Vermont fishing rules

Legal gear

• Hooks and barbless rules

  The Fish Management Rule does not set a statewide barbless-hook rule. In open water, each line may have no more than two baited hooks, or three artificial flies, or two lures with or without bait. A baited hook is a single-shank hook with one, two, or three points. A fly is a single-pointed hook dressed as a fly, with no extra hooks, spinners, or spoons added. The same per-line hook limits apply while ice fishing.

• Rods per angler

  Open-water fishing is limited to two lines under the angler's immediate control. Ice fishing allows up to eight lines, except on Lake Champlain, where up to 15 lines may be used. Ice-fishing lines must stay under immediate control and within sight, and a line that shows a fish must be tended within 30 minutes. Open-water fishing means hook and line in hand or on a rod. Casting or trolling is open-water fishing, not ice fishing.

• Nets

  The 2026 regulation update allows minnow traps up to 24 inches long with an opening up to 2.5 inches in diameter. In seasonally closed waters, after the trout harvest season ends, baitfish may be harvested with minnow traps only. The rule text checked does not set a mesh size for a landing net. A gaff may be used to land a fish that was legally hooked, and that use is not snagging.

• Snagging

  Snagging is prohibited in all Vermont waters, in open water and through the ice. Snagging means intentionally hooking a fish somewhere other than inside the mouth, including pulling or jerking hooks to hook a fish rather than letting it take the hook. A fish taken by angling that is not hooked in the mouth must be released immediately, and a fish hooked outside the mouth is prima facie evidence of foul hooking.

• Spearing and bow

  On general waters, except seasonally closed waters and the waters listed as exceptions, a speargun, bow, or crossbow may be used if a line is attached to the arrow. The rule lists no closed season for that method and no more than 5 fish of any one species. On Lake Champlain, not including tributaries, shooting and a handheld spear are also listed, with a March 25 through May 25 window cited to Title 10. A speargun is a pneumatic or rubber-band device used from below the surface, with a line no longer than 20 feet. A handheld spear is used from above the surface.

• Bait and live transport

  Wild baitfish use is controlled by a Wild Baitfish Endorsement. The current endorsement period is January 1, 2026, through December 31, 2028. Personally harvested wild baitfish may be used on more than one water, alive or dead, only inside the baitfish zone where they were caught, only if they did not come from a restricted water and were never used on one, and only with the endorsement. Without an endorsement, personally harvested bait may still be used and transported if the angler is with someone who holds the endorsement. Baitfish taken from a non-restricted water may be used and stored in a restricted water, but they may not be carried away from that restricted water afterward. Eggs from a legally caught fish may be used as bait on the same water, including connected water up to the first dam, falls, or barrier. Live fish may not be transported in a way that keeps them alive when leaving state waters, except approved baitfish under the baitfish rule or a permit.

Bag and size limits

These are the statewide or default limits. A named lake, river, or marine area can replace every figure below.

• Trout in lakes, ponds, and streams

  The species table in the Fish Management Rule lists brook, brown, and rainbow trout in lakes and ponds at 6 trout a day, no size restriction, during open-water and ice fishing from the second Saturday in April through October 31. Rivers and streams are listed at 8 trout a day, no size restriction, for open-water fishing over that same season. A January 1 through March 15 line appears under lakes and ponds. The bag for that winter window is not stated here because it is not readable on the rule text that was checked. Trophy trout streams named in the rule are 2 trout in aggregate.

• Lake Champlain trout and lake trout

  On Lake Champlain the trout row is no closed season, a 12-inch minimum, and 3 trout a day. The daily aggregate list sets lake trout at 2 fish, or 3 if taken from Lake Champlain. A 2026 update limits Lake Memphremagog lake trout to 1 a day with a 24-inch minimum. Salmon on the aggregate list are 2 fish. Those Lake Champlain and Memphremagog numbers are separate from the inland lake and stream trout rows.

• Bass, pike, and walleye

  The daily aggregate list sets largemouth and smallmouth bass at a maximum combination of 5, northern pike at 5, chain pickerel at 10, and walleye at 3. Muskellunge, American shad, sauger, and sturgeon are 0. Possession limits equal twice the daily bag. The rule says no one may take more than the daily statewide aggregate for a listed species.

• Panfish

  Panfish means bluegill, bullhead, black crappie, white crappie, pumpkinseed, rock bass, and yellow perch. On inland waters the daily total is 50 panfish, and no more than 25 may be crappie, counting black and white crappie together. On Lake Champlain the other panfish in that group have no daily limit, and the department's 2026 notice says the crappie limit there remains 25. Black and white crappie may not be bought or sold. Berlin Pond and Stiles Pond have a yellow perch daily bag of 10.

Sources

• VFWD fishing regulations hub
• VFWD updated fishing regulations, effective January 1, 2026
• Vermont Fish Management Rule, 10 V.S.A. Appendix § 122
• 2026 VFWD sporting license application and fees
• Vermont statute on licenses and free fishing days
• VFWD free ice fishing day, January 31, 2026
• Vermont Days and free fishing day, June 13, 2026