Vermont

Lamoille River

Vermont·Northern Vermont·44.63° N, 72.75° W

Solunar · next 7 days

About Lamoille River

The Lamoille is northern Vermont's most underrated wild-brown-trout river, and it fishes bigger than its reputation. It runs about 85 miles from the hill ponds above Hardwick west to Lake Champlain, and the middle third — roughly Morrisville down through Johnson, Jeffersonville, and Cambridge — is the part worth planning a trip around. This is a freestone river with a meadow-river temperament: long gravel riffles feeding into slow, sweeping bends and deep undercut pools, hemmed by grassy banks and cornfields with the Green Mountains stacked up behind. The wild brown population is the draw, and the lower reaches below Cambridge give up genuinely large fish — locals talk about a rogue wild brownie pushing the two-foot class, and streamers move them more consistently here than on most Vermont water. The upper reaches above and around Johnson hold wild rainbows and brook trout too, so the river changes species character as you drop downstream.

The productive heart is the middle-river "Ten Bends" reach around Johnson — long riffles into deep bends with the most reliable trout numbers on the river, and the USGS gauge at Johnson (04292000) is the number to watch. The Lamoille wades well at moderate flows and it also floats — the Johnson-to-Fairfax run is a gentle Class I drift with good trout water the whole way. It fishes best somewhere in the roughly 120-350 CFS window for wading and clears within a day or two after summer thunderstorms brown it out. The real seasonal trap is heat: the Lamoille has slow, sun-exposed meadow stretches that warm into the 70s in a July dry spell, and fishing can be poor downstream of Johnson when that happens — the play in high summer is to fish early, work the cooler tailwater pockets, or move up into the tributaries and headwaters where the wild brookies and rainbows hold.

Prime time is mid-May through late June and again mid-September through mid-October. The signature event is the June Hexagenia hatch — an after-dark, warm-still-evening game that produces explosive dry-fly fishing to the biggest fish in the river — bracketed by the Hendrickson-into-grannom-and-caddis progression through May. Terrestrials carry the summer in the meadow bends: hoppers, ants, and beetles cast tight to the grassy banks. The river is dammed in several places by utilities running run-of-river hydro (Green Mountain Power at Peterson, Clark Falls, and Fairfax; Morrisville Water & Light at Cadys Falls and Morrisville, which backs up little Lake Lamoille) — none of these are storage reservoirs, so treat them as access landmarks and flow-character notes. Minimum-flow standards set during the Morrisville relicensing keep the immediate tailwater reaches wet. Access is genuinely easy for a river this size: the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail parallels much of the middle river, and there are formal state fishing-access areas plus dozens of informal pull-offs on Route 15 and the town roads.

Species

Brown Trout
Primary · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 10-18"
The signature fish and the reason to come — a wild resident population through the whole trout river. The lower reaches below Cambridge hold wild browns to roughly 24"; streamers produce best, especially the biggest pre-spawn fish early and late. Dry-dropper and terrestrial fishing to the meadow banks in summer, plus the after-dark Hex in June.
Rainbow Trout
Common · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 9-16"
Strong through the middle river from Morrisville down through Johnson and Jeffersonville — a mix of wild and stocked fish. Holds in the faster riffle and pocket water; nymph the riffles and swing emergers through the spring hatches.
Brook Trout
Common · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 6-12"
Wild residents in the upper reaches, headwaters, and coldwater tributaries, and protected by the minimum-flow rules below the Morrisville dam. The heat refuge when the lower river warms in summer — dry-dropper rigs and small nymphs on the small-water upper stretches.
Smallmouth Bass
Occasional · Jun-Sep · 10-16"
A warmwater presence in the lower and slower sections below Fairfax and in the impoundments — incidental for trout anglers but decent sport on a fly rod through the summer heat when the trout fishing shuts down.

Species	Abundance	Best Season	Size
Brown Trout	Primary	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	10-18"
Rainbow Trout	Common	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	9-16"
Brook Trout	Common	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	6-12"
Smallmouth Bass	Occasional	Jun-Sep	10-16"

Sections

5 reaches

Cambridge to Fairfax Falls

Wade & FloatSalmon · Brook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout

Bigger water — fast runs and deep pools (the Bowling Alley between Johnson and Fairfax), then the Fairfax Falls dam and the trophy-trout reach. This section holds the largest wild browns on the river and picks up a fall run of landlocked Atlantic salmon out of Lake Champlain. The regulated Trophy Trout section runs from the Route 104 bridge in Fairfax village upstream about 1.6 miles to the top of the Fairfax Falls dam. Below Fairfax the river turns warmwater toward Champlain. Fairfax Falls Access and the Route 104 bridge reach the water.

