Anglers casting a line – whether to put food on the table or just to feel the play of the line – will find what they’re looking for on one of Vermont’s many rivers and streams. This is a place where men and women, young and old, those with bait and those with flies, cast side-by-side.
It’s Vermont’s rivers that make these experiences possible. From north to south, the state is choc of full pools and riffles that make for great fishing. But just because anglers’ have access to a favorite fishing hole now, doesn’t mean they’ll have access forever. That’s why we’ve worked for decades to protect public access to rivers, helping to make sure anglers will always have the chance to get to Vermont’s best fishing holes.
In Vermont, climate change = more floods and warmer water. Both are a death knell for anglers’ favorite fish. Spring floods can wash out spawning areas, decimating eggs and fry. Favorite species like eastern native brook trout thrive at temperatures up to 65-degrees and will die when temperatures get into the 70s, a threshold that’s more and more common.
One of the best things we can do for fish is to change how we treat the land. When we plant trees along rivers and protect headwater forests, fish have safe, shady, cool places to thrive. When we convert unused farmland back to wetland, water can slow its course, keeping fish eggs safer from floods.
Discover Vermont’s best fishing holes, then invest in the future of the places you love with a gift today.
