If you’re one of the legions of linesider chasers in the last few years who have made soft-plastic stickbaits standard issue in your lure arsenal, then no doubt you’ve heard of Bill Hurley. Bill and I have loosely made plans for everything from bluefin to bass but none have come to fruition. But this time he’s made me an offer I just can’t refuse, and ironically the quarry lives far removed from the salt!
I expect to hear from Bill of a red-hot striper bite in The Canal or of tuna trauma in Cape Cod Bay, but superb salmon fishing in Western Mass? That last one was hardly tops on the list of temptations I expected to get from my friend, but such was the case with a recent email invite. In a non-descript tributary of the Quabbin, just off the western shore of this mammoth Massachusetts sweet water body, Bill Hurley found spawning landlocked salmon in every pool he sought them. These breeders averaged 23 inches long, and while a tough bite, they were taking an occasional weighted nymph. Bill fished conservatively, snapped a few photos then released the fish and mainly just watched this unique spectacle as the landockeds, all ablaze with spawning hues, went about their business.
The only “competition” for the prized salmon was an occasional very attentive osprey or eagle watching from a roost. If you don’t know the area, then Google it, put on some comfortable, waterproof boots, bring your camera and favorite fly or spinning rod and get set for a special expedition. Just make sure you heed the Masswildlife regulations for this area, such as: catch-and-release fly fishing only in the Swift River from the Winsor Dam to Rte. 9 and from Rte. 9 to Cady Lane and catch-and-release from July 1–Dec. 31 (artificials only). And above all, do not enter the Quabbin Reservoir Reservation with a fishing rod; Quabbin proper is closed to angling until next April.
Fresh from having a banner brown trout outing last week at Lake Quacumquasit in Sturbridge/ Brookfield, Russ Eastman of Monahan Marine was looking to swap numbers for size as he shoved off at the boat ramp this past weekend. Seldom do plans go as intended but on this day things went perfectly as Russ and his buddy Rich, took less fish but bigger with trout to just under 4 pounds! With water temperatures becoming more uniform, the fish are roaming more, so you’ll need a fishfinder to find them. The hot spot for Russ and Rich was on a sloping section of the bottom that plummeted from 20 feet to 50. Shiners work well, but I bet if you placed a streamer, such as a Canopache or Winnie Squid, in front of their noses you’d catch fish as well. Just make sure you emulate the top-rod anglers in Quabbin and smudge BioEdge smelt wand on the dressing of the streamer.
Quacumquasit, or South Pond as it is more commonly referred to, harbors far larger brown trout than 4-pounders. I recall hearing from Steve Previte, who is a friend of a friend, a few years ago of a 9-pound-plus pig of a brown trout that he took while jigging through the ice. The fish hit a Swedish Pimple that he attached to a wispy jigging rod and only 4-pound test. I’m fairly certain that that brown took the gold pin honors for Masswildlife’s fishing derby that year. To lure a weary big brown trout to hit, you should plan on downsizing if need be; bring an ultra-light set-up in case the fish turn their noses up on your conventional wares.
The following summer Steve took a big toothy pike out of the Merrimack River while cranking in a spinnerbait that was intended for a smallmouth bass. The Merrimack gets scant attention from most Esox enthusiasts, but numbers of fish here seem to be growing. If you’d like to get a crack at a serious northern this fall you could do worse than spend some time casting along the banks of the Merrimack River. While asking Don from Merrimac Sports if there was any pike action in Lake Attitash in Amesbury, he told me, “yeah, but not nearly as good as the Merrimack River.” Northerns are nothing if not nomadic, but one of the more steady spots seems to be where the Shawsheen River melds with the Merrimack.
For an idea of what works when trying to entice a pike, I asked Eric from Lunkers in Ashland. Lunkers B&T caters to patrons who seek toothies among the Sudbury River, so Eric is no stranger to what pike like. He suggests big, bright spinners such as the biggest Mepps you can find, spinnerbaits, and broken-back type swimmers such as Rapalas. Pike are voracious predators so if you pick one up in the shop that your instincts tell you to pass on because it appears too big for fresh water, fret not – pike view a 2-pound fish as lunch! For colors go with firetiger, gold and orange, and also bring along more natural presentations such as silver/black.
I often say that everything grows bigger in Wachusett Reservoir. And with the current burgeoning smelt population, this may become a mantra. The other day on the Rte. 70 side of the ‘Chu, I was getting my clock cleaned by two accomplished anglers on both sides of me as the lakers appeared to be in the shallower water they were fishing as opposed to the labyrinth I was working with my spoons. But you never stop wishing in Wachusett. Pretty close to the top of my list in the reservoir was a big pin-sized white perch. Halfway in as I jigged a 1-ounce blue/chrome Acme Trophy spoon, I got a pretty respectable wallop that was followed by an unusual fight. Shortly thereafter I beached my personal best “mighty whitey,” a nice perch that appeared to be just under 2 pounds. I was encouraged to see milt streaming from this plump fish; I promptly had my buddy Carl Hewitt snap a quick picture of the fish and I let it free to make more trophy white perch. The eagle that paid rapt attention to every fish we released was a sweet bonus. But you had better get your Wachusett Reservoir fix in soon because the season ends November 30th!
Best Bets
Other than a second helping of stuffing or a nice slice of pumpkin pie, you can’t beat the brown trout action at Lake Quacumquasit. Of course if you’re feeling guilty from glutinous overindulgence on Thanksgiving, head out and explore some of the pristine landlocked salmon streams among the Quabbin watershed. Time may be running out on Wachusett, but you can still fit in a few days for forktails and the myriad of other gamesters that lurk throughout the 37 miles of shoreline. While you may have no room for another bite, the pike have other intentions at the Sudbury and Merrimack rivers. Have a super Turkey Day, and if you need an excuse to avoid Mall-Mania, tell them that you have to go fishing to work off all those calories!
Are there any Pike in the Ashland/Hopkinton area of the Sudbury?