By Sanchali Singh
(MONTPELIER, Vt.) The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department announced on Wednesday that the state’s bass fishing season will start Saturday, June 12.
Vermont’s bass season starts each year on the second Saturday in June and extends through the last day of November. Outside of that time period, anglers can fish for bass in open water on a catch-and-release basis, using artificial lures and flies only on waters that are not seasonally closed.
“Anglers in Vermont are fortunate to have world-class bass fishing for both species right in their backyard,” said Bernie Pientka, fisheries biologist with the department. “From big-water angling on lakes like Champlain, Bomoseen and Memphremagog and the Connecticut River, to hundreds of smaller, untapped ponds and reservoirs, Vermont is loaded with great bass fishing for anglers of all ages.”
According to the wildlife department, Vermont’s bass fishing has previously gotten national attention in numerous fishing publications, namely Lake Champlain, which has become a touring favorite for bass professionals.
The World Fishing Network recently named the lake “one of the seven best smallmouth bass lakes in North America,” the department said, and also characterized it as “perhaps the best lake in all of North America for both quality largemouth and smallmouth bass.”
“There’s no question that Lake Champlain hosts a very special bass fishery, probably one of the best in the world,” said Pientka. “However, there are lots of other water bodies that might not get the attention, but can be just as good, simply because those bass populations don’t get much fishing pressure.”
Pientka said that younger bass, which are also more abundant in the state, are normally better to eat than bigger, older fish.
The department said anyone heading out to bass fish should first check Vermont’s fishing regulations, which include harvest and length limits applicable to the waters they are fishing. Fishing licenses are also required and available online.
On the same opening day for the bass fishing season, the state is holding its annual statewide Summer Free Fishing Day, when fishing licenses are not required.
“Vermont’s Free Fishing Day gives anglers the opportunity to go fishing without a license for the day in Vermont lakes and streams,” said Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter. “Fishing is an activity that can be shared with family or easily taught to newcomers while enjoying quality time together.”