Ice fishing is a great way to experience the outdoors during the winter months, and the Adirondacks boast an excellent variety of ice fishing destinations. One of the most popular places is Lake Champlain.

Lake Champlain offers anglers the opportunity to ice fish for lake trout, landlocked salmon, black bass, northern pike, pickerel, crappie, yellow perch, sunfish and more. Whether you fish from a shanty or just set up a bucket, a day on the ice can offer great fishing, fantastic views, and a lot of fun. Don’t miss out on a free fishing weekend, coming up Feb. 13-14.

Now through March, DEC is conducting an ice fishing creel survey on Lake Champlain. The survey is part of a larger, two-year effort to survey both ice and open water anglers. Data gathered will serve as a baseline to help DEC Fisheries biologists better understand angler use and expectations, while also informing management actions on Lake Champlain. Creel agents will be stationed at Plattsburgh Boat Launch on Cumberland Bay, Willsboro Bay Boat Launch, Bulwagga Bay Campground, and South Bay Boat Launch. We encourage anglers coming off the ice to participate in this voluntary survey.

Learn more about ice fishing regulations, ice safety, and other places to ice fish in the Adirondacks on DEC’s ice fishing webpage.

Click here for a photo gallery by Adirondack Explorer’s Mike Lynch from a day ice fishing on Osgood Pond.

Photo: Matt Burnett, left, and Tim Rowland jig inside the ice fishing shanty on Osgood Pond, by Mike Lynch