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8th Annual Vermont Restaurant Week

8th Annual Vermont Restaurant Week

April 21-30, 2017

For 10 days 117 restaurants from all around the Green Mountain State will offer special fixed-price dinners. There are three set price points — $20, $30 or $40 per person. Some locations will offer lunch and breakfast specials  well. The diversity in cuisine and participating restaurants makes it easy for all diners to find something to whet their appetite. A full menu guide is found at vermontrestaurantweek.com.

Vermont Restaurant Week is also a benefit for the Vermont Foodbank. In 2016, the event, along with a matching grant from the Vermont Community Foundation and City Market’s Rally for Change program, raised $20,000, providing 60,000 meals for needy Vermonters.

This year’s events include:

  • Aperitivo: social hour for Vermont foodies featuring light bites, spirited cocktails and the makers of Switchback Brewing, WhistlePig Whiskey and Vermont Creamery. Thursday, April 20, 5:30-7 p.m., Maglianero, Burlington, $7.
  • 8th Annual Vermont Restaurant WeekFeeding Frenzy: A statewide Instagram scavenger hunt. Winners receive tickets to the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival and the Seven Daysies Awards Party. April 21-30.
  • Culinary Trivia Night: Food in the Age of Advertising: Feed your brain with seven rounds of foodie trivia and wash it down with a pint of nostalgia. Each round represents a decade — 1950s until now. This popular event is emceed by Top Hat Entertainment. Monday, April 24, 6-9 p.m., Nectar’s, Burlington, free.
  • 8th Annual Vermont Restaurant WeekThe Dish: Going With the Grain: Join a panel of local experts for a lively and grain-ular discussion on the benefits and pitfalls of restoring grain production to the Northeast. Vermont grain farmers chat with bakers, distillers and brewers about what’s possible, practical and sustainable for the land and its people. Wednesday, April 26, 5:30-7 p.m., ArtsRiot, Burlington, $5 suggested donation.
  • 8th Annual Vermont Restaurant WeekBottomless Brunch Bash: Celebrate Sunday Fun-day at the Bottomless Brunch Bash! This curated tasting event brings your favorite chefs under one roof to serve up bite-size classics and inventive new creations. Come sip on mimosas, sample tasty treats and help us wrap up Vermont Restaurant Week with a bang! Sunday, April 30, 9-11 a.m. & noon-2 p.m., Essex Culinary Resort & Spa, Essex, $45 and $35.

For more information about events, participating restaurants and how you can give to the Vermont Foodbank visit vermontrestaurantweek.com.

Vermont Restaurant Week is presented by Vermont Federal Credit Union and sponsored by Vermont Creamery, Switchback Brewing Co, WhistlePig Whiskey, City Market/Onion River Co-op and Swish White River. Additional support is provided by Vermont Tourism, WNSC the Point and JumpOnIt!

 

Lake Champlain

This 128-page softcover book features stunning historical images from the archives of Lake Champlain Maritime Museum and other regional collections, and includes chapters on Patriotic Sites and Celebrations; Commerce in the Canal Era; The Age of Steam; Crossing Lake Champlain; Recreational Boating; Summer and Summer Folk; Hunting and Fishing; and Winter. ‘Lake Champlain’ tells the story of this historic, busy commercial corridor and recreational destination.

Buy Here

More Lake Champlain News:  

Vermont Fishing Regulation Change Hearings Scheduled

VT F&W Board Seeks Public Input on Proposed Fishing Regulation Changes

Series of public hearings scheduled for Newport, Rutland, Montpelier and St. Albans

The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board is  of seeking public input on proposed fishing regulation changes that could go into effect starting in 2018.



