This year's Vermont free ice fishing day is Saturday, January 30, 2021. On Vermont free ice fishing days, anyone, resident or nonresident, may go fishing in Vermont without a fishing license.
Due to COVID restrictions this year, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (VFWD) is unable to host its normal in-person Ice Fishing Festival that is normally held on Free Fishing Day. In place of that, VFWD created a Virtual Ice Fishing Festival that will give anglers the opportunity to learn about ice fishing basics.
According to a 2019 VFWD angler survey:
- Yellow perch, northern pike, and lake trout were the three most preferred species when fishing through the ice
- A majority of anglers rated the quality of fishing in Vermont as good or excellent
- Crowding at access areas and overall access to fishing was not seen as a significant problem in Vermont.
source: Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
