If you want to contribute to future reports, get in touch with me at shawn.good@vermont.gov. And if these reports have helped you, send me a trip report and tell me how.
—Shawn Good, Fisheries Biologist
Longnose Gar - Lepisosteus osseus
Since the bowfin feature was a hit last time, this week I thought I’d profile another NATIVE Vermont fish species – one that is often misunderstood, under-appreciated, and insanely cool.
Gar are often unfairly blamed for eating other more “desirable” sport fish species, but this isn’t true. Despite their menacing looking long snout and razor-sharp teeth, gar can’t actually open their mouths very wide, so they feed almost exclusively on small minnows and abundant juvenile panfish.
Targeting Gar - Drew Price is a Vermont fishing guide specializing in non-traditional sport fish including gar, and says as the water’s warmed up, gar fishing has been getting good. He’s had the best luck using rope flies. These are lures with a section of unbraided nylon rope attached and can be cast on a fly rod or spinning gear.
Once landed, Drew recommends wearing gloves to handle the fish and avoid being cut by teeth, scales and spines. To remove the fly from their mouth, Drew keeps the fish in the water and uses forceps or a dowel to open their mouths and carefully remove the fibers from their teeth.
Gar are impressive fish and I hope people give them the respect and appreciation they deserve as a native, worthy sport fishing adversary.
Lake Champlain
Warm Water Species - Department wildlife biologist John Austin got out bass fishing last weekend around Dillenback Bay in North Hero and had a 5-60 fish day. John says the largemouth were concentrated on any emerging weedbeds close to shore but noted that vegetation growth is still behind due to high water. His best luck was with topwater baits like weedless frogs or Rebel Pop R’s. John followed up missed strikes by lobbing 5 or 6-inch soft plastics back to the swirl, which would usually connect.
John Rielly of Barre had a great day fishing a bass tournament on southern Champlain by Larabee’s Point. He came second in the Reynolds Boats Northern Bass Open, with a 5.02-lb lunker. John’s best pattern was flipping heavy jigs and a trailer into the thickest weeds he could find, especially if there was clear water under or behind the weedbeds. As a fun bonus, John says he caught a bunch of freshwater drum working a Ned-rig slowly across areas with firm rocky bottoms.
A report from an angler fishing St. Albans and Missisquoi bays says the water temps are in the upper 70s, and weed growth there is delayed as well. Schools of minnow fry and other baitfish are visible around the emerging weeds, and in those areas, he’s found largemouth and smallmouth bass to be in full-on feeding mode—smashing spinnerbaits and crankbaits hard and furiously. Topwater in the evening has also been pretty good. The report noted that most bass are relating to slightly deeper water further from shore in the 8-10 ft range, and always near some emerging vegetation on the bottom. As a bonus, he caught a dozen northern pike and chain pickerel in those same areas.
If bass fishing isn’t your thing, Dan Bushey of Vergennes says the catfish fishing is still going strong on the lake. Dan went out with his friend Jamie Buzzel and his three sons and caught a slew of catfish around weed beds growing in 6-10 feet of water. Use chunks of panfish or even grocery store shrimp and leave them on the bottom on the edge of the weeds. The catfish will sniff out your bait from a long way away.
Roy Gangloff of West Dummerston spend another early morning on Champlain and says the only thing better than the fishing at dawn was the sunrise that followed. Before the sun breaks the horizon, Roy says schools of alewife have been driving bass into a feeding frenzy. But as soon as the sun breaks, it’s game over. If you’re out before dawn, look for alewife activity in the back of coves and the mouth of rivers. Roy says the topwater bite has been the best he’s seen in years, the result of bass busting alewife on the surface. He recommends large topwater baits like a Zara Spook worked in a fast, erratic manner to provoke fierce strikes.
And in true Lake Champlain fashion, you never know what you’ll catch as a surprise. He’s been pulling in lots of big chain pickerel up to 23” in these same areas, but usually after the sun is fully up. Small white swim jigs with a natural colored paddletail trailer have been working the best.
Champlain Tributaries
Several large rivers flow into Champlain on the Vermont side that offer a different style of fishing if you have a rowboat or kayak. While drifting down the upper reaches of Otter Creek, or the Winooski, Lamoille, Poultney, or Missisquoi rivers you’ll often be in complete solitude, enjoy views you’ll never see from the road, and have access to fish that rarely get pressured.