Among the proposed changes are:
  •  Simplifying regulations on the Missisquoi River for muskellunge and year-round fishing.
  • Expanding the Little River two-trout bag limit to the section between the Route 2 bridge and Waterbury Reservoir Dam.
  • Making the existing Dog River test water designations for catch and release trout fishing into permanent regulations.
  • Changing the catch and release trout regulation on the Batten Kill to include an “artificial lures and flies” gear restriction, similar to the Dog River.
  • Simplifying the Clyde River regulations and expanding its catch and release season for salmon to include September and October.
  • Establishing rules against snagging fish.
  • Creating a new definition of “immediate control” for ice fishing.
  • Moving existing language related to commercial angling into a new section.
  • Expanding the “legal method of take” for fish to include spear gun and cross bow on a limited number of species.
  • Implementing new bags limits on bowfin, redhorse sucker and longnose gar.
  • In addition, an angling group is proposing from September 1 to October 31 on the Clyde River from Lake Memphremagog upstream to the West Charleston dam, that angling be restricted to fly fishing with floating line, unweighted leader and one unweighted artificial fly with a single hook.



Hearing Schedule

The Board will be hosting four public hearings to gather comments on the proposals, and will accept written comments through May 17, 2017. 

The hearings start at 6:30 p.m., and the schedule is as follows:

  • Tuesday, May 2 in Newport at the Emory Hebord State Office Building
  • Wednesday, May 3 in Rutland at Rutland High School
  • Thursday, May 4 in Montpelier at the Pavilion Building at 109 Main Street
  • Tuesday, May 9 in St. Albans at the St. Albans Town Education Center.


To submit questions or comments to the Board, email fwinformation@vermont.gov. 

To learn more about the proposed regulation changes, the public hearing schedule, or the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board, visit the “Fish & Wildlife Board” page under the “About Us” section at www.vtfishandwildlife.com.


Other Lake Champlain Fishing Articles:

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain freshwater drum

Joseph Whalen Jr. with
25.54# Freshwater Drum-

Lake Champlain has long been considered a fishing hotspot. But did you know that the lake not only offers great fishing for a large variety of fish, it offers a variety of LARGE fish?

Lake Champlain boasts four New York State record fish and eighteen of the Vermont state record fish! Five other Vermont state record fish were taken from Lake Champlain tributaries. That’s twenty-seven records for the two states from Lake Champlain and its feeders.

2016 saw new records for freshwater drum in both New York and Vermont three months apart, interestingly by a father and daughter (see Two Record Fish).

 

New York State Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain:

Bowfin                             12 lb. 14 oz.          34″        07/8/2006       Mary Forrest

Freshwater Drum         29 lb. 14 oz.         36.5″      06/4/2016      Amelia Whalen

Longnose Gar                 13 lb. 3 oz.           49.5″      07/25/1999    Kenneth Cassant

Redfin Pickerel                2 lb. 1 oz.            n/a         03/5/1989      Duane Gillespie

 

Vermont State Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain:

American Eel                   6 lbs 4 oz            42.00″    02/19/1989    Robert Tatro, Jr.

Bass, Rock                        2 lbs 0 oz           13.25″     07/16/1981    Brad French

Bowfin (bow)                 12 lbs 1.5 oz        30.75″     08/07/2015    Louis Phelps IV

Burbot                               8 lbs 13 oz         28.12″     02/11/2012     Bryan LaBelle

Carp                                 33 lbs 0 oz           35.00″     05/27/2006      Jeffery W. Reed

Carp (Bow)                     44 lbs 6.8 oz        41.25″     05/20/2014     Darren Ouellette

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain Darren Ouellette with record 44# Carp (taken by bow)

Darren Ouellette with record 44# Carp (taken by bow) 05/20/2014

Cisco (Lake Herring)      1 lbs 1.44 oz      14.50″     08/17/2015     Montanah Latulippe

Freshwater Drum         25 lbs 8.6 oz        34.50″    09/18/2016      Joseph Whalen

Gar, Longnose               18 lbs 12 oz         54.50″    08/11/2007      Texas A. Aiken

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain longnose gar

18# Longnose Gar Vermont record
by Texas A. Aiken

Gar, Longnose (Bow)   17 lbs 13.6 oz      50.50″    08/17/1996      Tom Casavant

Mooneye                           2 lbs 7 oz           17.00″    08/26/1985      Thomas J. LaVigne

Perch, White                    2 lbs 9.3 oz        16.60″    02/17/2014      Anthony Austin

Pike-Pickerel Hybrid      8 lbs 7 oz           32.00″    02/10/2010      Kurin Friend

Salmon, Landlocked    12 lbs 10.4 oz      32.00″   10/18/1994       Brian Latulippe

