Mar 02, 2009
SOURCE: Burlington Free Press
Yeah, we complain about March. We're sick of the snow, the cold, the inability to get out and do something. And just when we want a change, mud season begins. But hey, get through March and April is here with trout season and soon May is here, and June, and, well, before you know it it's autumn again.
Calendar
8: Hare and rabbit season ends
14: Crow season opens
17: St. Patrick's Day
20: Muskrat season opens
29: Shanties or fishing houses must be off ice
31: Beaver and muskrat trapping season closes
Quarry of the month
When the ice finally pulls away from the shores of larger lakes and ponds, which usually -- but not always -- happens later in March, that's when the muskrats get busy getting busy.
The start of the muskrat breeding season is also the start of the hunting season for these little furbearers (March 20, this year), and each year thousands of Vermonters wade or paddle through the flooded wetlands hunting the rodents.
Here are some facts about these critters, who are valued both for the fur and their meat.
• The name muskrat is derived from the pair of perineal musk glands found beneath the skin at the ventral base of the tail (between the thighs) in both sexes.
• Muskrats top swimming speed is about 3 mph.
• Copulation usually takes place while submerged.
• Muskrats have a high reproductive potential, giving birth to large litters and breeding from spring to fall. Mature females have 2-4 litters each year.
• Scientists throught muskrat's historic range are studying a perplexing decline in the population.
Hot spot
As soon as ice leaves Lake Champlain, the southern Inland Sea (that area just north of the Sandbar Causeway) can look like a mid-summer marina as boats of all shapes and sizes troll the cold waters for landlocked Atlantic salmon and brown trout.
Best fishing occurs just after the water temperature heads above 40 degrees, and good access to the lake can be found at a private launch on the west side of the Sandbar or at the public boat launch in Milton (Van Everest).
Depth is not a problem for ice-out salmon. Some anglers troll plugs or spoons, other will simply use a smelt pattern and traditional streamer flies on a fly rod on floating line. Many fish can be caught within 200 yards of shore.
Salmon over 20 inches are common, with many anglers hooking up with 4-5 pound fish fairly regularly.
Anglers in small boats are urged to cautious of rough water and cold temperatures -- hypothermia can set in quickly in early spring.
Keep an eye out
• No official word out of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department yet, but mid-March is usually when the state holds a series of public deer meetings where wildlife biologists will share information on 2008 hunting season results as well as data gathered at biological check stations on antler measurements, ages and weights of deer taken. Winter severity data also will be reviewed.
• Snow geese will be making their way north in March, and for the first time, Vermonters get a chance to hunt the big, white birds in the spring as a result of a special management action referred to as a "Conservation Order" allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Vermont season will occur statewide from March 11 through April 15. The daily bag limit is 15 snow geese, and there is no possession limit. All existing waterfowl hunting regulations will apply as well as some additional requirements. Shooting hours are one half hour before sunrise to sunset. Although permitted by the conservation order, unplugged shotguns and electronic calls will not be allowed in Vermont during 2009.
A special Spring 2009 Snow Goose Harvest Permit is required and is available at no charge on the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department's Web site (www.vtfishandwildlife.com).
