Lake Fairlee fishing: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass

Target species: Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Chain Pickerel, Brown Trout, White Sucker, Rock Bass
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Lake Fairlee.

The lake

Lake Fairlee covers 467 acres in Vermont, across Orange County. It is a lake: 90% of it is 42 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is 48.2 feet (14.7 m). Our records hold 12 species for this water.

7 target fish, led by Largemouth Bass

  • Largemouth Bass — Feeding water: 65–85°F.
  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Smallmouth Bass — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Chain Pickerel — Feeding water: 60–75°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • White Sucker — Feeding water: 50–70°F.
  • Rock Bass — Feeding water: 65–75°F.

Also recorded here: Yellow Perch, Pumpkinseed, Redbreast, Brown Bullhead, Golden Shiner.

Stocking: 50,715 fish, 2009–2026

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department records list 50,715 fish released into this water from 2009 to 2026.

Lake Fairlee VT 12-20-2025.jpg
Ascended Dreamer · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Brown Trout: 27,925 in 2009–2026
  • Rainbow Trout: 22,790 in 2009–2026

Depth: down to 48.2 ft at the deepest measured point

Deepest measured point: 48.2 ft (14.7 m). 90% of the water is 42 feet or shallower. We hold 41 depth contours for this water, drawn from 54,895 soundings.

  • 0–3 ft: 3.8% of the water
  • 3–6 ft: 5.6% of the water
  • 6–9 ft: 7.8% of the water
  • 9–12 ft: 7.6% of the water
  • 12–15 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 15–18 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 18–21 ft: 5.8% of the water
  • 21–24 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 24–27 ft: 6.9% of the water
  • 27–30 ft: 10% of the water
  • 30–33 ft: 8.2% of the water
  • 33–36 ft: 5.2% of the water
  • 36–39 ft: 5.7% of the water
  • 39–42 ft: 5.4% of the water
  • 42–45 ft: 9.7% of the water
  • 45–48 ft: 0.4% of the water

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 68°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.6. These readings span 2017–2025.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Lake Fairlee — restrooms. West Fairlee, F&W. 3795 Vermont Route 244, West Fairlee 05045 · website anrweb.vt.gov/FWD/FW/FishingAccessAreas.aspx?wb=Lake%20Fairlee

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Vermont DEC — Vermont DEC: depth soundings: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.