high temperature: 70 degrees

Water temperature: 67 degrees

Wind: SE at 5 to 10 mph

Day’s outlook: sunny and warmer