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Missisquoi River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Missisquoi River: a Lake Champlain walleye spawning river up to the Swanton Dam, with spring closures just below the dam.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
363 cfs
Air / High
50 / 51 F
Wind
N 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04294000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 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.

Missisquoi River is in transition: bait on the move and predators following. The river is running 363 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind N around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1031 hPa and a high of 51. Water sits around 62 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

WalleyeGood

Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

Tomorrow: Similar at 53 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Vermont requires a fishing licence from age 15, from $28.00 for residents. What a Vermont licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing walleye here? Check the size and bag limits with VTFW before you keep anything. The season dates for Vermont, read off the agency, are on the Vermont seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from Missisquoi River at Swanton.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04294000.

4991,1931,887363 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 36 years of October 23

At 363 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04294000 (Missisquoi River at Swanton) is at the 9th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 36 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 1,335 cfs; the highest was 9,390 cfs and the lowest 275 cfs.

p10 369median 1,335p90 6,168

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04294000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp50 F
High / Low51 / 31 F
WindN 7-10 mph
Pressure1030.6 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:18 / 17:54
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~62 F est.

Bite planner

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

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Missisquoi River this week

The best day on Missisquoi River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:55 PM-11:55 PM
Minor period
3:47 AM-4:47 AM
Sun
07:18 to 17:54
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 7 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

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

Walleye illustration

Walleye

Best: spring and late fall, around dawn, dusk and night

A cool-water perch of large lakes, reservoirs and rivers whose reflective eyes are built for low light, so it feeds most at night and in murky water. The Missouri Department of Conservation ranks it among the continent's most important freshwater game fish. Spring: post-spawn fish scatter and can be slow for a couple of weeks. Fall: one of the best windows, with minnows on jigs and three-way rigs as the water cools toward ice-up.

When to come: the Missisquoi River 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
Walleye
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 62 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~62 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 Missisquoi River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye led the card at excellent. High of 54 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 56 F, wind to 4 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye led the card at good. High of 58 F, wind to 10 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 fishing license. Up to Swanton Dam, Lake Champlain rules: walleye first Saturday in May-March 15, 18 in., 3 a day. Closed below the dam March 16 to the Friday before the first Saturday in May (Riverside Cemetery to 850 ft below the dam) and March 16-May 31 (last 850 ft). Kane Road bridge to Enosburg Falls Dam: 2 trout a day, second Saturday in April-Oct. 31. (Vermont guide, updated Dec. 16, 2025.)

Access

No access sites are listed: none was confirmed on an official page in this review.

About this water

A Lake Champlain tributary in Franklin County, Vermont; the rules above cover Highgate, Swanton, Sheldon and Enosburg. Flow on this page comes from USGS 04294000, Missisquoi River at Swanton.

Fishing Missisquoi River: the full guide

Swanton Dam and the walleye run

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study for the Lake Champlain Fishery Technical Committee, posted by Vermont Fish and Wildlife, calls the Missisquoi important spawning habitat for Lake Champlain walleye. Swanton Dam is now the upstream limit for fish moving up from the lake; the falls at Highgate were the historical limit. The study found suitable walleye spawning habitat below the dam limited to small patches and estimated that access above it would increase that habitat 65 to 1,210 times.

Lake Champlain rules up to the dam

Vermont counts the river up to the top of Swanton Dam as part of Lake Champlain, so the lake's table applies there: walleye open from the first Saturday in May to March 15, 18-inch minimum, 3 a day. Two stretches below the dam close each spring: from Riverside Cemetery (5,120 feet below the dam) up to 850 feet below it, closed March 16 through the Friday before the first Saturday in May; and the last 850 feet below the dam, closed March 16 through May 31.

A trout section upstream

From the Kane Road bridge upstream about 5.7 miles to the top of the Enosburg Falls Dam, in Sheldon and Enosburg, a special rule limits anglers to 2 trout a day in total, with the season running from the second Saturday in April to October 31. Vermont's guide flags Eurasian watermilfoil and water chestnut in the lower river.

Common questions

When can I fish below Swanton Dam?

The last 850 feet below the dam are closed March 16 through May 31, and the stretch down to Riverside Cemetery is closed March 16 through the Friday before the first Saturday in May.

What are the walleye rules on the lower river?

Lake Champlain rules apply up to the top of Swanton Dam: open the first Saturday in May to March 15, 18-inch minimum, 3 a day.

Is there a trout section?

Yes: about 5.7 miles from the Kane Road bridge up to the Enosburg Falls Dam, with a 2-trout daily limit from the second Saturday in April to October 31.

Is fishing good at Missisquoi River 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

Lake Champlain24 miWinooski River30 miWaterbury Reservoir40 miAusable River43 miLake Memphremagog43 miClyde River46 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04294000 β€” Missisquoi River at Swanton
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:45 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.9200, -73.1200 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 8, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 8, 2026; anything that could not be verified was taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.