Wilgus State Park on the Connecticut River is located at 3985 US-5, Ascutney, VT
River Area:
11,260 square miles (from the Quebec border to the coast of Connecticut)
River Max. Depth:
Shallow at the park (130 feet at Gill, MA)
Fish Species
Primarily bullhead, chain pickerel, largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike, walleye, yellow perch and various species of panfish.
Habitat
The Connecticut River around Wilgus State Parks primarily consists of shallow water and a bottom composition of sand, gravel and rock. Fish habitat includes: gravel bars, submerged timber, on- and off-shore boulders, bridge pilings, overhanging trees, undercut banks, pools, eddies and riffles. These cover types provide great spots for predatory fish to wait to ambush minnows and other forage that comes down river.
Park Fishing Tips
Fishing in any river – including the Connecticut– often hinges around water levels, flow rates and how current is hitting different types of fish-holding cover. That being said, regardless of whether current is fast or slow, river anglers should try to present their lures or bait in a natural fashion and use the direction of flow to their advantage. Identify potential fish cover in the river such as boulders, rock piles, submerged limbs, overhanging branches, gravel bars and deeper holes. Try casting your lure or bait above the fish cover and bringing it down past with the natural flow of the river, or casting from above the cover and bringing your lure or bait back up against or across the natural flow of the river.
Fish will lay in the eddies behind structure, along current breaks, in slack water holes or out in fast-moving riffles at different times and may react differently to varied presentation angles. Try different approaches and see what produces! Also try a mixture of lures or live bait at different depths in the water column – from bottom to top. Some good choices for the Connecticut River include a nightcrawler and bobber rig, inline spinners, small soft plastic tube baits or spider jigs that imitate crayfish, lipped crankbaits, paddle tail swimbaits and stickbaits, among others.
Nearby Fishing License Dealers
You can purchase a license at the park office or online.
Nearby Public Boating Access Areas
Wilgus State Park has an access area for car top, small vessel boating on site. You can also find a Vermont Fish & Wildlife boat access area nearby at Hoyt's Landing in Springfield, VT.