Massachusetts Fishing Report – April 23, 2015

Anglers from all across Massachusetts took to opening day at Wachusett and Quabbin Reservoirs like landlocked salmon after smelt. Yet, surprisingly, much of the talk among these wild places was about stocked trout! Some life is starting to stir in the salt as reports of flounder are slowly circulating and there’s even hubbub about holdover stripers, and it has nothing to do with Boston Harbor!

Wachusett Reservoir just might be suffering from the “too much of a good thing” malady. As the smelt stock remains healthy, the cold-water gamesters don’t stray too far from the bait balls. Many types of smaller schooling fish shoal tightly to limit predation and smelt are no exception. If you’re fortunate enough to be wetting a line close to the intersection of bait and predator then odds are good you’ll be catching. But should all those critters be one gate over, then you’re out of luck. If ever there was a time to pack light and keep on the lookout for lakers and the other salmonids, it is now.

On Tuesday I was fishing next to a bunch of guys in a high-profile honey hole and about all we caught were raindrops. A short while later, a couple of DCR Rangers happened by and told us of bedlam at the opposite side of Wachusett where loons, lakers and some very impressive rainbows apparently found the forage. The only loons we saw were a few luckless searchers who soon flew away in search of something to eat. Birds pointing the way is standard business in the salt, but sometimes it applies to freshwater as well. If you’re out of luck on the ‘Chu, keep one eye peeled for loons; where you find them you just may find the fish! While there has been no confirmed catches of lunker lakers, two-pound-class crappie and white perch have been taken. But like much of the Commonwealth, arguably the most impressive fish have been stocked rainbows with many topping 2 pounds!

If your lake luck is lacking at Wachusett, then consider Quabbin. According to Rod from Flagg’s, several patrons who fished shiners at Gate 37 limited out and ran out of bait the other morning by mid-morning. Catches have also been good at Gates 16 and 35. Five-thousand beautiful rainbow trout were recently stocked in Quabbin and anglers were nearly shoulder to shoulder at Gate 31 to have a crack at them. Several of the fish were well over 2 pounds! Those fishing by the baffle curtain at Gate 31 and finding willing lake trout.

Pete from Belsan in Scituate said that some impressive brown trout up to 3.8 pounds have been caught in the Indian Head River. Word is that 1500 trout were recently stocked there. Some are hoping that more than a few will survive the angling surge and eventually make it downstream into the North River estuary and lead to a rebirth of the once thriving sea-run brown trout fishery. Pete recommends a “blow-up” worm for the brown trout. They are also catching trout at the First Herring River. Herring have been pouring in, in impressive numbers at the North River as well as the Town River in Plymouth. Finally, the first verified flounder catch of the budding season! Some were caught on seaworms from Scituate Harbor.

Regarding flounder, Russ Eastman of Monahan Marine heard of a few flatties that were caught off Deer Island Flats. When asked if he was planning on going, he said he was having too much fun poking around for 2-pound plus rainbows at the Deerfield River. Typical of this time of year, rivers are cooking so it’d be wise to search for eddies and other current cushions where the trout will lie. The venerable Kastmaster was the ticket for Russ and his buddy Dana as the density of this spoon as well as its hydrodynamic properties allows it to dig deeply into a sturdy current.

Paul from Bob’s Bait Shack in Winthrop saw a picture of herring stacked up against the Charles River locks just waiting to file in. This might be just the wakeup call holdover stripers need to strap on their feedbags by the hotwater discharge downstream of the Longfellow Bridge. While you’re at the Charles, check for crappie by the Muddy River side. Soon they will swarm among spent weed stalks and spawn. Anglers are having difficulty accessing the Lynn Harbor shoreline behind the Walmart as there are still remnants of the massive “snow mountains” of this past winter. It’s worth keeping lookout here since this harbor has habitually been one of the first to reward with flounder in early spring.

Laura from Ippi’s in Lynn said that the rainbows that were stocked in Sluice are huge! Power eggs floated 3’ off the bottom are working best. Ippi’s has conspired with the Lynn Fish & Game club to put on an imminent derby at Sluice.

Noel from Bridge Street Sports in Salem said that two keeper holdover stripers were recently taken in the North River in Salem! A 29” and 32” fell for clams there! He suggests an outgoing tide on a sunny day as that muddy bottom heats up and wakes up winter-over striped bass. A few flounder were taken off Fisherman’s Beach in Swampscott but the going will be slow until water temperatures close in on 50 degrees.

According to Dave from Merrimack Sports, a few shad have been taken at Rocks Village at West Newbury. It’s hardly lock-and-load stuff but it’s a beginning.