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Winooski River Fishing Report

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

A Lake Champlain tributary with salmon and steelhead below the Winooski One dam and trophy trout water at Waterbury.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
342 cfs
Air / High
52 / 52 F
Wind
NNW 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 04290500, 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.

Winooski River rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. The river is running 342 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1030 hPa and a high of 52. 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

SteelheadGood

Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Landlocked salmonGood

Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

Tomorrow: Similar at 55 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 steelhead 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 Winooski River near Essex Junction.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 04290500.

4861,0871,687342 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 98 years of October 23

At 342 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 04290500 (Winooski River near Essex Junction) is at the 7th percentile for the date: much below normal. In half of the 98 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 868 cfs; the highest was 6,400 cfs and the lowest 64 cfs.

p10 376median 868p90 3,025

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 04290500; 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 temp52 F
High / Low52 / 30 F
WindNNW 7-9 mph
Pressure1029.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain3% 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 Winooski River this week

The best day on Winooski 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, 8 mph
Rain chance
0%

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

Species guide

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

Steelhead illustration

Steelhead

Great Lakes tributaries from fall through spring; West Coast rivers have both summer and winter runs

Steelhead are rainbow trout that migrate to the Pacific or the Great Lakes to grow, then return up rivers to spawn; unlike most Pacific salmon they can survive spawning and spawn again. Main tributary season: fish seams, pool heads and tails and structure with drifted eggs, beads, nymphs or streamers, and plan trips around rising or falling water.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Spring and fall near the surface, deep in summer, and under the ice in winter

Landlocked salmon are Atlantic salmon that complete their whole life in fresh water, feeding mainly on rainbow smelt in cold lakes of Maine and the Northeast. Spring after ice-out and the fall cool-down are the surface seasons, with fish near shore and at stream mouths feeding on smelt: troll or cast streamers and smelt imitations.

When to come: the Winooski 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
Steelhead
Landlocked salmon
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 Winooski 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. Steelhead led the card at excellent. High of 54 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 58 F, wind to 7 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Steelhead led the card at good. High of 60 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. Lake Champlain rules up to the first railroad bridge; closed from the Winooski One dam to the first railroad bridge March 16-May 31; trophy trout section from Bolton Dam to the Route 2 bridge in Waterbury; protected slot from Preston Brook to Ridley Brook (Vermont 2026 fishing guide).

Access

Lower river below the Winooski One dam in Winooski and Burlington; upper river in Bolton, Duxbury and Waterbury. Check reach rules before fishing.

About this water

A Lake Champlain tributary in Chittenden and Washington counties, Vermont; its first dam is Winooski One at Winooski Falls.

Fishing Winooski River: the full guide

The lower river and the fish lift

The Winooski One hydroelectric dam at Winooski Falls, about 10 miles above Lake Champlain, is the first barrier on the river. Its fish lift began operating in 1993 to trap landlocked Atlantic salmon and steelhead and truck them upstream; Vermont Fish and Wildlife's 2016-17 report counted 89 salmon moved in fall 2016 and 13 steelhead trapped in spring 2017. Two more dams, Gorge No. 18 and Essex No. 19, stand upstream.

Lower river rules

Vermont's 2026 rules put the Winooski from Lake Champlain to the first railroad bridge, about 9 miles, under Lake Champlain regulations. The reach from the Winooski One dam down to the downstream side of the first railroad bridge in Winooski and Burlington is closed to fishing from March 16 to May 31.

Trout upstream

From the top of Bolton Dam up to the Route 2 bridge on the east side of Waterbury Village, the Winooski is a designated trophy trout stream: trout harvest from the second Saturday in April to October 31, 2 a day, and catch and release with artificial flies and lures all year. From the mouth of Preston Brook upstream about 4.4 miles to the mouth of Ridley Brook, trout from 10 to 16 inches are protected, with 2 a day and only 1 over 16 inches.

Tributary closures and flows

The lower reaches of several Bolton and Duxbury tributaries, including Joiner, Preston and Ridley brooks, close from the second Saturday in April through May 31. The USGS gauge near Essex Junction (04290500) shows current flow.

Common questions

Are there steelhead and salmon?

Yes. Landlocked salmon and steelhead from Lake Champlain reach the Winooski One dam, where a fish lift has moved them upstream since 1993.

Is the lower river closed in spring?

Yes. From the Winooski One dam down to the first railroad bridge it is closed from March 16 to May 31.

Where is the trophy trout water?

Between the top of Bolton Dam and the Route 2 bridge in Waterbury: 2 trout a day in season, catch and release with artificial lures all year.

Is fishing good at Winooski 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 Champlain12 miWaterbury Reservoir19 miAusable River27 miMissisquoi River30 miOtter Creek32 miSaranac Lake54 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 04290500 β€” Winooski River near Essex Junction
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 18:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 44.4800, -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 5, 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 5, 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.