Fishing at Lake Paran, Bennington County, Vermont

• Overview

  The Bennington County end of Vermont holds Lake Paran. Height above sea level is 646 feet. It measures about 35 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Size puts it in the front rank of our Bennington County list. North Bennington sits 0.6 miles from the bank. Bennington follows at 4.2 miles, then Hoosick Falls at 6.4 miles. You are close to a county edge here; who manages the access can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Lake Paran

  It is listed as an impoundment in national data, which explains the shape of the basin. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Records held for Bennington County cover brook trout, brown trout, white sucker, brown bullhead and longnose sucker. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Lake Paran gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 68°F for July and 19°F for January. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early April. Climate averages put the opening at about early April and the closing near mid December. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. The season on Lake Paran rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. There is a slipway at Lake Paran, roughly half a mile off. There is recorded parking some half a mile off. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. For a change of water, Little White Creek is 6 miles distant. What applies at Lake Paran may have changed since it was mapped.