Best for: Large wild browns on streamers, landlocked salmon in the fall, and brook trout and salmon in the fast Bowling Alley pools. The best shot at a two-foot wild brown, plus the trophy-trout regulated reach.

Johnson to Cambridge Meadows

Wade & FloatBrown Trout

Open meadow and farmland — grassy undercut banks, deep slow bends, and terrestrial fishing cast tight to the banks. The Ithiel Falls and Hogback Road reach has plenty of runs and pools. River Road, Route 100C, Hogback Road, and the Route 15 bridges at Jeffersonville and Cambridge reach the water, and the Class I Johnson-to-Fairfax float starts here. Wild browns on hopper, ant, and beetle patterns in summer, streamers, and evening caddis — but the meadow reaches warm in the summer heat, so fish early.

Best for: Wild browns on terrestrials to the banks, streamers, and evening caddis. The reach anglers most associate with the Lamoille's dry-fly character.

Morrisville to Johnson — The Ten Bends

Wade & FloatBrown Trout · Rainbow Trout

The productive heart of the river — classic meadow-river trout water where long gravel riffles feed into deep sweeping bends. Duhamel Road and Morey Road access the Ten Bends reach, and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail runs alongside with pull-offs the whole way. The USGS gauge at Johnson (04292000) sits at the downstream end. Wild browns and rainbows in the most reliable numbers on the river; June evening caddis and the after-dark Hex along the rail-trail pull-offs.

Best for: Wild browns and rainbows — dry-dropper, nymphing the riffles, and streamers through the bends. The most reliable trout water on the Lamoille.

Wolcott to Cadys Falls

WadeBrook Trout · Brown Trout · Rainbow Trout

The river widens through freestone riffles broken by two run-of-river dams — Cadys Falls and Morrisville — that back up little Lake Lamoille (Morrisville Water & Light; not a storage reservoir). Tailwater pockets below each dam hold fish and are kept wet by minimum-flow standards (70 CFS below the Morrisville dam for brook trout, 80 CFS at Cadys Falls for rainbows); the impoundment itself is warmwater and not worth fishing for trout. Route 15, the Route 15A bridge, the Fisherman's Access, and the rail trail reach the water.

Best for: Rainbows and browns in the minimum-flow-protected tailwater riffles below the dams — nymphing and streamers. Skip the warm impoundment for trout.

Upper Lamoille — Hardwick to Wolcott

WadeBrook Trout · Rainbow Trout

Small-to-medium freestone stream — riffles, pocket water, and small pools holding the coldest, clearest water in the system. Route 15 parallels the river with town-road pull-offs around Hardwick and Wolcott. Wild brook trout and rainbows on dry-dropper rigs and small nymphs, with light dry-fly work; too small and shallow to float. This is the heat refuge when the lower river warms in summer.

Best for: Wild brook trout and rainbows on dry-dropper rigs and small nymphs; light dry-fly work in the small-water headwater character.

At a glance

Ideal wading flow: 100–500 cfs
Blow-out: >2,000 cfs
Ideal water temp: 50–65°F

Best seasons

Watch the Johnson gauge (USGS 04292000). Roughly 100-500 CFS is the comfortable wading window; the middle and lower river float up into the ~400-600 CFS range, and a summer level around 170 CFS fishes well. The river browns and gets pushy after summer thunderstorms and is off-color much above ~2,000 CFS, clearing within a day or two. The bigger risk than low water is temperature: slow, sun-exposed meadow reaches warm into the low 70s in a July heat spell and the fishing can go poor downstream of Johnson, so concentrate on riffle heads, shade, and tributary mouths and fish early morning. Best water temps run 50-65F. Prime seasons: (1) late May-late June, with the Hendrickson/caddis/March Brown progression into the June Hex and water still cool; (2) mid-September-mid-October, with brown-trout aggression, Isonychia, fall BWOs, and the lower-river salmon run; (3) April-mid-May early season on high water. Midsummer is fishable but heat-limited — fish early, or go small and high in the headwaters.

Regulations

Most of the Lamoille that anglers fish — from Hardwick down through Cambridge — is standard Vermont trout water under the general stream-trout regulations. The one special-regulation reach is the lower-river Fairfax Trophy Trout section. A Vermont fishing license is required. Regulations change annually — verify against the current-year Vermont F&W guide before fishing.