Sauger                               3 lbs 2.5 oz         20.00″   02/03/1980       David Paya

Smelt, Rainbow              0 lbs 12 oz          13.00″   03/06/1978       Bernadine Maranville

Record Fish Caught in Lake Champlain walleye

Vermont state record 14# Walleye caught 02/10/2010 by Richard Levesque

Walleye                          14 lbs 8.8 oz         32.50″   02/10/2010        Richard Levesque

Whitefish, Lake              9 lbs 7 oz            27.00″   02/24/1999        Victor Raymond

 

Also, the Vermont state record Bowfin (angling), Fallfish, Muskelunge, and Redhorse Sucker (both angling and bow) were taken from the Missisquoi River and Otter Creek – both Lake Champlain tributaries.

There’s tremendous opportunity to catch big fish on Lake Champlain, as these state records show. Maybe the next record lunker from Lake Champlain will be yours.


Other Lake Champlain Fishing Articles:

New York DEC Proposes Additional Free Fishing Days

New York DEC Proposes Additional Free Fishing Days

Additional Free Fishing DaysThe New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is proposing four additional free fishing days to complement the state’s existing free sport fishing days. DEC is seeking public comments on the proposed changes.

Since 1991, free sport fishing days have allowed New York residents and non-residents to fish for free without a fishing license at any of the state’s 7,500 lakes and ponds or 70,000 miles of rivers and streams.

The free events give people who might not fish a chance to try the rewarding sport at no cost, introduce people to a new hobby, and encourage people to support the sport by purchasing a New York State fishing license.

The proposed additions are:

  • Presidents Day Weekend (the weekend immediately preceding Presidents Day in the month of February) – These two days generally coincide with winter recess for schools, making it ideal for families to try ice fishing.
  • National Hunting and Fishing Day (one day) – Takes place annually on the 4th Saturday in September and links to events taking place nationwide. Fishing at this time of year is generally good for many species, including fall salmon fishing in the Great Lakes tributaries.
  • Veteran’s Day (one day) – Fishing is one of the most therapeutic outdoor activities, making it an excellent tribute to veterans and those currently serving. Governor Cuomo specified Veteran’s Day as a free fishing day in 2015, and this proposal would make it a permanent free fishing day.
  • Additionally, to avoid confusion about the existing free fishing days in June, DEC is proposing the regulation be changed from “the weekend which includes the last Saturday in June,” to the “last full weekend in June.”

Defining specific free fishing days allows DEC to more effectively promote these days well in advance of their occurrence, ultimately increasing public participation. Furthermore, having a designated set of free fishing days allows those planning vacations around these dates to do so without issue.

Public comments are welcome through May 6, 2017, and can be emailed to fwfish@dec.ny.gov – enter “Free Sport Fishing Days” in the subject line.


Other Lake Champlain Fishing Articles:

Vermont F&W Seeks Let’s Go Fishing Program Instructors

Vermont F&W Seeks Let’s Go Fishing Program Instructors

Vermont F&W Seeks Let’s Go Fishing Program Instructors

Let’s Go Fishing Program Instructors


Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is seeking volunteers who would like to become ‘Let’s Go Fishing’ instructors so they can pass on Vermont’s fishing tradition to the next generation of Vermonters.

The department will be hosting a one-day, free training workshop for new instructors on Saturday, April 15, at the ANR Annex building, 190 Junction Road, Berlin, VT.

Instructors in the ‘Let’s Go Fishing’ program organize and instruct clinics in their communities for young people and their families. Participants in the training workshop will learn how to teach a fishing clinic, in addition to learning about fishing ethics, aquatic ecology, fisheries management, habitat conservation, and tackle craft. The class is informal, and it is not necessary to have a high level of fishing ability to become an instructor.



“Becoming an instructor will give you the opportunity to introduce Vermonters both young and old to the joys of fishing, while teaching them all they need to know to enjoy a day on the water,” said Corey Hart, Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s ‘Let’s Go Fishing’ coordinator. 



There is no charge for the training and all curriculum materials and lunch will be provided. The workshop runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Pre-registration is required, and you must be 18 years of age to take part. Register by April 10 by calling 802-505-5562 or emailing letsgofishing@vermont.gov. 


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