Fires and Swimming are Prohibited at Fishing Access Areas

10:44AM / Sunday, June 15, 2025Print Story | Email Story

MONTPELIER, Vt. — With the beginning of summer and anglers fishing from shore, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds people that open fires and swimming are prohibited at all Vermont state fishing access areas.

Open fires and their remnants, create unsafe areas for other anglers and boaters to use and enjoy. The remnants of these fires are also unhealthy for the animals and fish that live in the adjacent waters. Fish and Wildlife cleans up the toxic waste left by open fires on state lands annually at considerable expense.

Swimming at fishing access areas is prohibited due to safety concerns and because the primary uses of the fishing access areas is for launching and retrieving motorboats and for shore fishing.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department maintains 205 developed fishing access areas on lakes and rivers throughout the state. These areas have allowed uses determined by law, and swimming is not one of them.

The access areas were purchased and are maintained with funds derived from the sale of fishing licenses and motorboat registrations, as well as a federal excise tax on fishing equipment, fishing tackle and gasoline for motorboats. These funding sources explicitly prohibit activities that are in conflict with fishing and boating.

Fish and Wildlife regulations prohibit certain uses of fishing access areas including, but not limited to -- swimming, littering, camping, picnicking, making a fire, parking of vehicles not related to priority uses, and commercial activity.

"Vermont State Game Wardens will be strictly enforcing the rules at state fishing access areas this summer," said Col. Justin Stedman, Vermont’s Chief Game Warden.

"Please help keep our lands clean and open for others to enjoy, and report violations to your local warden or use the anonymous Operation Game Thief online report form on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife website. Time-sensitive violations should be called in to a local State Police radio dispatcher who can contact a warden."

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Fall Trout Stocking in Select Lakes and Streams In Vermont

Staff Reports02:37PM / Sunday, October 11, 2026

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department continues its new fall trout stocking program this year.

This will mark the third consecutive year that trophy-sized brook trout and rainbow trout averaging 13-14 inches will be stocked into four ponds and one stream in southern Vermont in the fall.

"We're stocking more than 2,000 one-and-a-half-year-old trout between Knapp Ponds #1 and #2 in Cavendish, Lakes Paran and Shaftsbury in Bennington, and East Creek in Rutland," said Lael Will, a fisheries biologist with the department. "This is a great opportunity for anglers to spend time fishing for some really nice stocked trout surrounded by Vermont's amazing fall foliage. And, they can continue right through the winter, catching trout in waters where late season trout fishing was not an option before."

Fish from Bennington, Roxbury and Salisbury fish culture stations will be stocked starting in mid-October to allow for some harvest before the season switches to catch and release only in November.

"Last year anglers shared with us that they loved the fall and winter opportunity created by this late season stocking," said Will. "We're excited to continue these stockings and hopefully hear from more people taking advantage of these new trout fishing opportunities."

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