Massachusetts Fishing Report - March 15, 2018

Massachusetts Fishing Report

During a year when the Gregorian calendar and the meteorological calendar seem to be playing a game of hide and seek, the loser in all this is anyone who cares for trout. From the hatcheries to the districts that give the green light to specific stockings, the conditions have been horrible. Nevertheless, somehow these dogged fisheries folks are putting the trout where they are supposed to be this month – in the lakes, ponds and rivers!

If you are like most, while not nursing an aching lumbar from digging out, you’ve been transfixed by images on the tube of mother nature’s white wrath. The Southeast has particularly been hit hard with power outages and that includes the Sandwich Fish Hatchery, but I’ve been informed by a supervisor there that the hatchery was well-prepared and seamlessly flipped over to generator power. The biggest obstacle is that access to ponds and lakes has been abysmal. Those tasked with the drudgery of plowing snow have a nasty habit of burying boat ramps, inadvertently cutting off the ingress/egress of hatchery trucks. Masswildlife staff found the boat ramp at Long Pond in Plymouth hopelessly buried, so what did one of those guys do? He plowed it out himself! When you’re hooking into rainbow trout there this weekend, give a nod now and then to those Masswildlife folks who despite power outages and buried ramps, bring those trout to you.

The word from the Sandwich Hatchery is that the rainbow trout and brook trout this year are better fish than usual. Stocking in the Southeast District is expected to begin Friday. However, one of the biologists suggested that anglers don’t wait for the stockings. With such a brief ice fishing season, there should still be plenty of holdovers from the fall stocking and those fish by now should have put on size and spunk.

Somehow, someway the intrepid crew of the Northeast District seized on a brief opportunity to stock Hopkinton and Ashland Reservoirs with trout on Monday. Just in case a daredevil or two managed to sample the stocking pre-blizzard, I called the neighborhood tackle shop – Lunkers in Ashland – for an insider’s perspective. Eric, the owner, hadn’t heard of anyone catching yet, but anticipated plenty of participation by this weekend, despite the chilly temperatures predicted. In preparation, he’s doubled-down on fresh bait. I was glad that I was unable to reach anyone in the Northeast District for an update – that meant that they were busy on the field. Even when access is there, before stocking is approved, biologists sample the water for proper ph/oxygen levels. There is a strong possibility that on Friday, other water bodies in the Northeast District will also be stocked! If you insist on a saltier side to your fishing, here’s one to consider – pre-storm two buddies of mine tallied over 50 harbor holdover stripers during one outing, with one fish a 30-incher!

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

This is a watershed weekend – you’ll have fresh trout to catch! Stocking in the Northeast District is ongoing and odds are very good some Southeast water bodies will have newly stocked rainbows as well. Hopefully next week the other districts will follow suit. Keep a lookout on Masswildlife’s website for updates and try not to look too far ahead at next week’s weather.