While trout are the primary talk of the town, the arrival of river herring has some thinking salty thoughts! Prior to striper madness, some obsess about big water, big fish potential from Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs… and there’s a hint of some good things to come from at least one of those!
Some with a salty point of view don’t look to the arrival of migratory birds or the chirps of spring peepers as a sure sign of spring – they look to the arrival of herring. To that, a little bird told me that they are here… sort of! Wednesday, the Mystic River had a different feel and, more importantly, a different sound to it. Squawking, squabbling, diving gulls meant one thing – river herring have arrived earlier than usual. This is a wakeup call to the bigger holdover striped bass, wherever they roam. The bigger bass don’t do particularly well on typical freshwater forage. There’s a stark difference in the health of a 22” fish verses a 32” fish late winter/early spring. The smaller fish are paunchy, while the larger linesiders look as if they could use a good meal and it seems as if they are about to get it! The only caveat is the fish ball up, shadow the herring and can become fussy. This is, perhaps, a good thing because other than those holdovers, there isn’t much going on in the saltwater realm.
Freshwater is an entirely different story according to Pete Belsan of Belsan Bait in Scituate who told me that those targeting trout are encountering more than just the run-of-the-mill stockies. There are some impressive broodstock trout now swimming throughout the SE region of Masswildlife. In fact, two 21” brook trout were caught at Tack Factory Pond! Brookies have also been caught at Second Herring Brook running through Norris Reservation. The now ubiquitous rainbows are falling for yellow Berkley Power Eggs, Kamlooper Spoons, Kastmasters and Rooster Tails.
Lisa from Fore River in Quincy said she feels as if her shop is an information hotline as call after call is coming in asking if anyone is catching in the salt. However, something can be said for giving it a go and being the first to catch a flattie. There are plenty of participants in freshwater, thank goodness. Big brown trout have been taken on shiners at Long Pond in Plymouth; rainbows and brookies have also been caught there. Whitman’s Pond has been productive for perch and bass for shiner soakers. Lisa also recommends Ponkapoag in Canton for bass and pickerel and nearby Houghton’s for trout.
Brandon from Granby’s Bait proved the other day that not all stocked rainbows are cookie-cutter fish. At Little Alum Pond in Brimfield, in the midst of a 30 trout outing, he, along with friends, took trout up to 18 inches! The bigger bows were falling for small shiners and white/silver Rooster Tails. Fly-rod folks are doing well throughout the west branch of the Swift River, with a 6-pound brown taken upstream of the Route 9 Bridge.
My friend Russ Eastman, who manages the tackle department of Monahan Marine in Weymouth, trolled up several rainbows and browns up to 17” at South Pond in Sturbridge/East Brookfield. Russ found the trout suspended under landlocked alewives in 20 to 30 feet of water. Shiners were quickly gobbled up. A quick tip: try smudging BioEdge smelt wand on your shiners and see if your bite ratio does not improve!
Regarding smelt, some good news for the Quabbin faithful, according to Bill Martell of Gate 8 Bait and Swift River Candle Shop. After a few dismal years for smelt, the big reservoir may be poised for a better year. Reports of smelt swarming close to the Gate 8 shoreline are certainly encouraging. Incidentally if you were ever hoping to find a bait shop that your better half would find less olfactory-offensive thanks to the candles, this one might be it. While I haven’t been able to contact Rod from Flagg’s in Orange, who had been ill, Bill told me that his fellow shop owner has been back at work and feeling much better!
During a recent conversation with a Masswildlife biologist, the subject came up about the prolific pike population in the Merrimack River, and he floored me with news of walleye. Apparently, some taciturn ‘eye hunters have been whipping walleyes throughout the Merrimack River – including fish up to 10 pounds! It might be time to toss a jig/minnow or jig/dilly combination into depressions from the Lawrence Dam on up to see what you can find. This could be a fishery on the rise. Elsewhere anglers are catching plenty of trout from Sluice Pond, Pleasant Pond, Forest and Saltonstall. The added bonus of early season browns thrown into the mix is pretty cool!
Fishing Forecast
Trout are the safest bet as stocking remains underway throughout the Commonwealth, but not all fish are typical 13-inch “truck bows” as this year’s allotment includes impressive breeders as well. For the possibility of bigger trout, target deep water bodies, which are heavily stocked and have the capability of holding over fish throughout the year. Long Pond in Plymouth is a possibility for better fish as is Walden and White’s in Concord. Pleasant Pond in Wenham occasionally holds over bigger-than-average brown trout. South Pond in the Sturbridge area is the state’s only designated “trophy” brown trout water body and often lives up to its billing. In the western portion of the state, Onota is a best bet according to Jim from JCB. Of course with herring coursing their natal rivers, holdover stripers are no doubt stirring and that is good news for those who can’t wait until May for the “reel madness” to begin!
Event:
L.L. Bean in Freeport is hosting their annual Spring Fishing Event this weekend! Whether you’re a seasoned angler or just starting out, improve your skills with FREE clinics on fly casting, essential knots, fly tying and more. Check out the latest gear, get answers to your questions from our experts and bring the kids along for some fishing fun. Check out the full schedule of clinics, seminars, lessons and kids activities here!
When is Walden ma, being stocked? And also when should winter flounder start to bite steadily
Noah, I’d say either this week or next for Walden. That water temperature has to rise into the upper 40 degree mark before the flounder really start feeding, hopefully soon!
Walden was stocked this past week. As for winter flounder, 3/27 after 3pm (lol)
I have read where the state of ma has changed the formulation of fish feed in hatcheries so as to make the meat of the fish pink. Yesterday I saw two stocked rainbows that had been caught and their colors were way beyond anything I have seen before – was this the result of food too?