Champ is Lake Champlain’s most famous resident — a lake-monster legend with roots in Abenaki oral tradition and over a century of reported sightings. P.T. Barnum reportedly offered a $50,000 reward for Champ’s capture in 1873, and both Vermont and New York have passed symbolic resolutions protecting Champ from harm. If you love the legend as much as the lake itself, browse our Champ-inspired apparel, featuring Champ and the suspects below.
Twelve Lake Champlain suspects.
Several reasonable theories.
One highly questionable submarine.
No one has conclusively identified Champ, the legendary creature said to live in Lake Champlain.
This has not stopped anyone from having an opinion.
Some explanations involve real fish, swimming wildlife, waves, and bad viewing angles. Others require a prehistoric reptile to have quietly maintained a breeding population for millions of years. One involves Canada.
It is time to review the suspects.
Author: Vermont Lake Collection · Last reviewed: August 2026
The short answer
What could explain a Champ sighting?
Large fish, swimming mammals, groups of birds, floating logs, unusual wakes, distance, and changing light could explain at least some reported sightings.
Which real animals are the strongest candidates?
Lake sturgeon and longnose gar are both real Lake Champlain residents with prehistoric looks and enough size to create a memorable glimpse.
Could Champ be an actual unknown animal?
It is possible to imagine. It has not been scientifically demonstrated.
Have we ruled out a secret Canadian submarine?
Only by applying common sense, which feels limiting.
How does Champ compare to the Loch Ness Monster?
Champ and Nessie are close cousins in the world of lake monsters: both are long-necked, humped creatures reported in a large, deep, glacially formed lake, both have roots going back well over a century, and both lack a confirmed specimen despite extensive searching. The main difference is documentation—Loch Ness has a more famous (and more thoroughly debunked) photographic history, while Champ's most-cited evidence is the 1977 Mansi photograph. Neither has been scientifically confirmed, and both remain excellent excuses to keep looking at the water.
Review the suspects
Suspect No. 1: The Lake Sturgeon
Why it could be Champ: Lake sturgeon actually live in Lake Champlain. Adults commonly reach several feet in length, while exceptional fish can grow past seven feet and weigh hundreds of pounds. They are armored, ancient-looking, and frankly overqualified for the role of “large mysterious thing in the water.”
What hurts the case: Sturgeon are bottom-oriented fish without a long serpent neck. A very large sturgeon could explain a startling shape, splash, or brief surface appearance—but not every classic Champ description.
Verdict: The strongest suspect with a verified address.
Champ likelihood: 4 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 2: The Longnose Gar
Why it could be Champ: Longnose gar live in Lake Champlain and look as if someone built a fish from armor, teeth, and spare dinosaur parts. Their long snouts and hard scales also resemble the large fish described in some early accounts of the lake.
What hurts the case: Even a record-setting gar is still a fish-sized fish, not a 30-foot lake serpent. It also lacks Champ’s usual long-necked profile.
Verdict: Excellent monster face. Insufficient monster acreage.
Champ likelihood: 3.5 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 3: The American Eel
Why it could be Champ: Long, dark, snake-shaped, and already adapted to making people say, “What was that?” American eels are part of the Lake Champlain fish community, although their population is now very low.
What hurts the case: There is no evidence of an eel in the lake reaching the enormous size required by the bigger Champ reports.
Verdict: Correct silhouette. Ambitious résumé.
Champ likelihood: 2.5 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 4: The Otter Conga Line
Why it could be Champ: A group of otters swimming one behind another can produce a line of dark backs that rise and disappear. From a distance, several animals can look like one long animal with multiple humps.
What hurts the case: Eventually one of them acts like an otter and ruins the illusion.
Verdict: Surprisingly convincing until everyone surfaces at once.
Champ likelihood: 3 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 5: The Swimming Deer
Why it could be Champ: A swimming deer keeps most of its body underwater while its head and neck remain above the surface. Add distance, waves, and poor light, and the familiar shape becomes unfamiliar very quickly.
What hurts the case: Antlers are a difficult branding choice for a lake serpent.
Verdict: Plausible for one sighting. Unlikely to sustain centuries of mystery without becoming extremely tired.
Champ likelihood: 2.5 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 6: Three Loons With a Plan
Why it could be Champ: Dark birds swimming in a loose line can create separate humps. Loons also dive suddenly, changing the shape of the group before an observer can get a better look.
What hurts the case: Requires several loons, a cooperative viewing angle, and a complete refusal to make loon noises during the encounter.
Verdict: Less “prehistoric monster,” more “organized lake committee.”
