Fun Fishing Events Being Held This Spring

By -

Fishing is a great way to enjoy the outdoors with friends and family.  Many anglers remember their first fishing experience with a parent or mentor who taught them the basics and gave them the opportunity to catch fish.  That opportunity is now being replicated across Vermont through several programs that are specifically designed to teach beginners how to fish. 

One of the most popular programs is “Let’s Go Fishing” (LGF), administered by Vermont Fish & Wildlife.  It is a network of certified volunteer instructors who encourage and teach Vermonters of all ages and abilities how to fish.  Instructors teach fishing skills and techniques, the importance of good aquatic habitat, fishing ethics, and fishing regulations.  Clinics are always free and open to all ages.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife also has a “Children’s Fishing Program” which provides kids the opportunity for a fun and successful fishing experience at locally organized events.  Organizers of these events often include charitable, community or non-profit groups such as fire departments, fish and game clubs, Rotary and Lions clubs, town recreation committees, 4-H clubs, and scouts groups, among others.  The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department provides eight-to-ten-inch stocked trout for the program. 

A complete list of the Children’s Fishing events, which is updated periodically, is available at http://vtfishandwildlife.com/fishing-clinics.html.

If you’d like to find out more about fishing opportunities in Vermont, or want to purchase a fishing license, visit www.vtfishandwildlife.com.

If you would like to find LGF clinics in your area or have questions about LGF, you can email letsgofishing@vermont.gov or call Corey Hart at 802-505-5562.

Popular posts from this blog

Vermont Angler Completes First-ever ‘Master Angler Sweep’

By -
Image
COLCHESTER, Vt. – Drew Price of Colchester, VT, has completed the state’s first-ever ‘Master Angler Sweep’ by catching at least one trophy-sized specimen of all 33 eligible fish species that are part of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s Master Angler Program. Price spent eight years in his quest to be the first to catch and enter all 33 species in the Vermont program.  “This is a remarkable achievement,” said fisheries biologist Shawn Good, who founded the Master Angler Program with fisheries biologist Jud Kratzer and currently administers it.  “He called me from the lake moments after landing his final species – a 30-inch pike-pickerel hybrid.  He was kind of deliriously happy and I don't blame him.” Price, who started fly fishing in 1993, said “Once I found fishing, I was like ‘this is it, this is my calling.’” In 2010, he began entering fish in the department’s new Master Angler Program, spending the time he wasn’t working as a full-time school teacher or
Read more

Public Hearings Set for Deer, Moose

By -
Image
Hunters, landowners and anyone else interested in deer and moose should plan on attending one of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife public hearings being held in March and May. The hearings will include results of Vermont’s 2017 deer and moose seasons and prospects for hunting next fall as well as an opportunity for people to provide their observations and opinions regarding deer and moose.  The hearings will also include a review of the proposed 2018 moose hunting season and an opportunity for the public to comment.  On February 21, the Fish & Wildlife Board preliminarily approved issuing moose permits for the 2018 season.  The Fish & Wildlife Department’s big game team recommended that only 14 permits for bull moose be issued for the October hunting seasons.  The permits would be for WMUs E1 and E2 in the Northeast Kingdom, where moose numbers are close to biologists’ density goals.   The number of moose hunting permits was reduced from 80 in 2017 and 141 in 2016 to allo
Read more

Release of Aquarium Fish or Plants is an Environmental Threat

By -
Image
ESSEX, Vt. – Keeping an aquarium with tropical fish and plants can be fun and educational.  But, releasing these fish or plants outdoors can be harmful to native species and is prohibited by Vermont law according to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department.  Many of the common tropical fishes and aquatic plants kept in home aquariums originate from Central and South America, Africa and southeast Asia.  While some are imported, others are raised here, most notably in Florida.  Unfortunately, some exotic fishes are released into the wild each year by their owners.  People may not be able to take their fish with them when they move, or they may simply lose interest in maintaining an aquarium.  Some tropical fish also can grow too large for their aquarium.  There are several good reasons not to release aquarium fishes and plants into the wild.  If they survive, and reproduce, they are difficult, if not impossible to control or eradicate.  They can cause changes in the native
Read more