Massachusetts Fishing Report - January 15, 2015

Optimum black ice with little snow cover has resulted in impressive hardwater activity. And the results are showing this…it was a week for trophies! If there is a downside, it is that bait shops are selling out shiners early. With the long weekend upon us, you’re most likely aspiring to double down ice-fishing efforts, so if you’re planning on a bucket full of bait it’d be wise not to delay.

Jim from JCB in Cheshire was talking in terms of a magic trap when we spoke. One of his sons last Saturday was getting a lot of pike love from a single tip-up that just wouldn’t let him be. A 12-pound toothy, a 9 and yet another had the flag flying incessantly. The pike have really turned on there and there have been reports of pike from Pontoosuc as well. The trigger for the toothy tear, according to Jim, was the full moon. Striper hounds view the full moon as wearily as a werewolf, feeling that it’s a big bass bite killer for a fish that is most active at night, but a diurnal feeder such as a pike it may be an impetus. Jim is betting there will be a 20-pounder taken from that area soon; so it might be time to consult a lunar chart! News of northerns has been siphoning sportsmen for high-elevation honey holes, so Jim is thinking now may be a good time to revisit the higher elevation “Hill Town Ponds” which are going to be less harried now.
Rod from Flagg’s in Orange said that a 31” pickerel and a 1 ¾-pound jumbo yellow perch were taken from a “trout pond”, namely Sheomet or Clubhouse Pond. Trout water often holds big warm-water species which few target. One of the biggest pickerel I ever saw I took inadvertently in a trout pond. My plan was to focus in on hawg largemouth, and no sooner had the shop owner topped off my bucket with out-sized shiners than I learned a nearby pond had just been stocked. The possibility of non-stop action was too much to pass on, so I set up my traps with the big bait there anyway while I jigged for trout. Soon a flag flew and I iced a pickerel the likes I’ve never seen. Consider it frozen food for thought.

Incidentally that huge pickerel was caught, measured and released. Masswildife now has a catch-and-release category for the Sportfishing Awards Program so you can catch, release and still get credit! Not many shops are aware of this, so have the information up on your phone/tablet to show them.

Jim from Barry’s in Worcester was in the process of acquiring 400 pounds of mixed sizes of shiners when we spoke, hoping that this time he wouldn’t run out by Saturday! With a never-ending stream of anglers tackling pike in Quabog Pond, The Oxbow, Lake Chauncy and Lake Quinsigamond there is little wonder. Warm-water species winners are Lake Ripple and Flint Pond and for smallies Jim suggests Webster Lake. A top rod patron of the shop jigs and moves throughout Webster until he finds the smallies stacked like cordwood and then he puts a major hurt on them. Discerning electronics helps as does an alluring blade bait. Two deadly fish finders that I’ve been hearing good things about from New Hampshire registered guide Tim Moore are Clamcorp’s new Blade Jig and their Blade Spoon. These are great tools for carving out dead water and finding the fish.
Eddie of B&A in said that Comet in Hubbardston is still producing a menagerie of different trout species. East Waushacum has been giving up big bass. For pike check out Indian Lake and for pickerel, panfish as well as largemouth bass consider Clinton’s South Meadow Pond or Moosehorn Pond. If you’d prefer a few more warm water species options there’s Peter Carr Pond as well as Eagle Lake in Holden.
Dave from Merrimack Sports had no northern news for me but I’m sure that customers aren’t buying up all his big bait for bluegills. Pike prowl among the Merrimack, Concord and Shawsheen rivers with an occasional walleye even figuring in the mix in the Merrimack. The trout catch has been great at Baldpate and even the high-profile Plugs Pond. For bass you’ll have a hard time topping Lake Attitash. Want proof? Dave told me that during a tournament last year 50 5-pound-plus largemouth were caught and released there. Nearby Tewksbury Pond can be a productive alternative.
Eric from Lunker’s in Ashland told tails of another toothy kind, namely pickerel which are providing steady action nearly everywhere. He and pals tore through 10 dozen shiners at Dudley Pond in Wayland! If you’re looking to hook a kid on ice fishing and in the process hook quite a few pickerel, then this place should be high on your list! Eric’s heard of a few Fairhaven Bay pike that have been caught yet nothing out of Heard or Cochituate which also have pike. They’re taking trout from Walden Pond as well as White Pond. Walden has some superb smallmouth bass in it but it is deep and you’ll have to do some searching but once you find them, hold on. One of Eric’s associates took a 5-3 largemouth from the A-1 Site and it was one of a bunch of bass. This spot also holds pike.

Thank goodness hardwater heaven extends to the Southeast where Scituate has been sizzling according to Pete from Belsan’s. Pitt’s Pond has been producing slab crappie between 1 and 2 pounds! Five- to six-pound largemouth have been lipped at Lilly Pond. For jumbo perch, Pete is pointing patrons toward Scituate Reservoir. Hardwater junkies are jamming then at Jacob’s Pond where you’ll find a mixture of warm water species. Plymouth is the place for trophy trout with Little and Long Ponds having sterling reputations for big browns, brookies and ‘bows.

Fishing Forecast

Hopefully you have a holiday this Monday to enjoy the hardwater heaven that seems boundless. Grab a jig stick, a tungsten jig tipped with grubs and pound perch out of the Scituate Reservoir or maybe slam a slab crappie out of Pitts. If bass are more to your liking smallies in Walden Pond are an unsung hero and the largemouth bass bite at the A-1 Site has been awesome. Comet in Hubbardston remains one of the more consistent for trout in Central Massachusetts while “trout water” in the Connecticut Valley Region such as Clubhouse Pond have been producing plus-size perch and pickerel. Cheshire Reservoir is due for a twenty-pound toothy and up north there are probably similar-sized pike prowling among quitter stretches of the Merrimack, Concord and Shawsheen Rivers.