If there was such a thing as an “Ice God”, he might paraphrase Mark Twain who is famously quoted as saying, “The rumor of my death is greatly exaggerated”! While close to the coast is realistically no longer a consideration, anglers are still drilling through 12” plus of ice from Boylston through the Berkshires and with a weeklong freeze in the offing next week is looking good!
Massachusetts Fishing Report
It’s simply time to switch gears on the South Shore and thankfully Pete of Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate has some suggestions! No-name cranberry bogs in Norwell, Scituate, Carver and Plymouth have some of the most unheralded fine fishing around. Entry can be but a polite inquiry away. I recall years ago when my friend Rick and I were hoping to fish a tony shoreline on the South Shore where, as typical, parking was nearly impossible. All it took on that day with a nice, accommodating resident was a simple, “Excuse me, ma’am, I was wondering…”, and voila we were soon fishing! It doesn’t hurt to ask. Other open water options which just became available are the Aaron River Reservoir which some are convinced holds double-digit Larrys and Lilly Pond. On Tuesday I was fishing on a rapidly dwindling sheet of Greater Boston ice with a friend of a friend who told me he put a greenhorn on a 5-pound bass there this past winter!
If the return of redwing blackbirds, geese and robins isn’t enough to convince you that spring is unofficially here than how about knowing that Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy is open again! While anxiously awaiting the salt to kick into gear, Lisa is fast selling shiners and other freshwater goodies for anglers fishing for warm water species in Popes Pond, Whitman’s Pond and the Charles River. That Charles is nothing if not a giant fishbowl brimming with everything from carp to crappie to white catfish to holdover striped bass. A couple of choice spots are at the Muddy River effluence and between the Longfellow Bridge and the Hotel Sonesta on the Cambridge side of the river. Rod from Arlington Bait and Tackle told me that most water bodies from Spy Pond to Horn Pond to Quannopowitt are “wide open”. After the storm and freeze who knows but even if they skim over it won’t take long for them to melt again.
For a view of the Chu’ I spoke to Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston. He said that with a point of view from the causeway, Wachusett Reservoir is wide open! As for water levels, if the season opened tomorrow you’d be fishing up close and personal to quite a few trees! If you’ve had opening day highlighted in your calendar since the close of the season and would like a pre-season taste, maybe you don’t have to wait until April! The Nashua River basin at the doorstep of the Wachusett Reservoir spillway often holds – lake trout, rainbow trout and bass and it is open for fishing all year long! In fact, on the day we talked Eddie had just sold some shiners to an angler who was heading there!
If you’re looking for open water then Rod from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange suggests the Miller and Swift Rivers, both of which fly fishermen are successfully targeting for trout! Of course, it still is February and that should mean ice fishing! A spot that Rod recommends which gives scant attention in this column is Basset Pond which while located on Quabbin Reservoir property is open to fishing all season long. Rod said that the pickerel there are special and he’s filled out a few Masswildlife Sportfishing Award affidavits for yellow perch!
The standout news this week by far is the beast of a pike bested by 12-year-old Ricky Rando. Hefty fish always make for better trophies and this 39”, 19.8-pound pike was built and colorful! And for that matter, it still is – since it was released! Ricky fishes with his dad all the time and they both are customers of JCB Bait in Cheshire! While understandably guarded about where that northern hailed from, I did learn that the father/son team was not averse to opting for “regular” size bait! More important than sticking a magnum meal in front of their maw is finding where pike prowl! Western Mass has no shortage of pike places from Pontoosuc Lake to Cheshire Reservoir. As for pike farther northeast, Donny from Merrimac Sports said that the thaw/rain combo cast out the last of safe ice on the Merrimack River! Next on the list for many in these parts is the white perch run in the Parker River and Exeter/Squamscott River! “Soon” was the answer when I asked Donny when those whiteys would return. It was encouraging to hear of an uptick in numbers from the Parker while the New Hampshire rivers have remained prolific.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
While there are few fans of more snow, those out west are relishing the continued drop in temperatures which should solidify shorelines. Pike pros know full well that late-inning ice is the best for northerns with the western portion of the state holding some real corkers. Woods Pond, Cheshire Reservoir, Lake Buel, Lake Onota as well as Lake Pontoosuc all have pike potential. Closer to the coast with the Merrimack River shaking free of ice you may soon be abler to connect on a cast with one among the coves of the river in Lawrence, Methuen and North Andover. Odds are that seaworms are not the bait most on your mind at the moment but at least one shop on the North Shore is already getting requests for them in anticipation of salter white perch!
Robins don’t return for the spring they are here all year.
He probably means the robins that live in the northeast in the summer. The ones that are around right now have migrated here from Canada. Our robins will return in the spring.
What a beast of a Pike, good for Ricky. It’s nice to hear there is still plenty of ice just a short drive West. Also it’s encouraging to think we’ll be open water fishing is just around the corner.