action picking up

For Immediate Release: January 5, 2005

ICE FISHING ACTION IS PICKING UP

WATERBURY, VT - Vermont's ice fishing action is starting to pick up as colder weather builds ice on many small lakes and Lake Champlain bays. Be sure to check ice conditions carefully before venturing out.

Where is the action? Lake Champlain along the state's western border at over 100 miles long is ranked highly because of the quality and variety of fish you can catch including landlocked salmon, lake trout, brown trout, northern pike, yellow perch, white perch, walleye, crappie, and smelt.

Traditional northern pike hotspots include Lake Champlain's Kelley Bay, Missisquoi Bay, Dillenbeck Bay, Carry Bay, Keeler Bay, St. Albans Bay, and the main lake south of the Champlain Bridge from Addison to Ticonderoga, New York.

Later, as more ice forms, landlocked salmon, yellow perch and smelt will be caught north of the Sandbar Causeway between Milton and South Hero, while the shallow flats south of the causeway normally produce northern pike.

If cold weather provides good ice on the deep-water portion of the lake, lake trout will be found off the west shore of Grand Isle and also in Converse Bay and Button Bay south to the Champlain Bridge.

Yellow perch are being caught throughout Lake Champlain in any of the bays and in the shallows as well as on many other Vermont waters.

While walleyes can show up anywhere in Lake Champlain, the most consistent winter action can be found in the southern end of the lake off Benson and Orwell.

For more information, contact the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, 103 South Main Street, Waterbury, VT 05671-0501. Telephone 802-241-3700 and email: fwinformation@anr.state.vt.us . Ask for a Digest of Hunting, Fishing & Trapping Laws and a Fishing Guide Map.

To locate places to stay, buy bait and rent ice fishing shanties, go to the Vermont Outdoor Guides Association website www.voga.org and click on "ice fishing."

For a list of Vermont approved bait dealers, go to http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/library/Vendors_and_Sources/Commercial_Bait_Dealers.pdf , or contact Fish & Wildlife for a copy of the list.

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For Further Information please contact: John Hall at 802-241-3700 or email to john.hall@anr.state.vt.us