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Lake Willoughby Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Vermont’s fjord: Willoughby drops 300 feet between cliffs and holds lake trout and landlocked salmon in water that stays cold all summer.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~66 F est.
Air / High
69 / 70 F
Wind
WNW 9 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Willoughby lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 9 mph, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 70. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonGood

Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook troutGood

Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Smallmouth bassGood

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Lake troutFair

Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Tomorrow: Cooler at 64 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp69 F
High / Low70 / 58 F
WindWNW 9-15 mph
Pressure1010.2 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain24% cloud, 20%
Sunrise / Sunset06:14 / 19:20
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 70/58 F, wind 10 mph, rain 20%

Fair or better. A 10 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Willoughby: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Best: ice-out through June, and September

Atlantic salmon that never see the sea: smelt-chasing acrobats of Maine and New England lakes, and the reason ice-out is a holiday up north. Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Best: May-Jun and Sep-Oct

North America’s native char: a small-stream specialist that demands cold, clean water and repays it with the prettiest fish in the woods. Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Best: ice-out and fall turnover

The char of the deep: 40-year-old predators patrolling the cold basins of glacial lakes, from the Finger Lakes to the Rockies. Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

When to come: the Lake Willoughby calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Landlocked salmon
Brook trout
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Willoughby today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 71 F, wind to 15 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 67 F, wind to 17 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 72 F, wind to 7 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

Vermont requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Vermont license. Lake trout and landlocked salmon have specific seasons and length limits: check current Vermont Fish and Wildlife regulations.

Access

State fishing access area at the south end, north beach access, and shoreline pullouts along Route 5A.

About this water

A 1,687-acre glacial lake over 300 feet deep in Orleans County, Vermont, between Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor.

Fishing Lake Willoughby: the full guide

A glacial trench in the Northeast Kingdom

Lake Willoughby fills a glacial trough between the cliffs of Mount Pisgah and Mount Hor in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom: 1,700 acres, over 300 feet deep, and cold enough at depth to hold lake trout and landlocked salmon comfortably through the hottest summer. It is one of the most dramatic settings in New England fishing, and the fishery is genuinely good: Vermont manages it for both species, with rainbow smelt as the forage base.

Depth and season

Ice-out in late April or May brings salmon and lake trout within reach of the surface: troll streamers and smelt imitations in the top twenty feet along the shorelines and the drop-offs at both ends. Summer sends them deep: downriggers and lead core over 60 to 150 feet find lakers, while salmon hold slightly shallower in the 50-58 degree band. Fall brings both back up, with September and October offering the year’s best shallow fishing.

Shore access and the cliffs

The north and south beaches give shore anglers access to water that drops off quickly, unusual for a New England lake: casting spoons and smelt imitations at dawn in spring and fall produces. The cliffs plunge straight into the lake along the middle, so most fishing is done by boat. Ice fishing is a strong tradition here for lakers and salmon, though ice conditions on a lake this deep deserve caution.

Northeast Kingdom logistics

A state fishing access area on the south end serves trailer boats, with additional access at the north beach. Westmore is the nearest village; Barton and Newport cover supplies. The surrounding Willoughby State Forest offers hiking trails up Pisgah and Hor for anglers whose partners do not fish. Wind funnels down the trench between the mountains: mornings are usually the calm window.

Common questions

What makes Willoughby unusual?

Its depth and shape: a glacial trench with cliffs on both sides, holding cold water year-round in a region where most lakes warm.

Can I fish from shore?

Yes, better than most deep lakes: the beaches at both ends drop into fishable depth quickly, especially productive at ice-out and in fall.

What is the main target?

Lake trout and landlocked salmon, both managed by the state and supported by a rainbow smelt forage base.

Is fishing good at Lake Willoughby right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Seymour Lake9 miClyde River13 miLake Memphremagog16 miWaterbury Reservoir43 miAndroscoggin River45 miRapid River54 mi
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