Lake Shaftsbury

Fishing and stocking

Rainbow trout water, stocked 3 times in 2026, spread April to October; 1,864 fish reported. A 24-acre reservoir, and one of 14 stocked waters on the Bennington County record.

Bennington County · Vermont · see it on the national map

last stocked Oct 13 10 days ago

best window 9:52-11:52 pm solunar major today

3 stockings 2026

1,864 fish reported

24 acres (NHD)

The year here

stocked last 7 days announced ahead · tap a tick for details

What swims here

Rainbow trout 3 stockings

Stocking record 2026

Agency feed checked today.

Date	Species	Fish	Status
Apr 7	Rainbow trout	1,400	completed
Apr 7	Rainbow trout	200	completed
Oct 13	Rainbow trout	264	completed

When to fish Lake Shaftsbury

	Major periods (~2 h)	Minor periods (~1 h)
Today	9:29-11:29 am and 9:52-11:52 pm	3:45-4:45 am and 4:01-5:01 pm
Tomorrow	10:15 am-12:15 pm and 10:39 pm-12:39 am	4:56-5:56 am and 4:23-5:23 pm

Moon: waxing gibbous, 92% lit. These are solunar periods, the traditional feeding-time theory: majors around the moon's transit overhead and underfoot, minors around moonrise and moonset. Theory, not a measurement. Times are Eastern Time (EDT).

What the record actually says

Stocked 10 days ago (Oct 13)

Computed this evening, Oct 23 · Vermont fishing forecast

Gear for this water

Stocked within the last three weeks: fish are still bunched near the release points and keyed on familiar smells.

For the trout (rainbow trout stocked 3 times here in 2026, stillwater)

Dough bait rigs	floating dough bait 18 inches above a small egg sinker; hatchery fish know the smell
Casting spoons	1/8 to 1/4 oz in fluorescent or metallic; count down until you find the depth
Small crankbaits	trout-pattern cranks trolled or slow-retrieved off points

Suggestions follow from what the state actually stocks here and what kind of water it is, nothing else. No sponsored placements.

Nearby stocked waters

The closest waters with stocking pages of their own, straight-line miles from this one.

Water	Distance	Most recent
Lake Paran	6.6 mi	Oct 13
Beebe Pond	7.9 mi	May 18
Paran Creek	8.1 mi	Jun 18
Branch Pond	9.2 mi	May 18
Stamford Stream	10 mi	Apr 29

Follow Bennington County stocking: RSS / Calendar (iCal) / Print the schedule

Records from Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (official page). Placement from USGS GNIS and the National Hydrography Dataset. Schedules change without notice. Seasons, limits, and licenses: Vermont fishing regulations.