Trout Season

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Created on Tuesday, 12 April 2016 18:29

Written by Taylor Fuller

AROUND THE NEK- The second Saturday in April could be considered a holiday for many people in Vermont. This marks the start of the trout-fishing season.

 This winter's mild temperatures could bring the fish in the rivers, ponds, and lakes out earlier this year, which will make many people who love the sport very excited.

Jud Kratzer, a fisheries biologist attributes the good conditions for trout back to the last summer. "The summer of 2015 was pretty cool and wet that makes it easier for trout to survive in cold water, so we had cooler water last summer, and this winter was kind of mild". Kratzer went on to say that winters in Vermont are normally so harsh that it makes it hard for the trout. The freezing of rivers and streams sometimes can freeze all the way to the bottom stopping the flow completely. This forces the fish to go to habitats that they may not other wise go to. 

Many who have anticipated the season can look forward to a lot of wild trout fishing across Vermont. "Pretty much every small cold stream in the state has at least brook trout in it, and some of them also have other species in them. So there is a lot of opportunities like that around". Kratzer still believes that conditions for people who fish for sport along with people who fish for food will not be favorable until May. Most rivers aren't stalk until May because of the cold high waters. If stalked too early the fish may leave the habitat all together to find warmer water. However the Vermont Fish and Wildlife are in the process of stalking local ponds and lakes, because they are not afraid about the fish leavening.

For those of you that want to test your luck with river fishing before most of the rivers are stalked, Kratzer suggests three local rivers to try out. These rivers maybe better earlier in the season than the others before the fish stalks in May. "The Willoughby and Barton rivers and the back river. These are places that get runs of steelhead and rainbow trout from lake Memphremagog they start coming up in march but they are in the rivers right now".

For a complete list and dates of when rivers, ponds, and lakes are being stalked near you click here.