Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - may2008 - Index

48
The Winooski is Vermont’s largest river in terms of
drainage area, and runs generally east to west from its headwaters
in Cabot (home of Cabot’s cheese) to its terminus at Lake Champlain
just north of Burlington (the “big” city). The Winooski and
its tributaries offer mile after mile of water to explore, with decent
populations of wild rainbows and browns, supplemented by about
8,000 fish stocked annually in certain stretches of the main stem.
For perspective, the Winooski is much longer and larger than the
Beaverkill or the West Branch of the Ausable, yet those rivers receive
in excess of 18,000 stockers each year due to angling demands on
the fishery and the lack sufficient wild trout.
The headwaters of the Winooski offer a number of tributaries that
hold good populations of native brook trout and a few wild browns.
It is not uncommon to find wild brookies around the 10-inch mark,
which are nice fish for stream fishing in New England. Heading
downstream to the village of Marshfield, the Winooski picks up some
water and has some great habitat, although this stretch currently holds
only stocked rainbows due to an unfortunate ammonia spill from the
Cabot cheese factory a few years ago. The river is now healthy again,
but the wild rainbow and brown trout populations that used to inhabit
the Marshfield stretch have not come back because of a lack of
recruitment from surviving fish. A few native brookies have dropped
down into the Winooski from its unaffected tributaries, but for the
time being this small stretch is a put-and-take rainbow fishery. The
upside, however, is that these stocked rainbows don’t get fished that
heavily, and there are always plenty of fish around in the fall, many
of which have grown to upwards of 15 inches by September.
From the village of Marshfield downstream to Plainfield, the Win-
ooski offers many slow, meandering stretches with occasional deep
sections that hold a few fish, but most of the trout will be found near
faster water running into deep pools. During the summer months this
stretch can get quite warm—low to mid 70s in the afternoon—too
warm to catch and release fish properly. I don’t guide on water over
70 degrees, so I like this area in the spring—say May through early
June most years, and then again in September and October. The area
downstream of Twinfield High School has some wild rainbows and
browns and is also stocked generously with rainbows. The wild fish
run six to fourteen inches.
Downstream from Plainfield the river gets a bit bigger and has
larger pools that will produce wild rainbows and browns in the 14-
to 20-inch class. Like all bigger wild trout in the Winooski, these
fish are smart and spooky—you don’t get that big with a 6-fish daily
limit and no special regulations by being stupid! About three miles
below Plainfield the Kingsbury Branch enters the Winooski. It’s a
mediocre fishery overall, although there are some nice native brook
trout in its upper reaches.
Along its course to the state capitol of Montpelier, the Winooski has
both fishy-looking spots and not-so-fishy looking spots. Wherever the
habitat is suitable (i.e., fast water, boulders, pockets, bigger pools) there
will be wild rainbows or browns, as well as some stocked fish. From
Warshaws Dam in East Montpelier upstream through the headwaters,
only rainbow trout and a few brookies are stocked in the Winooski.
Below Warshaws Dam downstream to the Middlesex Dam, only brown
trout are stocked. There are substantial numbers of wild rainbows in
the Winooski through the city of Montpelier and in its tributary, the
Dog River, and only browns are stocked in this section to prevent the