Vermont's share of Lake Champlain includes some of its best water: the Inland Sea's smallmouth reefs, Missisquoi Bay's largemouth pads and a fall tributary run of landlocked salmon. One lake, a whole state's worth of fishing.
Reports current for Friday, September 4
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
The sixth Great Lake: 120 miles of bays and islands where bass tournaments meet salmon streams.
Vermont’s fjord: Willoughby drops 300 feet between cliffs and holds lake trout and landlocked salmon in water that stays cold all summer.
The salmon river Vermont fought for: the Clyde runs landlocked salmon from Memphremagog through Newport every fall.
The hardest wild trout river in New England: the Battenkill hides big, educated browns and brookies in gin-clear Vermont water.
The international lake: Memphremagog runs 30 miles into Quebec, holding landlocked salmon, lake trout and walleye.
Vermont’s longest undammed river: the White runs 60 miles of trout and smallmouth water to the Connecticut.
Vermont’s wilderness pond: Somerset holds brook trout and bass in a roadless corner of the Green Mountains.
Below Camel’s Hump: Waterbury Reservoir holds trout, bass and quiet water in central Vermont.
The Northeast Kingdom’s salmon pond: Seymour holds landlocked salmon, lake trout and rainbows in deep, cold water.
Vermont’s central river: the Winooski runs trout, smallmouth and steelhead from the Greens to Champlain.
Northern Vermont’s river: the Missisquoi runs walleye, pike and steelhead to Missisquoi Bay.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: May.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Champlain | Lake | Grand Isle | USGS | Apr |
| Lake Willoughby | Lake | Orleans | modeled | Apr |
| Clyde River | River | Orleans | USGS | Apr |
| Battenkill | River | Bennington | modeled | May |
| Lake Memphremagog | Lake | Orleans | modeled | Apr |
| White River | River | Windsor | USGS | Apr |
| Somerset Reservoir | Reservoir | Windham | modeled | Apr |
| Waterbury Reservoir | Reservoir | Washington | USGS | Apr |
| Seymour Lake | Lake | Orleans | modeled | Apr |
| Winooski River | River | Chittenden | USGS | May |
| Missisquoi River | River | Franklin | USGS | May |
Vermont fishes bigger than its size: Lake Champlain's 120 miles anchor everything (bass tournaments, salmon depths, pike bays, ice culture), while the Green Mountains send down wild-trout rivers like the Batten Kill, White and Winooski, each with its own character. Landlocked salmon run the tributaries spring and fall: a New England tradition maintained with care.
May-June: everything begins: smallmouth flood Champlain's reefs, trout rivers hit their stride, salmon smelt runs finish. Summer: bays and evening hatches, high-country brook trout. Fall: foliage-season browns and salmon staging at river mouths: Vermont's finest weeks. Winter: Champlain's ice villages for perch, pike and the stray salmon.
The main lake honors either license in most border waters; bays and tributaries follow the state they sit in. Check the current reciprocity map before fishing the line.