Butler Pond in Rutland County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Butler Pond is a Rutland County water, in Vermont. The surface lies 650 feet up. It covers about 20 acres, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. You are 6.6 miles from Chittenden. It is 80 miles to Albany, the nearest city. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout. It repays a second visit more than a first.

• Where to Fish on Butler Pond

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. County-wide records name bluegill, brook trout, brown trout, white sucker and largemouth bass. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Butler Pond that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 69°F and January near 19°F on the long-run figures. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Look for the thaw near early April; the fishing lifts straight after. Ice clears near early April and comes back about mid December in a typical year. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Butler Pond.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. The nearest alternative is Beaver Pond, 2.6 miles out. Treat Butler Pond as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.