The state鈥檚 annual ice fishing festival was supposed to be held at Lake Bomoseen, in Rutland County. That was until a few weeks ago, when the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department decided to change the location to a place with more reliable ice 鈥� at Lake Elmore, a smaller lake, further north.
鈥淭hankfully, we actually have really good ice conditions up there,鈥� said Corey Hart, who works in education at Vermont Fish and Wildlife. 鈥淭he last time we checked it, we had about 12 inches of consistent ice out in front of the state park.鈥�
It鈥檚 been a weird season for ice fishing and sports , following poor ice conditions last winter.
鈥淢ost years by now, a lot of bodies of water would have a foot or so of ice. And that's just not not the case this year,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淪ome do 鈥� some do have plenty,鈥� he added.
Lakes with adequate ice cover are mostly in parts of the Northeast Kingdom and in the Green Mountains, according to Hart. He said the biggest factors that determine ice cover from place to place are temperature, elevation, current and wind 鈥� a more sheltered body of water is going to freeze more easily than a place that鈥檚 exposed.
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If they can find a safe place to go, anglers anywhere in the state will be able to . And for people new to the sport, Hart recommends stopping by the festival, which starts at 11 a.m. on Jan. 27 at the state park just outside of Morrisville.
鈥淭hey'll learn all about how to use a spud bar, how to check the ice conditions, different levels of thickness, things like that,鈥� he said.
At the end, you can borrow a rod and try to catch a fish 鈥� probably a yellow perch. And you might even be able to eat your catch.
鈥淲e have a fish fry there as well,鈥� Hart said. 鈥淚f anybody catches a fish that's large enough to fry up, they can certainly bring it over to the fryer, and we'll fry it right up for 鈥榚m.鈥�
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