General stream trout season opens the second Saturday in April and closes the last Sunday in October; the Hardwick-through-Cambridge water anglers most fish is standard water under the general regulations
General creel limit on standard water: combined 6 trout/day across brook, brown, and rainbow, with length rules per the general table
Fairfax Trophy Trout section: from the downstream edge of the Route 104 bridge in Fairfax village upstream about 1.6 miles to the top of the Fairfax Falls dam — 2-trout daily limit, larger minimum length, and year-round catch-and-release with artificial lures and flies only outside the harvest season
Landlocked Atlantic salmon on the lower river are managed under Lake Champlain tributary rules; confirm the current salmon season and limit in the regulation booklet before targeting the fall run
Vermont resident or non-resident fishing license required

Temperature is the river's defining summer variable — the slow meadow reaches warm into the 70s in July and August, so trout fishing is a spring-and-fall pursuit in those stretches; fish early or move to the cooler headwaters and tributary mouths. The USGS gauge at Johnson does not stream live water temperature, so read the season and the weather, not just the flow. Confirm the trophy-section boundaries and any catch-and-release dates against the current booklet before publishing.

Source: Vermont Fish & Wildlife. Regulations change annually. Verify before fishing.

Getting there

Johnson, VT

~45 min from Burlington (BTV airport); ~3.5 hrs from Boston

Fly shops

The Fly Rod ShopStowe

Camping: State parks and private campgrounds around Smugglers' Notch and Elmore, with cabin lodging at Sterling Ridge Resort near Jeffersonville. The Lamoille Valley Rail Trail doubles as a river-access corridor. No access fees or permits beyond a Vermont fishing license.

Access is easy for a river this size. Route 15 shadows the middle and upper river, and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail parallels much of the middle water with pull-offs the whole way. Formal state fishing-access areas include the Johnson/Lamoille River Access off Route 15 and the Sears Access at the Route 2 bridge on the lower river, plus dozens of informal town-road pull-offs. The Duhamel Road and Morey Road reach access the productive Ten Bends water above Johnson; Route 100C at Johnson also reaches the Gihon River tributary. Nearest full services are in Morrisville (~15 min to prime water); Johnson sits right on the middle river, and Stowe (the Fly Rod Shop) is ~20 min south.

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About Lamoille River

Species

Brown Trout

Primary · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 10-18"

The signature fish and the reason to come — a wild resident population through the whole trout river. The lower reaches below Cambridge hold wild browns to roughly 24"; streamers produce best, especially the biggest pre-spawn fish early and late. Dry-dropper and terrestrial fishing to the meadow banks in summer, plus the after-dark Hex in June.

Rainbow Trout

Common · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 9-16"

Strong through the middle river from Morrisville down through Johnson and Jeffersonville — a mix of wild and stocked fish. Holds in the faster riffle and pocket water; nymph the riffles and swing emergers through the spring hatches.

Brook Trout

Common · May-Jun, Sep-Oct · 6-12"

Wild residents in the upper reaches, headwaters, and coldwater tributaries, and protected by the minimum-flow rules below the Morrisville dam. The heat refuge when the lower river warms in summer — dry-dropper rigs and small nymphs on the small-water upper stretches.

Smallmouth Bass

Occasional · Jun-Sep · 10-16"

A warmwater presence in the lower and slower sections below Fairfax and in the impoundments — incidental for trout anglers but decent sport on a fly rod through the summer heat when the trout fishing shuts down.

Species	Abundance	Best Season	Size
Brown Trout	Primary	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	10-18"
Rainbow Trout	Common	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	9-16"
Brook Trout	Common	May-Jun, Sep-Oct	6-12"
Smallmouth Bass	Occasional	Jun-Sep	10-16"

At a glance

Ideal wading flow

100–500 cfs

Blow-out

>2,000 cfs

Ideal water temp

50–65°F

Best seasons

Regulations

General stream trout season opens the second Saturday in April and closes the last Sunday in October; the Hardwick-through-Cambridge water anglers most fish is standard water under the general regulations
General creel limit on standard water: combined 6 trout/day across brook, brown, and rainbow, with length rules per the general table
Fairfax Trophy Trout section: from the downstream edge of the Route 104 bridge in Fairfax village upstream about 1.6 miles to the top of the Fairfax Falls dam — 2-trout daily limit, larger minimum length, and year-round catch-and-release with artificial lures and flies only outside the harvest season
Landlocked Atlantic salmon on the lower river are managed under Lake Champlain tributary rules; confirm the current salmon season and limit in the regulation booklet before targeting the fall run
Vermont resident or non-resident fishing license required

Source: Vermont Fish & Wildlife. Regulations change annually. Verify before fishing.

Getting there

Johnson, VT

~45 min from Burlington (BTV airport); ~3.5 hrs from Boston

Lamoille River

Solunar · next 7 days

About Lamoille River

Species