Roy Gangloff kayaked Otter Creek between Weybridge and Huntington Falls in search of Master Angler-sized fallfish and smallmouth bass. Though the fishing wasn’t as great as he hoped, he still enjoyed the trip because of the bird watching opportunities. Roy and his wife saw ospreys nesting, feeding their young and defending their territory by driving off bald eagles. Herons and kingfishers were also abundant. As for the fishing, Roy caught fallfish and smallmouth bass at the base of the Huntington Falls on small spinners – just no big ones.
Mike Elwood spend a few hours recently fishing below the Peterson Dam on the Lamoille River in Milton. He caught a bunch of smallmouth bass, some fallfish, and lots of pumpkinseed sunfish using a worm and a bobber on one pole and a #2 Blue Fox spinner on the other.
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River offers miles of fishable water and a diversity of fish species, and although it’s technically New Hampshire water, Vermont has license reciprocity so Vermont anglers can fish it with a Vermont license.
Brian Ames fished the river and reported the southern section from Rockingham to Brattleboro to be very good this year. He’s catching lots of smallmouth bass on stickbaits like Rapalas as well as the tried-and-true nightcrawler.
He has also been catching walleye fishing from his boat and kayak, as well as from shore using jigs tipped with half a nightcrawler under a slip bobber. And he caught some 12” black crappie and other panfish using the same setup. Brain also reported this section of the river has a growing population channel catfish and anglers are getting them up to 15-lbs.
Inland Waters
Pascal launched his kayak out of Oak Ledge Park at the Burlington waterfront and fished the rocky areas near shore, catching rock bass, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass using a swim jig. Proof you don’t need a big boat to fish Champlain.
Nate Olson, a department hatchery technician at the Roxbury Hatchery, says the bass are active around the thicker emergent weeds on inland lakes and ponds. He has been having his best luck at dawn and dusk on topwater frogs like a Booyah Pad Crasher. Pike and pickerel are hitting them too!
When the topwater action slows down, he’s been catching fish flipping jigs and Texas-rigged creature baits on a ½-oz tungsten weight along weed edges. Texas-rigged Senkos or big 10" worms have been effective too.
According to Nate, the deeper water bass fishing has been picking up as temperatures get hot. He’s been having luck targeting isolated rock humps, steep drop offs and points using dropshots and Ned-rigs in 15-40 feet of water.
Streams & Rivers
Steve Cumming of Lunenburg MA had good luck fishing Waits River from East Corinth to Bradford. Although it was a hot sunny day, he still managed to catch and release 15 rainbows and two brook trout and lost another 6 fish. He caught them all using a small roostertail spinner.
Chris Powers, department fisheries technician in Roxbury, fished the Stevens Branch in Barre and cautions trout anglers to take care when water temperatures start getting hot. Chris always carries a thermometer with him and when water temps are above 70°F he’ll look for colder water elsewhere, typically in smaller mountain streams at higher elevations.
Last week Stevens Branch was 67°F so he gave it a shot and hooked five trout and landed three—one brown and two rainbows, including a 13 incher. He was drifting nymph flies through deeper faster runs.
Let’s Go Fishing Program coordinator Corey Hart is still having good luck in streams in Rutland County, and recently hit a medium-sized river in late afternoon this past weekend, catching both brook and brown trout. He said he was simply drifting a worm with a small BB-sized split shot while quietly wading the river and casting upstream along the banks. He says he didn’t catch any monsters, but the fishing was fun and consistent.
What better way to beat the summer heat than to go wet wading—walking in just water shoes or sneakers—and do a little fishing!
Fishing Report Success
Here is an email received from Chris Donahue of Rutland about the fishing reports
“Mr. Good – I’m a recent subscriber to the fishing reports and am so glad I got on the list! I really enjoy the relevant content from the local touch they provide. Following tips from Capt. Trombley in the July 4 report, I went to Kent Pond and caught and released a 2 lb. 13 oz. largemouth, and today after work I fished Woodward Reservoir and my 4th fish of the day ended up being this incredible 4 lb 4 oz smallmouth. I still feel amped from the catch! I used a 3” Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait in Bluegill color on a 3/0 weighted Gamakatsu EWG hook. I released this fish as well. Thanks for the great info!"
See also:
- Stocking Report - check to see what waters have been stocked. Search by waterbody or species. Leave all fields blank for a complete listing.
- 2019 Vermont Fishing Guide & Regulations | Online Fishing Regulations Tool
- Master Angler Entries - A quick check of what's biting now
- River Conditions by The Fly Rod Shop
- Fish Vermont Facebook