Massachusetts Fishing Report - February 4, 2016

With Massachusetts ice melting faster than Alaska’s Muir Glacier, fishy fortunes of east verses west have flipped. A number of diehards determined to tempt fate have fallen through recently, even on water bodies in the Western part of the state! If ever there was truth to the expression “there is no such thing as safe ice,” now is it. Thankfully, open water is suddenly easy to find and the fish are hungry.

The other day I was on the lookout for some Greater Boston “Larrys” throughout the Mystic River and while my XL shiners drew much attention, all I had to show for my efforts were a few swings and misses. Sensing the possibility of fortune among my follies, my friends Carl and Dave downsized the bait in the same spot and had non-stop action on slab crappies! For obvious reasons, now I have crappie on the brain!

Pete from Belsan’s in Scituate suggests the Scituate Reservoir as a super crappie destination. Not only will shiners work but small jigs/grubs, Beetle Spins, Crappie Thunders and Road Runners will do the trick. Light line matters and sometimes suspending the artificial, like you would a shiner, under a small delicate float and then gently shaking or quivering the bait will work. Pitts Pond is another good South Shore crappie possibility as is Lilly Pond in Cohasset. For fast-paced pickerel give Jacob’s Pond a go. And if a lunker largemouth is your idea of a February gem, then a big shiner in Lilly Pond is a good bet. Long Pond sharpies have open water and cooperative holdover brown trout and rainbows to have fun with. It’s inexact but try casting a medium to large shiner to the bottom and rig with an egg sinker to allow the fish to swim away with the bait.

Some have even been bugging Mr. Belsan for seaworms for flounder, which should be stirring pretty soon. Flounder spawn in estuaries this time of the year but they don’t feed well until water temperatures near 50 degrees. Bay temperatures are much higher right now than last year at this time so we may see an earlier season than years past.

There is some good news regarding groundfishing. The New England Fisheries Management Council is moving toward increasing the GOM haddock bag limit for recreational anglers beginning May 1st to 15 fish per person. There’s also rumblings about a 1 cod per person limit in the GOM for a two consecutive month period this year. The changes are hardly cause for high-fives, but if anglers can set sail and harvest a decent amount of haddock, one good cod, and maybe a plethora of pollock, hake, red fish, cusk, etc., then it makes groundfishing in the GOM a heck of a lot more desirable than it currently is.

For trout, target inlets, culverts, spillways or anywhere you can find moving water. Eric from Lunkers in Ashland suggests the inlet off Route 85 in Hopkinton Reservoir as a possible early season holdover trout spot. While no confirmation about open water in Lake Cochituate, the hunch is the “wall” at the north pond should have been pounded by southern winds, be open, oxygenated and a draw for trout. Fairhaven Bay off the Sudbury River received scant attention from pike enthusiasts during the brief period it froze over resulting in less pressured pike and potentially better fishing for someone willing to launch a pram or kayak. This place is also packed with crappie which tend to fly under the radar of most anglers who fish it.

Rod from Arlington B&T said that both White and Walden ponds in Concord were giving up impressive brown and rainbow trout action before skimming over and both should be largely open now. He also recommends Horn Pond for holdover rainbows and both the Lower and Upper Mystic Lakes for bass, crappie and carp. A patron of the shop recently flashed a picture of an almost impossibly large striper which he just caught locally. While this guy’s understandably tight-lipped about the where, one possibility could be the Charles River by the effluence with the Muddy River or the Cambridge Parkway side from the hotwater discharge out toward the Hotel Sonesta. This place is a huge fishbowl where you could catch nearly anything which swims in these parts including holdover striped bass. Early season crappie may be stirring about now on the Muddy River side of the Charles.

On the North Shore, there is just enough ice on water bodies to thwart any sensible fishing attempts. Rivers are the exception with the menagerie of species which swim in the Merrimack River a standout. White catfish will scoff down a shiner, worm or even chicken liver where the mighty Merrimack meets up with the Spicket River, the Shawsheen River, the Concord River or at the effluence most any tributary. Slowly roll a spinnerbait just above the bottom, you could come tight to a smallie or a pike.

Fishing Forecast

Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde have nothing on the split personality of this winter. The only reasonable and safe fishing options right now are open water. If you’d like to target trout, try Long Pond in Plymouth or Walden or White’s in Concord. Crappie may be a more consistent catch and they should be feeding aggressively right now in the Scituate Reservoir as well as rivers such as the Charles and Mystic. While “junk” ice on many water bodies on the North Shore can be frustrating, the antidote could be a 3 – 4 pound white catfish from the Merrimack. And have you seen this coming week’s weather forecast? Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde would be proud!