Shad pushing north on the Connecticut River as Champlain bass fire post-spawn

What's Biting

What's Next

**Over the next 48 to 72 hours**

The shad push moving up the Connecticut River mainstem will be the headline story for Vermont anglers through the holiday weekend. The Fisherman — New England Freshwater's Fishin' Factory 3 report notes the Holyoke, Massachusetts stretch is already firing with shad and stripers drawing crowds, and that stretch sits well south of the Vermont line. Shad travel the Connecticut quickly when temperatures are favorable, and if the run's pace holds, Vermont pools along the upper mainstem should be seeing or approaching peak numbers this week.

Sandworms drifted near the bottom have been the productive presentation in the mid-to-lower river sections, with white perch intercepting them alongside shad as a bonus catch. Fly anglers can lean on light streamers and small clouser-style patterns swung across current seams. MidCurrent's Tying Tuesday roundups this week highlighted high-contrast nymphs built for low-light conditions, which translate well to early-morning and evening shad windows in fast Vermont pools.

On Lake Champlain, the waxing gibbous moon building toward full creates extended low-light feeding windows morning and evening. Post-spawn smallmouth on Champlain's rocky points and boulder flats typically become aggressive in this phase as males finish fry guard duty and begin feeding hard. Topwater and shallow crankbaits at first light and last light should anchor your approach. Wired 2 Fish's post-spawn bass breakdown notes that while some fish go aggressive immediately off the beds, others stay spooky and shallow near fry balls, making finesse presentations like a drop shot or neko rig a worthwhile backup when topwater pressure stalls.

Walleye on Lake Champlain are likely in their post-spawn dispersal phase, moving off spawning gravel toward offshore structure. Jigging soft plastics along deeper rock piles and points in the 15 to 25 foot range is the traditional late-May approach for Champlain walleye, though no direct charter or shop reports from the lake confirmed current locations in this cycle's feeds.

A modest bump in Connecticut River flow from any incoming rain could trigger walleye and smallmouth in river pools to feed more actively. The 99.4 cfs reading on USGS gauge 01135300 indicates the upper watershed is running on the lower side for late May, meaning clear water in many tributary streams. Downsizing presentations and leader tippets will matter in those conditions.

Context

Late May is historically one of the most productive stretches of the freshwater year for Vermont anglers.

On the Connecticut River, the American shad run is the defining seasonal event. These fish typically begin appearing in Vermont pools near Bellows Falls in the second and third weeks of May, with peak numbers running through Memorial Day weekend and into early June. The Fisherman — New England Freshwater's current mid-to-lower river reports align squarely with that timeline: shad are running strong in the Holyoke-to-Cromwell stretch across Connecticut and Massachusetts, and the run historically carries full force into Vermont within days of that activity. The report also notes that trout remain present and catchable throughout the Connecticut River corridor, but angler attention has rotated toward shad and bass. That is a normal seasonal pattern: once shad enter the river in numbers, they pull crowds away from trout water, which can open low-pressure windows on the river's best pocket water for fly anglers who prefer solitude.

Lake Champlain in late May is classic smallmouth and walleye territory. Smallmouth typically complete their spawn in the shallower, rock-strewn bays along the Vermont shoreline by mid-May to early June, depending on how quickly water temperatures climb through the low 60s. No temperature reading was available from automated sensors this cycle, so the exact stage of spawn completion is uncertain. That said, late May is almost always the beginning of the aggressive post-spawn feeding window, and Wired 2 Fish's breakdown of this transitional phase reinforces what Vermont bass anglers have observed historically: some fish go immediately aggressive off the beds, while others linger shallow and spooky for several days before fully committing to feeding.

One Vermont-specific note: MidCurrent covered a conservation auction this spring benefiting Battenkill restoration, tied to the annual Battenkill Fly Fishing Festival held in Arlington, Vermont in late April. While the Battenkill drains to the Hudson rather than the Connecticut, the event signals strong angler engagement with Vermont freshwater heading into the season's most productive stretch.