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| Brandon Bushey Smallmouth Bass.jpg: Brandon Bushey of Winooski with a trophy Vermont smallmouth bass he caught and released earlier this spring. Saturday, June 10 marks the opening of Vermont’s traditional bass fishing season, which runs through the last day of November. |
Vermont bass season opens June 10
RUTLAND, Vt. – One of Vermont’s most popular fishing seasons arrives this weekend with the opening of the state’s traditional bass season on Saturday, June 10, also Free Fishing Day in Vermont.
One of the Outdoor Scene's favorite destinations is Lake Dunmore, a great two story bass lake with some great northern pike and landlocked salmon also.
“Vermont is well-known for its quality fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass, and the species have become increasingly popular among anglers in recent years,” said Bernie Pientka, fisheries biologist with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. “Not only are bass fun to pursue and catch, they’re also abundant in a wide range of waters across the state from small ponds and reservoirs to larger lakes and rivers, creating tremendous opportunities for anglers of all ages.”
Vermont’s traditional bass season opens each year on the second Saturday in June and extends through the last day of November. However, outside of those dates, anglers can fish for bass on open water on a catch-and-release basis with artificial lures and flies only on waters that are not seasonally closed.
Despite a cool, rainy spring, prospects are still strong for opening day and the early weeks of the season.
“All reports indicate that the catch-and-release bass fishing earlier in the spring was excellent, and we’ll see fish begin to feed heavily again as the spawning period wraps up, meaning the bass fishing action across Vermont will only get better in the coming days and weeks,” said Pientka.
Vermont’s bass fishing has received national notoriety in a variety of fishing publications in recent years, with Lake Champlain earning a number of impressive accolades.
In 2014, World Fishing Network named Lake Champlain one of the seven best smallmouth bass lakes in North America. The renowned fishing media outlet went on to characterize Lake Champlain as “perhaps the best lake in all of North America for both quality largemouth and smallmouth bass.”
Additionally, this past April, USA Today listed the lake as one of “Americas best bass fishing lakes” stating Lake Champlain is “generally regarded as one of the most diverse and prolific bass fisheries in North America.”
However, Pientka advises anglers not to overlook some of the smaller, lesser-known waters as well.
“There are countless smaller lakes, ponds and reservoirs throughout the state that hold numbers of quality bass, many which have seen very little or no fishing pressure at all,” said Pientka. “Many of these hidden gems can be accessed on foot or by canoe or kayak, and can offer a truly memorable day of Vermont bass fishing.”
Anglers heading out on the water to fish for bass this season should be sure to reference all fishing regulations, including harvest and size limits, applicable to the waters they are fishing. Vermont’s fishing regulations, as well as information on where bass are found in Vermont, can be found in the 2017 Vermont Fish & Wildlife law digest available at district offices and authorized license dealers, or by referencing the new Online Fishing Regulations Tool at www.vtfishandwildlife.com.
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