Vermont’s state-wide free ice fishing day was Saturday, Jan. 28—it’s held annually on the last Saturday in January—and this year the official festivities were held on Barnard’s Silver Lake.
The day is geared toward giving new ice anglers an opportunity to try ice fishing before purchasing equipment, but any angler may ice fish on any waterbody open to ice fishing statewide without a fishing license on free ice fishing day.
The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department put on its first free ice fishing event since the start of the pandemic at Silver Lake State Park. The festival began in the late morning and went into the afternoon, bringing families out to try their luck on the ice.
Vermont Fish and Wildlife staff, as well as instructors from Vermont’s Let’s Go Fishing Program, were on-hand to teach ice fishing skills, including knot tying, baiting and using an ice fishing rod, and most importantly, how to stay safe on the ice.
Fish and Wildlife staff also operated a fish fry station to cook up participants’ catches, and provided plenty of cocoa.
“Ice fishing is one of the most accessible forms of fishing and can be a great way to introduce people to how much fun fishing can be,” said Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Christopher Herrick. Fishing equipment was available to be loaned.
There were plenty of smiling faces and the weather was cool enough to make the ice safe, but not too cold to turn people to icicles.