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Home › Waters › Vermont › Waterbury Reservoir
Reservoir · North-central Vermont between Waterbury and Stowe, impounding the Little River in the shadow of the Worcester Range and Mount Mansfield · Vermont

Waterbury Reservoir Fishing Guides

A deep, clear Green Mountain reservoir on the Little River above Waterbury, with rainbow and brown trout, strong smallmouth fishing and a state park at its foot.

Pines along a rocky shoreline on a calm northern lake
Gauge location. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

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About the Waterbury Reservoir

Waterbury Reservoir sits in the Little River valley between Waterbury and Stowe, held behind a large earthen dam built by the Civilian Conservation Corps after the 1927 flood. It covers about eight hundred acres of steep, wooded shoreline with the Worcester Range on one side and the Mount Mansfield country on the other, and much of the surrounding land is state forest. The result is a reservoir that looks and fishes like a mountain lake: clear, cold, deep in the main basin and almost entirely undeveloped along its shores.

The fishery has two distinct halves. Rainbow and brown trout hold in the cold deeper water and are taken by trolling in the warmer months and from shore in spring and late fall, with brook trout in the tributaries and the upper arms. Smallmouth bass are the other strength, working the rocky points and drop-offs through the summer, alongside largemouth in the shallower coves. Yellow perch, rock bass and chain pickerel round it out. Paddling is a large part of the appeal here – the reservoir has remote water-access campsites along its upper arms and is one of the better canoe-camping fisheries in New England.

The gauge near Waterbury publishes reservoir elevation. That number is worth checking, because this reservoir is drawn down substantially each autumn for flood storage and the difference between summer and late-fall pool is dramatic: ramps go dry, shoreline access changes completely, and the upper arms become mud flats. Read the level before planning a trip late in the season. No water temperature is published at this station, so trolling depth has to be worked out on the water. Motor restrictions apply in the upper arms and the state park charges a day-use fee in season, both of which are worth confirming before hauling a boat up the valley.

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Pool right now

589.17ft NAVD88
  • 24 hours0.00 ft → steady

Reading taken 1h ago at USGS 04288500, WATERBURY RESERVOIR NEAR WATERBURY, VT. Elevation is the surface of the lake above the survey datum, not depth. Source.

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Posting to Waterbury Reservoir.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 12 MB. We resize it and strip the location data out of the file.

The name shown under the photo. Leave blank to stay anonymous.

Reader photo license v1.0 — the short version:

  • You grant Guided Floats, LLC a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to publish, resize and crop your photo on guidedfloats.com and in GuidedFloats’ own social posts and apps. You keep the copyright and can use the photo anywhere else.
  • You confirm that you took the photo yourself, that publishing it does not infringe anyone else’s rights, and that anyone recognisable in it (or a parent or guardian, if they are under 18) is happy for it to appear here.
  • Credit is printed beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, using the credit name you give us. Leave it blank and we use your name; write “Anonymous” for no name. Your email address is never published.
  • Withdrawing is one email to hello@guidedfloats.com naming the photo. It comes off the site within 7 days.
Read the full license

Version 1.0, dated 6 September 2026. Applies to every photograph submitted to GuidedFloats through the contact form, a species page, or the community board.

1. What you give us

By ticking the box on the form you grant Guided Floats, LLC (“GuidedFloats”, “we”) a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, resize, crop and display your photograph on guidedfloats.com, in GuidedFloats’ own social media accounts and mobile apps, and in material that promotes the site itself, in connection with the fish, water or community feature you sent it in for. The license lasts until you withdraw it (section 4).

You keep the copyright. The license is not exclusive, so you can use the photo anywhere else and license it to anyone else. We will not sell your photo, license it on to anyone else on its own, or use it in paid advertising for a third party.

2. What you confirm

You confirm that you took the photograph yourself (or otherwise own the rights to it), that you have the right to grant this license, and that publishing the photo does not infringe anyone else’s copyright, privacy or other rights.

If any person is recognisable in the photo, you confirm that they have agreed to its being published here, and that a parent or guardian has agreed on behalf of anyone under 18. Please do not send photographs of other people’s catches, screenshots, or pictures copied from other websites or social media.

3. Credit

We print the credit name you give us beside the photo wherever it appears on the site, and record it as the photo’s creator in the page’s structured data. If you leave the credit blank we use the name you gave us on the form. Write “Anonymous” if you prefer no name at all. Your email address, phone number and the exact spot the photo was taken are never published.

4. Withdrawing the license

You can withdraw the license at any time by emailing hello@guidedfloats.com, or by using the contact form, and telling us which photo you mean. We will remove the photo from guidedfloats.com within 7 days of receiving your message and stop using it in anything new. Copies that are already outside our control — search-engine caches, social posts that have already gone out, printed material already produced — may take longer to disappear or may not be recallable, and we are not responsible for those.

5. What we may do

We choose which photos to publish and may decline any submission without giving a reason. We may crop, resize, sharpen or colour-correct a photo for display, and we may remove a photo at any time. We will not alter a photo in a way that misrepresents the fish, the water or you.

6. Your details

We keep your name, email address, the credit name, the water and date you gave us, and the network address the submission came from, with the submission record, as our evidence of this license. We hold that record for as long as the photo is published and for the retention period described in our privacy policy. Location data that your camera or phone embedded in the file is removed before the photo is published.

7. Versions

The version of this license you accepted is stored with your submission and printed with the photo. A later version does not apply to a photo you have already sent unless you agree to it.

Access

Waterbury Center State Park - the main developed ramp and swimming access.
Little River State Park - camping, a boat launch and access to the lower basin.
Blush Hill access in Waterbury - a smaller launch near the dam.
Moscow access on the Stowe side - kayak and canoe entry to the upper arms.
Little River below the dam - shore fishing on the tailrace reach.
Remote water-access campsites - paddle-in shoreline camping in the upper reservoir.
Mount Mansfield State Forest trailheads - walk-in shoreline access on the east side.

Seasons

Spring: cold clear water with trout close to the surface and the best shore fishing of the year.
Summer: trout hold deep and are trolled, while smallmouth fishing on the rocky points is at its best.
Fall: excellent smallmouth and trout fishing, but check the level as the autumn drawdown begins.
Winter: an ice fishery for perch, pickerel and trout when conditions allow, with variable and often unsafe early ice.

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Questions

What species can you catch on the Waterbury Reservoir?

Anglers target Black Crappie, Bluegill, Brook Trout, Brown Trout, Chain Pickerel, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Rock Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Perch on the Waterbury Reservoir in Vermont.

Where can you access the Waterbury Reservoir?

Waterbury Center State Park - the main developed ramp and swimming access. Little River State Park - camping, a boat launch and access to the lower basin. Blush Hill access in Waterbury - a smaller launch near the dam. Moscow access on the Stowe side - kayak and canoe entry to the upper arms. Little River below the dam - shore fishing on the tailrace reach. Remote water-access campsites - paddle-in shoreline camping in the upper reservoir. Mount Mansfield State Forest trailheads - walk-in shoreline access on the east side.

When is the best time to fish the Waterbury Reservoir?

Spring: cold clear water with trout close to the surface and the best shore fishing of the year. Summer: trout hold deep and are trolled, while smallmouth fishing on the rocky points is at its best. Fall: excellent smallmouth and trout fishing, but check the level as the autumn drawdown begins. Winter: an ice fishery for perch, pickerel and trout when conditions allow, with variable and often unsafe early ice.

Where are the fishing regulations for the Waterbury Reservoir?

Regulations change by season and section. Read the current rules on the Vermont agency site: https://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/fish/fishing-regulations