Champ likelihood: 2 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 7: The Floating Log
Why it could be Champ: Logs float, roll, drift, vanish behind waves, and reappear exactly when someone has started telling everyone to look. Branches can resemble a neck or head. Water movement does the rest.
What hurts the case: It is a log.
Verdict: Infuriatingly plausible. Terrible conversationalist.
Champ likelihood: 4 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 8: The Wake Without a Boat
Why it could be Champ: A wake can continue after the boat that made it has left the viewer’s line of sight. Wind, crossing waves, and shifting currents can also create movement that looks as if something large is traveling just below the surface.
What hurts the case: No head. No body. No respect for narrative structure.
Verdict: Very good at beginning a sighting. Very bad at posing for the photograph.
Champ likelihood: 4 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 9: The Giant Snapping Turtle
Why it could be Champ: Large snapping turtles are real, old-looking, and fully committed to the monster aesthetic. Also, nearly every lake has at least one person willing to swear there is a turtle “the size of a kitchen table” living near the dock.
What hurts the case: The kitchen table has never been available for measurement.
Verdict: Strong local testimony. Weak furniture documentation.
Champ likelihood: 2 out of 5 humps
Suspect No. 10: The Prehistoric Plesiosaur
Why it could be Champ: This is the classic version: long neck, small head, broad body, flippers, and one or more humps. It looks exactly like the lake monster people expect to see.
What hurts the case: Plesiosaurs were marine reptiles that disappeared from the fossil record tens of millions of years ago. A surviving population in Lake Champlain would also need to eat, breathe, reproduce, and repeatedly avoid clear documentation.
Verdict: Best silhouette. Worst paperwork.
Champ likelihood: 1 out of 5 humps; 5 out of 5 on merchandise
Suspect No. 11: The Secret Canadian Submarine
Why it could be Champ: Lake Champlain flows north into Québec. Submarines travel underwater. This is apparently enough evidence to begin a theory.
What hurts the case: Physics, geography, budgets, evidence, and Canada’s generally restrained approach to freshwater monster deployment.
Verdict: Unlikely—but an excellent explanation for why Champ never answers questions in English.
Champ likelihood: Classified
Suspect No. 12: Champ
Why it could be Champ: Hundreds of reported sightings, a long regional tradition, a famous photograph, and a lake large enough to keep producing surprises.
What hurts the case: No specimen, bones, DNA, or repeatable scientific observation has confirmed an unknown giant animal in Lake Champlain.
Verdict: Still unproven. Still undefeated.
Champ likelihood: Look at the water and decide for yourself.
Compare the leading Champ theories
| Suspect | Actually lives in Lake Champlain? | Could resemble a sighting? | Monster energy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake sturgeon | Yes | Yes | Extremely high |
| Longnose gar | Yes | Possibly | Built-in |
| American eel | Yes, but now uncommon | Possibly | Slinky |
| Otter group | Yes | Yes, from a distance | Cheerful |
| Swimming deer | Possible | Briefly | Confused |
| Loons in formation | Yes | Briefly | Organized |
| Floating log | Constantly | Absolutely | None, allegedly |
| Unusual wake | Yes | Absolutely | Situational |
| Giant snapping turtle | Turtles live in the basin | Maybe | Excellent |
| Plesiosaur | No evidence | Matches the classic image | Maximum |
| Canadian submarine | Please | Only with commitment | International |
| Champ | That is the question | Obviously | Five humps |
Cast your vote: Which Champ is your Champ?
Choose the explanation you would defend at a lake house after dinner:
- Team Monster: Champ is Champ. Stop trying to make this complicated.
- Team Giant Fish: Sturgeon and gar have been doing excellent monster work for centuries.
- Team Log: The least exciting answer is often floating directly in front of us.
- Team Otter Conspiracy: More otters are involved than anyone is willing to admit.
- Team Canada: We cannot discuss an active investigation.
What do you think Champ really is? A real lake monster · A giant fish · Wildlife seen from a distance · A log or unusual wake · The Canadian submarine · I need more evidence
Pick your Champ
Shop the shirts that put Champ — and his suspects — front and center.
Sources and fact-checking
- Lake and Basin Facts — Lake Champlain Basin Program
- The Living Fossil of Lake Champlain — Lake Champlain Committee
- Fish and Wildlife — Lake Champlain Basin Program
- History of Fish and Fisheries in Lake Champlain — Lake Champlain Basin Program
- What Champlain Saw — Lake Champlain Committee
- Champ: America’s Lake Monster — ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain
The real-animal descriptions are fact-based. The Canadian submarine has not been peer reviewed.