If you’re stuck in a saltwater frame of mind and not patronizing freshwater, then I’m afraid you are just wishing rather than fishing. For those still in the game, every season has its piscatorial purpose and tops on that list right now is trout most everywhere and toothies up north.
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
Pete of Belsan’s in Scituate said that some of his customers were beginning to get frozen-water cravings from last week’s chill, which skimmed over smaller local water bodies. Hopefully, the tease will be a reality come the back nine of December. However, some are already indulging their sweetwater tooth with willing rainbows from Little and Long ponds in Plymouth. The other late fall favorite is big black bass, which cruise the edges of withering weed beds in Lilly Pond, Jacob’s Pond and Norwell Reservoir.
Save the specialist stuff for when water temperatures are up and the fish are less fussy. When waters chill to where they are now, it’s hard to top the meat option and a lively shiner dangled in front of the considerable maw of a hawg largemouth. Pete also pointed out how hot local cranberry bogs are where a shiner could draw fire from not only a bass but some solid pickerel.
For saltwater options, there seems to be only one choice and it’s a big choice at that – giant bluefin from Cape Cod Bay through the Gulf Of Maine! Lobstermen pals of Pete’s are reporting plenty of pelagics out there and because of the obvious weather complications, the fish are outlasting the fishermen.
Lisa from Fore River Bait And Tackle in Quincy said that many are looking for reports without being the ones to deliver them. Smelt fishermen are a decidedly taciturn bunch and not prone to boasting about their catches. Regardless, anglers are buying gills of grass shrimp from the shop and giving it a go. Come December, smelt begin transitioning more towards tributaries where they will eventually spawn. One of those spawning spots is the Town Brook in Quincy. The Belle Isle Creek and Chelsea Creek are other easy access upstream choices.
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem last Friday had a Black Friday sale that even an angler could appreciate. While business was brisk, he still has plenty of frugally priced goodies for the saltwater angler. What could be brisker is local angling. Tomo’s top (and only!) choice was sea herring, which some patrons are taking advantage of from the shore of Jamestown Rhode Island. It shouldn’t take much prodding to get Tomo to pick out the perfect Sabiki for those sea herring.
It’s time to play taps on another season for Wachusett Reservoir. All that fun among all that water comes to an end on Friday, November 30th as the season closes until (ordinarily!) the first Saturday in April. During the offseason, anglers can still fish big chunks of the Quinapoxett River and the Stillwater River. With water levels as historically high as they are, provided that Doctor Freeze doesn’t lock everything up too soon, the Stillwater Basin should have lake trout nearly all winter. According to Eddie of B&A in West Boylston, with Wachusett it all comes down to access – or more appropriately the lack of it. With sky-high water levels anglers continue to employ an interesting mixture of bushwhacking/angling just to find a place to cast. Best bets for access for Friday’s final hurrah is Gate 19, 25 and 36. That’s the bad news, the good news is that should you find a place to cast, odds are good a laker will sniff out your shiner, Krocodile or Kastmaster. The forktails are fat, feisty and in some cases sporting spawning hues.
Rod from Flagg’s in Orange said that in hindsight the Quabbin Reservoir salmon season was a highly productive one as smelt numbers have rebounded. Few species are as dependent on a specific type of forage as salmon are to smelt and most fish landed this past year reflected a robust smelt population. Smelt abundance is cyclical and after several poor years, the news of an uptick in numbers usually means that that trend should continue for a few seasons. Of course, Quabbin is now closed to angling until the third Saturday in April, but why wait? The historic rainfall has washed lake trout and landlocked salmon from the Quabbin into the Swift River and the Belchertown section of the river is hopping with both species as well as the more traditional stocked trout. Rod is a master fly tier and you can bet he can pick out for you just the right pattern for the mixed bag of salmonoids which call the Swift River home. Rod said that the Miller River remains a torrent that is not fishable.
Even the most optimistic of us knows that as the calendar is ready to flip to December, there are slim pickings until the ice forms. However, after a brief conversation with David of Merrimack Sports, I was beginning to believe otherwise. Pike are on the feed throughout the Merrimack and Concord rivers. A couple of the better spots are at the Merrimack River by the Ogden Martin Power Plant in Haverhill as well as where the Spicket River dumps into the river in Lawrence. The need for those northerns on the feed is resulting in the shop doubling down in keeping choice big baits in stock. Round Pond in Haverhill has been giving up some big brown trout up to 4 pounds. Bump up your shiner size if you want to coax a hit from one of these major browns. For largemouth, some big ones have been caught and released out of Boxford/Groveland’s Johnson’s Pond. When asked “how big”, David just let out a whistle!
Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts
It surely shortens the lag time of the offseason when hooked up to a giant bluefin. Should you have the ride at the ready and the fortitude to do it, monsters are lurking at the edges of Stellwagen right now. For something a little more pedestrian than picking a December fight with a pelagic, there’s the trout option among Plymouth’s Little and Long ponds. Closer to Boston, there’s always the Jamaica Pond option. Owing to its depth and frequent visits from the stocking trucks, fall/winter can be very rewarding at this under-appreciated urban gem. Farther north the pike bite is on right now among the Merrimack River, Concord River, and Shawsheen River. Why wait for the ice?