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Lake Champlain

The rule for this water, with the receipt.

Special regulations for Lake Champlain, as the state words them

Chittenden County · Lake · VT

Has its own special rules
How to read this page:Official text quoted regulationParsed fields from the ruleDerived calculated from rulesContext conditions, not a ruleAdvice our suggestion

The rules for this water, verbatimOfficial text

Straight from VT's official regulations. Rules in force today lead; out-of-season rows are dimmed. Nothing is paraphrased. Not legal advice: verify the posted rules at the water.

Whole water
  • All fish
    See 10 App. Section 122 Section 7.0. Includes setbacks at the same level and tributaries to: Dead Creek to Panton Road bridge in Panton; East Creek to the falls in Orwell (downstream of Mount Independence Road); Lamoille River to the top of the first dam (Peterson Dam) in Milton; LaPlatte River to the falls in Shelburne (under Falls Road bridge); Lewis Creek to falls in North Ferrisburgh (just upstream of Old Hollow Road); Little Otter Creek to falls in Ferrisburgh Center (downstream of Little Chicago Road); Malletts Creek to the first falls upstream of Roosevelt Highway (US 2 and US 7) in Colchester; Mill River in Georgia to the falls in Georgia (just upstream of Georgia Shore Road bridge); Missisquoi River to the top of Swanton Dam in the Village of Swanton; Mud Creek to the dam in Alburg (just upstream of Route 78 bridge); Otter Creek to the top of the dam in the city of Vergennes; Poultney River to Central Vermont Power Dam at Carver Falls in West Haven including Coggman Pond, West Haven; Rock River to the first Canadian border crossing; Winooski River to the Winooski One hydropower dam west of Main Street (US 7) in Winooski and Burlington.
  • northern pike and pickerel
    Gear bow or crossbow
    During that period on Lake Champlain a person is required to hold a hunting or combination license to take northern pike and pickerel by bow or crossbow (10 V.S.A. § 4252).
  • All fish
    Poles no more than fifteen lines
  • All fish
    Gear A person may take fish only by using not more than two lines of which he or she has immediate control over all lines. Each line may not have more than two baited hooks or three artificial flies or two lures with or without bait.Poles not more than two lines
  • Bowfin, Mullet (Redhorse), GarAll year
    Daily limit No more than 5 of any one speciesSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing, Spear gun, Bow and crossbow all with line attached
  • Brook Trout and Brown Trout and Rainbow TroutAll year
    Daily limit Total of brook + brown + rainbows = no more than 3Size 12”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • BullheadAll year
    Daily limit No limitSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Carp, Suckers (Longnose and White), Cull FishAll year
    Daily limit No limitSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing, Spear gun, Bow and crossbow all with line attached
  • Chain PickerelAll year
    Daily limit 10Size NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • CrappieAll year
    Daily limit 25Size 8”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Lake SturgeonNo open season (dates as written)
    Daily limit 0Size NAGear No fishing
  • Lake TroutAll year
    Daily limit 3Size 15”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Landlocked Atlantic SalmonAll year
    Daily limit 2Size 15”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass2nd Sat. in June to Nov. 30
    Daily limit Total of largemouth + smallmouth = no more than 5Size 12”Gear Open-water fishing
  • MuskellungeAll year
    Daily limit 0Size NAGear Catch and release with artificial lures and flies only
  • Northern PikeAll year
    Daily limit 5Size 20”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Rainbow SmeltAll year
    Daily limit No limitSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • SaugerNo open season (dates as written)
    Daily limit 0Size NAGear None
  • Walleye1st Sat. in May to March 15
    Daily limit 3Size 18”Gear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • Yellow PerchAll year
    Daily limit No limitSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • All Other SpeciesAll year
    Daily limit No limitSize NoneGear Open-water and Ice fishing
  • All fish
    Gear targeted catch and release angling can occur outside of harvest season, using artificial lures and flies except on those waters/areas that are closed to fishing
    Catch and Release provision
Out of season today
  • Bowfin, Mullet (Redhorse), GarMarch 25 to May 25 (out of season today)
    Gear Shooting, hand-held spearing
  • BullheadMarch 25 to May 25 (out of season today)
    Gear Shooting, hand-held spearing
  • Carp, Suckers (Longnose and White), Cull FishMarch 25 to May 25 (out of season today)
    Gear Shooting, hand-held spearing
  • Chain PickerelMarch 25 to May 25 (out of season today)
    Gear Shooting, hand-held spearing
  • Northern PikeMarch 25 to May 25 (out of season today)
    Gear Shooting, hand-held spearing
  • All fishOctober 1 to November 30 (out of season today)
    Gear closed to all fishing
    A 2,000 ft2 area directly in front of Hatchery Brook; 20ft width centered on Hatchery Brook outlet, extending 100ft from the water's edge into Lake Champlain, forming a designated corridor for fish to return to Hatchery Brook.

Statewide base layerParsed

These defaults apply where the rules above do not modify them.

Season
Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
Gear
Each line may not have more than two baited hooks or three artificial flies or two lures with or without bait.Statewide
Bait
Not captured yet - consult the statewide regulations
Poles
A person may take fish only by using not more than two lines of which he or she has immediate control.Statewide

Where the verbatim rules above name a species, season, or limit, they replace the rows below. Each row is tagged with the layer it comes from.

SpeciesDaily limitSize
American Shad
0min. NAStatewide
Anadromous Atlantic Salmon
0min. NAStatewide
Lake Sturgeon
0min. NAStatewide
trout
2 trout-Statewide

How this answer was assembled

  1. StatewideStatewide lake rules are the base layer: default season, gear, bait, and limits.
  2. This waterSpecial rules written for this exact water replace the statewide defaults where they speak.
  3. Emergency orderEmergency orders in effect today override everything else. They sync quietly when the phone has coverage and never lock you out of the app.

Where this rule applies

This water is not yet drawn on the map. Its rules are captured and receipted; the geometry ledger records exactly why it is not drawn (an ambiguous name match or a gap in the source data), and it will never ship as a guess. Each rule above describes in the state's own words where it applies, and those written descriptions are the authoritative boundaries.

Season at a glanceDerived

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
opensome stretchesclosedunknown

Sampled mid-month from the dated rows; short windows can slip between samples. The rows above are authoritative.

What are you fishing for here?Advice

Pick from the species named in Lake Champlain's rules. Setups are checked against the gear rules in force today, and your picks are remembered on this device only. These are rule-aware suggestions, not a claim about what is biting; advice, not law, and the rules above govern.

Receipts

Statewide rules
Statewide
VT official fishing regulations
Checked against this official source on July 12, 2026.
Special rules - Lake Champlain
This water
VT official fishing regulations
Checked against this official source on July 12, 2026.

Local services near Lake Champlain

Tackle shops, guides, and boat launches that serve this water will appear here - a separate lane below the rules, so a local business can reach you without ever getting between you and the regulation.

Run a shop or guide service on Lake Champlain? Get listed.