Fishing at Long Pond, Orange County, Vermont

• Overview

  Long Pond sits within Orange County in Vermont. It sits at 1,394 feet above sea level. Small at around 12 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Haverhill lies 7 miles from the water. Further out sit Woodsville (7.2 miles) and Washington (13 miles). It sits near the edge of the county, so check which rules apply. The county lists over twenty named waters in all.

• Where to Fish on Long Pond

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Reported across Orange County: brook trout, rainbow trout, white sucker and longnose sucker. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Long Pond the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 67°F at the top of summer and 15°F at the bottom of winter. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around mid April. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about mid April until roughly early December. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Long Pond runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. The nearest alternative is Round Pond, 0.4 miles out. Check the position on Long Pond before loading the car.