April Fool’s – week? It sure seems it, as 4-1 has come and gone and it looks as if Mother Nature is pulling a week-long cruel joke on anglers. “Haddock” opening day has come and gone with nary a report and the shop owner near Wachusett has been more preoccupied with clearing snow than preparing for opening day on Saturday. The optimistic among us however are taking comfort knowing that it can only get better!
Massachusetts Fishing Report
Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston said that earlier in the week Wachusett Reservoir water levels were looking accommodating for plenty of access and then – the Nor’easter struck! With snow out west and upstream of the tributaries odds are snow melt along with the rain will top off the Chu just in time for opening day on Saturday. With still-chilly water temperatures and with the smelt spawn imminent I”m thinking skinny shoal water/flats should be a wild card that could be as productive as the established “hot spots”. You’ll find that shallow water off Gates 8, 13, 22, 25, 30 and 35. To hedge your forktail fortunes further try to set up not far from an edge where the deep water abuts the shallows. Lakers, salmon and rainbows will be shadowing the schools of smelt so be on the lookout for telltale signs of the bait. Obvious signals that you’re in the fishy zone are washed up/spent smelt along the shoreline but watch out for the tightly-packed smelt bait balls which will be on the move. Your ears can be an ally with shallow water smelt emitting a distinctive “bubbling” sound as they aggregate in close, gasping for air as they flee from predators or are spawning. In addition to the usual Krocodiles, Kastmasters and Deadly Dicks I’m going to be working a few jigs/curly tail grubs along the bottom just to shake it up. Of course at the end of the day most fish will be taken on shiners and thankfully B&A Bait and Tackle will have plenty of mixed sizes on hand.
When discussing his bait order, Eddie told me that while talking with the distributor, she mentioned that one of her routes to Rhode Island would be to pick up crabs. For a guy who tailors his business to freshwater fisherman that was a foreign language but it had me thinking of just such a guy who could use them. That prompted me to give Captain Colby a call to see what his immedate plans were for his Little Sister. Crabs as well as clams will be on board as both cod and tautog will be on the agenda. The caveat will be the wind/seas but with a full workload planned once seas settle he’ll be pounding his Westport waypoints. The sweet-spot last year was 100’ with the hungry hat trick consisting of cod, tautog and big black sea bass, the latter of which were quickly released.
Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that it was nice hearing from a member of the “media” for a change that didn’t want a live-shot regarding the raging surf on the South Shore. The arrival of alewives has awoken holdover South Shore stripers with the First Herring River, North River, Mill River and Gulf River all known to hold resident stripers! In anticipation of those as well as haddock and possibly flounder, the shop should be carrying seaworms next week. Pete also has in stock a variety of shiner sizes including large for still-lethargic Larrys which will often whiff on lures but seldom pass on a shiner.
Regarding resident stripers, Captain Brian Coombs of Get Tight Sportfishing worked up his new engines with a little harbor holdover action over the weekend. One fish was a portly 37/38” fish which looked as if it had found a few alewives. One of the better offerings for holdover stripers – or migrants for that matter – is the tube-and-worm to which I reached out to Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics in Everett for a take. While the shop has plenty of the iconic Santini Tubes in stock, on-hand seaworms are probably a week away. However, the self-service 24/7 bait vending machine will remain topped off with clams, squid, earthworms and a full assortment of tackle. One fish which rivals a striper for pulling power is carp and according to Pete anglers are catching korkers on doughballs/corn in the Mystic River by the rotary between West Medford and Arlington. Recent trout reports have Silver Lake in Wilmington as well as Griswold Pond in Saugus among the more productive. While for bass and crappie Wright’s Pond in Medford has been good.
“Larry” Has been on the lips of anglers coming into the shop according to Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy! She’s been moving a lot of large shiners with the bite spread out. Solid reports have been trickling in from Wompatuck State Park, Norris Reservation, Jacobs Pond, Lilly Pond and Cushing Pond. Tops for trout locally are Hougthon’s Pond and Jamaica Pond. Rick from Jerry’s Bait and Tackle in Milford told me that shiners and jerk baits have been a bass best bet at the Lackey Pond and Mumford River area and PraPond. As for trout, he listed Whitings, Cochituate and Walden as winners with the latter good for smallmouth and largemouth bass as well. Gerry from Crack of Dawn Bait in Phillipston reminded me that Quabbin Reservoir opens for fishing on April 16th! We will have two takes on what’s happening there with both Gerry and Dave “Turtleman” Riley weighing in. For now the talk around town is trout, trout and more trout! Among the more productive are Lake Mattawa, Moore’s Pond, Clubhouse Pond and South Pond. The latter’s “sister” water body – Quaboag Pond – has been solid for pike.
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As for the Northeast region, the Merrimack River had been giving up pike, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass prior to the recent rain/snow. Odds are that anglers will have to be patient a bit longer and let the flow drop down a gear or two. Rene of Bridge Bait in Salisbury said that a buddy recently caught a 5 pound largemouth on a shiner out of Artichoke Reservoir. Elsewhere, Rooster Tails and Thomas Buoyants are accounting for plenty of trout out of Forest Lake, Sluice Pond, Pleasant Pond, Stiles Pond and Baldpate Pond. An alternative lure to consider is small perch-patterned Rapala floating minnows. My buddy Billy Eicher trolled one of those recently behind his kayak and caught 6 rainbows and 3 crappie on it!
Monahan’s Marine, a family-run community staple for all things boating and fishing, is holding a grand opening of its brand new 4,000 square foot offshore and inshore tackle shop this Saturday, April 6th from 8 am to 2:30 pm. Monahan’s is celebrating with sales, giveaways, special vendors, and seminars from boating and fishing experts like Bryan and Taylor Sears from SeaBros and Mass Bay Guides. Swing by 396 Washington St in Weymouth to check out the new shop!
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
As we are on the doorstep of multiple opening days, odds are that the bare-bones forecast you folks have endured will be over! A fresh report, along with fresh fillets, should be in the offing from Captain Jason Colby of Little Sister Charters as he focuses on cod and tautog out of Westport. Meanwhile the other salty option is holdover striped bass which will increasingly become a factor as more river herring return combined with (hopefully!) warmer water temperatures. As always following the bait trail leads to bass tails! Regarding bait, smelt should be in close at the Chu with salmonoids of every variety in on the chase. Those coldwater gamefish will have no problem with chilly close-to-shore water temperatures especially when they have a smelt supper in their sites!