Massachusetts Fishing Report – January 30, 2020

While the weekend rains washed away any foreseeable hopes of hardwater near the coast, west of Worcester plenty of ice survived. With a favorable forecast expected and a certain game that preoccupies many, the weekend is looking like a winner for a trip out west and possibly north of the border.

Massachusetts Fishing Report

Although the calendar says Winter, the more natural rhythm is whispering spring already. A buddy on the Cape told me that he’s already hearing the mating sonnets of songbirds and he’s had robins living in his yard for awhile. Closer to Greater Boston, I spotted the remains of an ill-fated earthworm and the cardinals seem awfully interested in each other already. With so much open water especially near the coast, it might be time to awaken atrophied casting muscles and see what’s stirring. Rivers that support herring runs are a good place to start.
 
Recently while poking around Greater Boston Rivers, the Captain and First Mate aboard the mighty Bite Me II – Sirs David Panarello and Carl Vinning – spotted a good sized school of young river herring dimpling the surface. I was always under the impression that by now the fry had all moved out to the sea, so it was shocking to hear of that. This must be an example of the benefit of improving upstream access for anadromous species, it takes longer for fry born well upstream to finally move out. Soon shallow and roiled tributaries will bring along warm water, especially during a sunny afternoon, into the main rivers and those effluences will be magnets for crappie, yellow perch, white perch, pickerel and largemouth bass. A medium shiner under a float is likely to get assaulted by most anything and it certainly is fun stuff!

While customers of Pete Belsan’s of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate are still trekking down to the Cape, increasingly they are heading the call of local open water and the opportunities they offer. In addition to the established ponds, the no-name cranberry bogs which dot the South Shore often provide fast action for a host of warm water species, especially pickerel. Pete has the inside track on which of those spots fish best.

For those who believe its nothing short of blasphemous to consider anything but ice fishing in late January/early February, a trip out west or north of the border is the only option. The multi-species quieter coves and setbacks along the Connecticut River still provide some of the more interesting fishing according to Rodney Flagg of Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange. The Oxbow, Barton Cove and Hinsdale New Hampshire setbacks are among the best bets. Rod said business is brisk and anglers are taking advantage of good ice on Laurel Lake, North Spectacle Pond, Lake Ellis and Moore Lake as well as Mattawa.

Patrick Barone of Charter The Berkshires is shifting gears to a big bait/big fish mindset and the target isn’t necessarily pike! Many of the western and higher elevation water bodies harbor big brown trout and they will gladly inhale a shiner bigger than most would consider acceptable for a trout. There are a number of lakes out there such as Lake Pontoosuc which harbor holdover browns some of which are real trophies. Patrick expects to be staggering his baits between very shallow and very deep but will concentrate them once a pattern becomes obvious. He told me that other anglers will often wonder why he’s getting all the action and the answer is simple: he keeps on the move until he finds fish!

According to Jim from JCB in Cheshire, if you have plans to fish this Sunday than you may find far fewer anglers than usual, habitually Super Bowl Sunday is a lightly fished day because many consider it a day long event, even during those odd years when the Pats aren’t in it! Jim feels that a corker Cheshire Reservoir pike is due any day now. As for a hint as to how you may catch that monster pike, Jim suggests a pre-dawn start. Pike are not like their smaller pickerel cousins which are exclusively diurnal, they are eating machines which will even feed during transition times between night and light.

Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

It’s not every year we have this much open water as we approach February so why not take advantage of it? On the South Shore most ponds and bogs do not even have skim ice and are begging for a bobber/shiner combo floated at the edge of a weedline. Next week’s forecast looks filled with 40-50 degree temperatures which will warm up rivers in the Greater Boston area such as the Charles and Mystic and get all manner of species to stir. Who knows what tomorrow will bring so if you’d like to get your frozen water fix in now, check out the quieter stretches of the Connecticut River such as the Oxbow and Barton Cove, just be careful out there, few seasons feature ice as unpredictable as this year. For a safer bet check out our northern forecast where you can take your ice fishing to the next level.