Cast a line over Lake Champlain on Grand Isle, one of the most beautiful areas in Vermont and New England. This pristine small town feels remote but is surprisingly easy to access, only 30 minutes away from the city of Burlington, a ferry away from Plattsburgh in New York County, and a day trip from Montreal. Along with Isle La Motte, North Hero, and South Hero, it is one of the four towns on the Lake Champlain Islands, a region with more shoreline than any other area in Vermont.
Grand Isle is a compact town with endless scenic views, lush hiking spots, and streets filled with historic houses and structures, some of which date back to its incorporation in the 1700s. Aside from this, it’s a great place to fish. If you’ve been raring to fish in Lake Champlain, there’s no better place to start than Grand Isle. The town and its surrounding areas are filled with lake access points that offer a productive yield and a picturesque backdrop, making for a truly peaceful and relaxing fishing experience worth including on your bucket list.
Anglers will enjoy exploring within and around Grand Isle, for spots to fish the great Lake Champlain. But if you’re pressed for time, you will do well if you head straight to Grand Isle State Park. This state park, the state’s most visited, provides access to 490 square miles of access to Lake Champlain. Of the 90-plus fish species known to live in Lake Champlain, some of the most commonly found in the state park are largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, landlocked Atlantic salmon, steelhead, rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, and northern pike. Panfish such as pumpkinseed, perch, crappie, bluegill, and rock bass are common, along with common carp, bowfin, and walleye.
Just a few minutes outside town, you will find other Lake Champlain access points. Around early spring, fish for perch at the bay at Camp Hochelaga, which can be found between Allen Point and Robinson Point. In late spring and early summer, cast a line over the break wall at Allen Point that provides passage to Mallets Bay and the Inland Sea.
Allen Point Access Area at nearby South Hero is a fantastic area to fish in during spring, summer, and fall. Here you can target species such as brown trout, lake trout, bullhead, chain pickerel, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, Atlantic salmon, northern pike, sheepshead, walleye, white perch, and yellow perch.
Another South Hero fishing spot worth checking out is Lake Champlain’s Keeler Bay. You can fish the bay from the Vermont Fishing Access Area or the Keeler Bay Campground and Marina on Route 2. The bay is known as a productive ice fishing spot.
The Hyde Log Cabin is one of the oldest structures still standing in Vermont and the oldest log cabin in the United States. Today, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a museum managed by the Grand Isle Historic Society.
Visit the beautiful Faywood Gardens, built in the 1820s, where you can take organic cooking classes and culinary retreats. Or get to know the works of the local artists and artisans of Grand Isle at Grand Isle Art Works, an artisan gallery housed inside a 1797 farmhouse.