Maybe Masswildlife should make a public service announcement, something on the order of, “Attention! Trout have been stocked!” It wasn’t all that long ago when the last-of-the-season stocking was as greatly anticipated as the spring stocking, but bait and tackle shop owners are puzzled by the lack of interest. However, the few that have got game are catching a lot of trout! Elsewhere pike are pleasing those that are pursing them in the Merrimack Valley and recent results at Wachusett Reservoir show that this is one hot salmon and trout fishery.

Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Reports

Sadly, saltwater news has been reduced to a veritable “Cliff Notes” version of what it was just a few weeks ago. Stripers can still be found among river systems that harbor herring, but it’s getting to be tough. Much of the herring fry have transitioned to the sea and with them went most of the bass, but a few will holdover throughout the winter. If you don’t mind the cold and are willing to hunt around, you can find them. Some pockets of fish will be found well upstream in these rivers, where freshwater fish will be on their menus as herring numbers further wane.

While the smelt season has been less than stellar this season, Rick Newcomb from Fore River Bait and Tackle in Quincy thinks he knows why. According to Rick, the patterns are likely to be a bit behind previous years because of the warmer than usual early fall, and now is the time to begin looking for these silver streakers in earnest. Only now can the smelt come into the shallows of bays, marshes and rivers and not fear being engulfed by hungry stripers. Ironically it has been a banner year for grass shrimp and Fore River has them in stock, big and lively, each weekend. Perennial places that are worth a go are the piers of Hull from A Street to Pemberton Pier. The Hull Harbor wall and most any piers/floats you can gain access to in Hingham Harbor. Hewitts Cove, Nut Island, the Summer Street Bridge and the Town River behind the CVS on the Southern Artery have all been good to smelt fishermen in years past. Last year, there was even a decent bite of smelt off the piers that line the Cape Cod Canal!

A better bet for consistent action is courtesy of mackerel and harbor pollock. Mackerel are still present in good numbers just offshore from The Gurnet to Gloucester. And speaking of Gloucester, Salem’s Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle and Noel from Bridge Street Sports told me that there’s a pretty steady bite of pollock and mackerel off the Dogbar Breakwater at the mouth of Gloucester Harbor. Two patrons of Noel recently jigged up 15 macks and Tomo reported action among a number of the piers and docks that define Gloucester Harbor.

There is some good news for those who would like to catch hickory shad, which are an acrobatic, hard-charging and predaceous member of the herring family capable of growing to 1½ pounds. Numbers of these fish appear to be up. We have been seeing them in increasing volume in the Winthrop area over the last few years and they have become almost omnipresent in the Salem/Beverly area. Typical of members of the shad family, the bite is best after dark and they will hit all manner of flies, spinners and small spoons. Noel’s nephew has spent three days seeking smelt and while he only has 2 fish to show for his efforts, the action has been hot for hickories. Take along a light trout rod and toss out a 1/8-ounce Kastmaster and you may find the hickories more impressive than the stocked rainbows.

Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Reports

Some of the rainbows swimming in Wachusett Reservoir however are in another category entirely. Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle in West Boylston weighed in two pink-striped beauties of 4 pounds, 2 ounces and 2 pounds, 15 ounces. “Footballs” was the term Eddie used to describe these fish, which were plucked out of the Stillwater and Quinapoxet Rivers. As befitting a fish that is known to feast on salmon eggs, the most successful anglers are duping the rainbows into believing their offering is salmon eggs. Landlocked salmon are gathered in pools and some are on redds throughout the Stillwater River from the basin all the way up to Rte. 195; some of the fish are 4 ½-pound plus specimens. Those that are looking for the true heavyweight of the Res’ should bounce gold and blue/chrome ¾- to 1-ounce Kastmasters and Trophy Spoons at the edge of drop-offs by Gate 8, 13, 22, 30 and 35.

Rod from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange said that Lake Mattawa is brimming with ‘bows and almost no one is fishing for them. Rod recommends the inlet by the boat ramp as a good place to start. Other options are North and South Spectacle Ponds where you may slam a slab crappie. Crappie, especially big ones, are nocturnal feeders, and you’ll fare best from false dawn to just past daybreak. I prefer the pink/yellow Blakemore Crappie Thunder jig/spinbait. Folks taking the trek behind the shop to Lake Rohunta with a bucket full of sloshing shiners are having no problem catching largemouth bass.

Some shops just seem to always have big bait on hand; such is the case with Merrimac Sports in Merrimac. The tanks in the shop are full of magnum-sized baits just looking for something with an over-sized appetite and maw and shop regular David just might have the place and the quarry – pike out of Lake Cochichewick in North Andover. Lord knows where they came from, but there are toothies swimming around in this lake and come mid-November it is feeding time. The Merrimack River and its tributaries are also home to a burgeoning population of pike as well and floating a big shiner in the shadow line of a bridge or wherever the other rivers in the watershed join up could catch you a pike.

New Hampshire and Southern Maine Fishing Report

Tim of Suds ‘N Soda in Greenland told me that some of the best big bronzeback fishing of the season is taking place right now in the Granite State. The numbers will not reflect a lot of fish but the chances are the ones you catch will be big. A slow presentation of a bladebait or jig/soft craw imitator or tube in the midst of rockpiles in 20 feet of water should catch you smallies from Stinson Lake in Rumney or Lake Tarleton in Piedmont; a side benefit of these two waterbodies is that there is no closed season there for trout. For plucking out panfish such as white perch, give Goose Pond in Canaan a shot. Tim recommends Lake Fork Live Magic Shads for bait, especially in the sun perch color.

Peter from Saco Bay Tackle told me that there were more options than most would realize in Maine. Some are poking around the Saco River working flies and spinners in search of brown trout among dams that dot the watershed. One spot that sticks out is Parson’s Park. Similar sport can be had among the Kennebec River for browns and brookies. When asked about the historic sea-run brown trout fisheries in the Mousam and Ogunquit Rivers, Peter told me that a few hardcore anglers still pursue these wily fish with flies tied to mimic crustaceans and small gold spoons such as Little Cleos.

Best Bets for the Weekend

Mid-November in New England in modern times means freshwater fishing! Newly stocked trout are numerous in Long Pond in Plymouth, Ashland Reservoir in the Metrowest area, Lake Mattawa in Orange, Horn Pond in the Northeast and Plug’s Pond up north. There’s a toothy presence as pike prowl among the Merrimack River and Lake Cochichewick in North Andover. Saltwater Bay State best bets are mackerel and pollock in Gloucester Harbor and hickory shad in the Salem/Beverly area. Out west the tributaries of Wachusett Reservoir host blue ribbon trout and salmon fishing that rivals most anything in New England. And up north, smallmouth bass and trout are the name of the game from New Hampshire’s Stinson Lake to Maine’s Kennebec River.