Fish with a Warden Boosts Community Ties
- I
- Aug 31, 2025
- 5 min read
On a still summer evening within the Groton State Forest on August 7th, a crew ready to fish united for the Fish with a Warden event. These events at the surface are a mentorship opportunity for people to meet their local Game Warden with any questions they may have about fishing in Vermont, but a catalyst for community that turns fishing into the shared laughs that ripple longer than the day itself.
“We can geek out as much as they want, but also assume nothing from the beginning,” said Ali Thomas, director of the Outreach Division for the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Fish with a Warden is an opportunity for people to learn, bond with their community, and create memories.
To participate you need to bring your own equipment and have a fishing license - the last event of the summer is August 21st, at the Little River Dam in Waterbury, VT, according to the VFWD website.
Ricker Mills pond was the host of this clinic and is home to, “a nice peninsula… that gets you out into the lake a little bit. It’s kind of a unique geographical feature to have at this specific site.” Apologies to anyone who’ve tried to gate keep this pond.
“Fishing is fishing, not catching. So you never know what’s gonna happen,” Thomas explained. But the aim is to catch, and she was putting most of her energy into supporting Johnny Zampieri, the youngest member of today’s group, who is entering second grade this fall. Thomas describes herself as, “not a big bass angler for that species myself, but it’s fun, it’s cool, and I want Johnny to get one tonight because they jump hard.”
Vermont schools first trialed varsity bass fishing in 2018, according to the Times Argus, but became official in 2019.
“I think all sports, including bass fishing, are great because it gets people active. The fact it connects them to natural resources, water quality, stream bank health, regulations and understanding why it matters that we regulate and study (these systems) - the more people who care the better,” Thomas gave as her opinion of varsity bass fishing in the state.
The group waited as one last person was expected to arrive. “I had someone call me who moved here from New York City like a minute ago (at a minimum of 7 31/60 minutes ago in reality). He’s like ‘I want to fish!’ Well, this is where you gotta come.” That’s when Paul Milioto pulled in.
“Oh man! We might need more worms,” Johnny exclaimed. Thomas reassured him that they should have more than enough to go around, but Johnny continued, “They snag me pretty fast because she talks to me too much.”
Roxanna Zampieri, Johnny’s mother, questioned, “Who?” “You,” Johnny swiftly replied.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re fishing,” Roxanna said. But Johnny was right to worry about being too talkative.
“One thing with fishing is it’s really good to kind of be quiet because fish actually are able to hear and feel vibrations,” Thomas explained quietly while coaching Johnny, “when you see it, take it, you gotta be gentle and patient.”
“Oh, oh, it took mine, it took mine,” Johnny said. He switched from narrating the fish to himself, “pull it in, pull it in… fish on!”
He proudly showed everyone the first catch of the day, a pumpkinseed, which became his favorite catch of the day. While he didn’t find the bass Thomas hoped he’d find, Johnny’s aunt, Rebecca Zampieri, said, “I think he improved on his casting.”
Johnny’s tackle box was passed down from Roxanna & Rebecca’s father and had some relics of the past including some lead weights. Thomas advised, “just don’t use them in freshwater in Vermont, because that’s illegal, because lead is illegal.”
No matter the fishing event, Thomas explained that they always begin by explaining how to navigate the Vermont Fishing Guide. It is available online, or in print anywhere you can buy a license.
The guide is fairly straightforward. There are tips on fishing, different types of license options, and a list of the future events the department will host. Three tables separate information on fishing within the Connecticut River, Lake Champlain, and general fishing rules, but there are sometimes specifics for individual bodies of water, all with the goal of uplifting the Vermont ecosystem. “Whether you did it on purpose or not, if you take a fish that shouldn’t be taken, it still affects the population,” Nate Lumsden stressed, the warden of this region of Vermont.
“You’ve got to do your homework if you plan on keeping fish and eating them,” said Lumsden, “which we encourage.”
Groton is one of seven total towns in Lumsden’s jurisdiction, but seven holds a surprising amount of action. Earlier that day he was out searching for a feral hog someone released, which is particularly a negative within the Vermont ecosystem.
“They dig up roots, ruin native plants, but they’re also really aggressive… I know people hunt them from helicopters because they’re so dangerous on the ground,” Thomas added.
Lumsden may find himself enforcing ATV laws by day and preventing poaching by flashlight by night, but while he has “full law enforcement power, we typically try to stick to fish and wildlife enforcement.”
To find your local warden, there’s a convenient table and map on the VFWD website.
“It’s fun, it’s a unique job. I get to do events like this, and then I get to do stuff like traditional law enforcement, writing tickets, pulling people over, that kind of thing,” said Lumsden as Johnny’s echo crossed the pond, “Guys look! Emergency!”
The group sensed a lack of urgency in Johnny’s urgent vocabulary and meandered over. Thomas’s words didn’t travel as far, giving the others a preface that, “it’s not an emergency, he just found a tadpole.” A bullfrog in its final stages of change. After the excitement settled, Thomas suggested, “let’s leave it in here because it’ll survive. You know out in the water, it’s gonna be bass food.”
Roxanna was right from the beginning, Fish with a Warden is way more than the fishing or the warden.
Fish with a Warden is the shared moments along the dock where inherited tackle boxes resurrect family trips to Maine. Johnny’s special interest in caves that reminded Thomas of a fearful spelunking trip out in Wisconsin. Or Milioto’s solo fishing trip where a beluga went underneath his boat, he oared to shore post-broken motor, and paid some people $30 to tow him while he sat out back snapper fishing. On the surface this opportunity teaches how to get into the mind of a fish, but the real catch is the lines cast between people and the community they shape.
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