Vermont’s peaceful rivers, lakes, ponds and reservoirs offer seasonal swimming and paddling, but are also popular spots for fishing. Whether you’re a seasoned angler, or looking to learn a new hobby, the Stowe area offers some of the best fishing in Vermont. If you’re looking for a guide to the best local spots, Stowe is home to a number of experienced fishing instructors.

Though the many varieties of fish can be caught year-round, there are many who can only be caught seasonally.

Fishing Spring through Fall

Trout fishing season opens in the Green Mountain State in mid-April. If you’re looking for local experts, Stowe’s guides come highly recommended. A tackle shop is a great place to learn about local hatches, fly patterns and the state’s latest trout-stocking efforts.

The diversity of Vermont’s waterways allows local guides to offer wade, bank, canoe and motorboat fishing. Choose a four or eight hour trip with Catamount Fishing Adventures, a fishing guide service, which offers fly-fishing, spin-fishing and ice-fishing.

Free Casting clinics are also offered May – September at The Fly Rod Shop, a local guide services which has been operational since 1986. Learn the techniques from their experienced staff and you’ll be able to make the perfect cast. Fly-fishing lessons are also available, or you can learn to fish with your whole family with a 3.5 hour program that teaches adults and children the basics.

Foliage Boat Tour
Take in Vermont’s most vibrant season with a Fall Foliage Boat Tour with The Fly Rod Shop. A local guide will motor you along the beautiful, serene Waterbury Reservoir, which is settled between two mountain ranges and offers about 5 miles of extraordinary fall foliage views. This charter will also offer many wildlife sighting opportunities with many Whitetail deer inhabiting the surrounding Mount Mansfield State Forest.

Local tip:
Take a short, scenic hike to Sterling Pond anytime in June. Vermont Fish & Wildlife stocks the pond (which straddles the Smugglers’ Notch Ski Area and Spruce Peak) with brook trout every year.

Ice-Fishing

Under the frozen sheet of ice atop a lake or pond, Northern pike, landlocked salmon and trout are still swimming strong. Stowe’s local outfitters know the best spots and offer guide services during Vermont’s ice-fishing season.