Northeast Outdoor Newsletter: February 2024

You know, I could definitely spend a good chunk of this post here complaining about the weather, like most outdoorsmen and women do 12 months a year, but I won’t.  I think we are all acutely aware of the record high temperatures and constant rain that has been dumped across the northeast thus far in 2024, and that’s abundantly clear to those of us that enjoy ice fishing, skiing or snowmobiling.  I was just up in the Lake Champlain Islands this last weekend, the same weekend that usually holds the annual Lake Champlain Islands Ice Fishing Derby if it hadn’t been canceled the last two years, and noticed the “Cow Banks” was still open water.  Not a single shred of ice past the the boat launch and main inlet.  In years past, I have been perch fishing in mid-February out there next to full sized pick up trucks on the ice.  What a weird time it is.

It ain’t all bad though.  Even though Streeter and I got caught in a thunderstorm on the ice on Saturday, a first for us both, we still picked off a few fish on the weekend.  A very unproductive night of smelt fishing led us to change plans Saturday morning.  Instead of lake trout fishing in the NEK we decided to hit one of the only frozen bays on Lake Champlain in search of some pike, pickerel or any warm water species willing to come out and play.  After an hour or two of getting drenched in 55 degree weather, we packed up and headed back to the mainland in search of walleye on a different body of water.  Just past 7pm that evening, Streeter pulled a beautiful 18” walleye through the ice to save us from being skunked all day.  It was the first walleye he had ever caught.

On Sunday we went back to Champlain and only managed a single, 22” northern pike.  I was overjoyed with it myself because up until that point, I hadn’t landed a single fish all weekend.  Let’s just say we were both ready to give up on ice fishing for a few days and enjoy the Super Bowl that evening.

Outside of this last weekend, I have had two other successful journeys in recent weeks.  The first jaunt was up into the Northeast Kingdom in search of some lakers.  A frosty afternoon of jigging led to my first landed lake trout of 2024, on a Swedish pimple in 34 feet of water.  If you’re planning on heading out on Lake Champlain to ice fish for lake trout, just don’t.  I legitimately believe there are exactly zero safe places to chase lakers on the big pond right now.  Most of the smaller lakes and ponds in the NEK are safe to fish, just make sure to wear safety gear and bring a buddy or two.

Just a week later, I tried something new.  I broke out the fly rod on a tail water stretch of river in Central Vermont with one of my YouTube subscribers.  From the road, we trudged through a foot and a half of heavy wet snow to enjoy a 35 degree day on the river in search of some big brown or rainbow trout.  Using streamers, the two of us managed to move five fish, and I was even able to land a gorgeous 18” wild brown trout on a size 12 wooly bugger.  I can safely say the cold weather bothered me substantially less after I was able to “get rid of the skunk.”  Winter fly fishing in Vermont can be extremely fun and rewarding, and the state actually just allowed basically every stream to be fished outside of trout season, obviously for catch and release only.  Bouncing nymphs off the bottom and slowly stripping streamers in slower water is the best way to locate trout.  With the weather being cold and trout being out of season, don’t play with a landed fish out of water longer than you have to.  A subzero day will freeze a fish's eyes and fins, and that damage is permanent.  My fish stayed in the net and in the water, and I believe I only handled the fish out of the net for about 20 seconds total.  Make sure to check out the video posted at the bottom of this page to see what I’m talking about.

That’s what I got right now.  Just know there is safe ice to be found on some smaller lakes, but obviously safety always comes first.  I’m definitely going to break out the fly rod at least one more time before this weird winter draws to a close, and hopefully I can land a trout bigger than the last one.  Whatever it is you find yourself doing outdoors, I hope you find success and remember that even a lousy day of fishing still beats the best day at work.