April has brought along more than just chirping spring peepers and budding trees with two of the more exciting fishing prospects being Wachusett Reservoir and walleye on the Connecticut River! Closer to the coast, the salt is slow to pick up but there is redemption in the form of stocking trucks which continue to splash in rainbows and their cousins.
Freshwater Fishing Report for Massachusetts
Eddie of B&A in West Boylston and I flipped rolls recently as he was the one calling me the other day to report that the mighty ‘Chu was a go for this Saturday, April 6th! Similar to last year the water level is extremely high. The good news is that at this time of the year with lakers in close as well as following schools of smelt those fish fish can be anywhere, even in ridiculously skinny water. They will be especially shallow at dusk, dawn and on cloudy days. I’m also a big fan of fishing into the teeth of a south east to south west wind, I’ve found those conditions blow in bait and the predators. Watch the shoreline for signs of smelt, should you find them than odds are you’re on a honey hole. Lure selections should include 5/8th ounce Krocodiles as well as 1/2 to 1 ounce Kastmasters. Assault their senses with firetiger selections when conditions are dark and then go “natural” when the sun’s up. Metallic perch, red/gold and blue/chrome will always be well represented in my ‘Chu back pack. If you’d rather not jockey for position for preferred spots with the rest of the pre-dawn commandos than consider showing up in the afternoon. If you’ve never done it, you’d be surprised at how many exhausted anglers are calling it a day, leaving select spots there for the pickings for the late risers!
Rod from Flagg’s in Orange said that in spite of Gate 31 still socked in with ice, Quabbin Reservoir should be a go, two weeks from this Saturday. The only caveat is that water levels are at a 15 year high!
Meanwhile Lake Mattawa has been giving up holdover browns up to 4 pounds from the fall stocking. Locally Connor Pond in Petersham has freshly stocked rainbows.
Believe it or not, Clubhouse Pond and Moore’s Pond still have a contingent of hard core hardwater fanatics fishing on up to 18” of ice! It never ceases to amaze me when Patrick Barone of Charter The Berkshires casually talks of catching walleye – in Massachusetts! The devil is always in the details, so his tip of the week is to poke around anywhere on the Connecticut River where flood control measures have scoured out deep sections. He’ll hunt for divots where pre-spawn fish are congregating anywhere between the Holyoke Dam and the state border. Patrick fishes at dark and when there’s a fish on, there are often doubles since the fish are concentrated! Rapala crank baits in walleye patterns work well on these toothy and cannibalistic super-perch!
Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Report
April first was no joke for anglers on the South Shore as Pete Belsan opened up his new Belsan Bait digs in Scituate Harbor! It’s far tougher for a shop to stay solvent compared to yesteryear when anglers could be busy in the salt for 12 months of the year if they felt compelled. Such species as smelt, cod, tommy cod and flounder have fallen on hard times compressing the salt water species window to mid-April through the fall and that’s about it. Fortunately Pete is giving it a go again but he’ll need plenty of help from customers! Patrons have been expressing their pleasure at not only the shops opening but the brookies in First Herring Brook as well as Norris Reservation.
The Plymouth ponds and many on the Cape have become hatchery truck depots, they have been visited so often! When asked if she has seen any flounder yet, Lisa from Fore River Bait And Tackle said that she was looking at a 4-pound, 7-ounce slab as we spoke! As you can imagine I was taken a bit aback by this until she clarified that the fish was actually a mounted catch by Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters! While that was undeniably a heck of a flounder, there has been even bigger taken aboard his boat by (ahem!) yours truly among others. River herring are thick off Stodder’s Neck and well upstream of the Weymouth Back. For trout, customers are catching at Jamaica Pond, Houghton’s Pond and the Weir River. Bass and pickerel honks should hit Lilly Pond in Cohasset as well as Whitman’s Pond.
Norman of Monahan Marine had me absolutely pumped for fresh striped bass after we spoke. Among other hats, he’s the rep for the GT Ice Cream lures and as we discussed the merits of this unorthodox lure, I vowed to make one the first artificial I toss to a linesider this season. In addition to unique action and aerodynamics, the single hook-assist design makes sense when practicing less injurious release methods.
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle said that the only action around is for trout in Pleasant Pond in Wenham and Sluice Pond in Lynn. He has’t gotten any report yet for flounder but I did check in with someone minding the fort at Bridge Street Sport in Salem who said that the shop is getting requests for seaworms and they are starting to sell corn beads which for generations have been standard issue teasers for flounder. At the last minute I did get a call from Noel, the shop’s proprietor who said that he’s getting demands for seaworms from the Rhode Island area, possibly for scup, white perch or just maybe – flounder! A customer in the shop did report on a few flounder taken in Lynn Harbor but those results haven’t been confirmed yet. For early season flounder, Lynn and Swampscott Harbors are two of the best.
Donnie from Merrimack Sports felt that the first scout shad should be swimming past West Newbury in the Merrimack River in about 2 weeks! Another riverine option is white perch in the Squamscott River in Great Bay.
Fishing Forecast for Massachusetts
The “Ws” have it: Wachusett opening day is this Saturday and pre-spawn Connecticut River walleye are on the feed! The salt has yet to stir but with a bump in demand for seaworms and “corn beads” can that first authenticated flounder of the spring be far behind?
Why no reports from Western, Ma fore a mention of the Connecticut river. We have lots of fishing opportunities in this end of the state,please cover this area.
Does anyone know? MassWildlife recently posted that they have stocked the Bound Brook on the Scituate/Cohasset border. Anyone know where parking is available to gain access to this stream?
Thanks