Best landlocked salmon lakes in Vermont
5 Vermont waters list landlocked salmon (official records or labelled estimates), 2 mapped with survey or official-chart depth data. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality, leading with the waters in our reviewed search catalog — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. Lake-dwelling Atlantic salmon that lives and dies by the smelt run. Ice-out surface fishing at its finest.
- Lake Champlain — 392 ft max · real survey depth contours · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern PikeWhy #1: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · 15 public access sites, 3 carry-in or shore-oriented
- Lake Memphremagog — 351 ft max · Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow PerchWhy #2: mapped size signal; contours are approximated · no verified access record attached
- Seymour Lake — 181.5 ft max · real survey depth contours · Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Yellow Perch, Lake TroutWhy #3: survey-backed contours receive the ranking's data-quality boost · no verified access record attached
- Harriman Reservoir — 180 ft max · Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout, Lake TroutWhy #4: mapped size signal; contours are approximated · no verified access record attached
- Lake Willoughby — 337 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Yellow Perch, Lake Trout, Landlocked SalmonWhy #5: mapped size signal; contours are approximated · no verified access record attached
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How to use this ranking
The order is a map-planning ranking, not a claim about today's fish population. It favors larger mapped waters and gives survey-backed contours a three-times data-quality boost. Agency population surveys, current regulations, access and recent conditions should make the final decision.
Compare maximum depth across 37,233 lake records · See Vermont waters with public access data
When to fish landlocked salmon in Vermont
- Spring 1–15 ft — The legendary ice-out bite: salmon follow spawning smelt to tributary mouths and windblown shorelines, right on the surface.
- Summer 25–60 ft — Salmon hold just above the thermocline with the smelt schools — depth control decides the day.
- Fall 5–30 ft — Turnover scatters bait and salmon shallow; spawners stage off tributary mouths, hot-tempered and territorial.
- Winter 10–40 ft — Where winter seasons allow, salmon cruise for smelt under the ice — sewn bait near a drop is the classic set.
Also in Vermont: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best northern pike lakes · best crappie lakes · best bluegill lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best lake trout lakes · best brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best chain pickerel lakes · best burbot lakes · best brown bullhead lakes
Landlocked Salmon elsewhere: Ontario · Sweden · Québec · Finland · Maine · New Hampshire · New York · New Brunswick · Connecticut