The weather has not exactly been conducive to casting yet some are still racking up personal best-quality catches. Trout remain the default quarry for most but then there are the other guys who dismiss trout as – bait!
Massachusetts Freshwater Fishing Report
Featured articles which are currently on display in On The Water’s website regarding cold water bassin’ may have got you thinking about Larry and Sally. While I’m often in that camp, my interest rises a notch when I call Jerry’s Bait And Tackle. Rick, the shop’s manager, is good friends with Dan Southwick who is one of the Bay State’s best big bass savants. My call to the shop this week was less the typical second hand admiration of exploits and more a chance to get some pointers from Dan as he was in the shop. When asked to pass along a few tips to help fishers up their 12th month game, I wasn’t all that surprised to learn that many of his biggest bass were felled this time of the year. While searching for big Larry lairs, Dan leans towards water with oversized forage such as river herring, stocked trout or even better – both! As water temperatures continue to cool, largemouth bass tend to transition towards deeper water with 8’-15’ the sweet spot at one of Dan’s favorites. A swimbait zealot who has an extensive collection, yet is always open to adding a few more, the Real Prey Gill has been in steady rotation. Dan’s also not adverse to slowly crawling a jig/trailer along the bottom at this time of the year, especially among rocks/boulder fields in more spartan deeper ponds/lakes. Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are also among his calling cards in shallower water now. As much as Dan was on point and a wealth of information when we spoke I did notice a little distraction. He soon tipped me off why – the dropping barometric pressure meant that the jerk bait bite was on – somewhere!
One place you may be able to ply those techniques is Wachusett Reservoir. According to Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston anglers fishing Wachusett are still experiencing an impressive smallie bite. Equally impressive is that for the second year in a row anglers can fish it until the last day of December! Most are taking advantage of unprecedented access to the nearly 37 miles of shoreline because of low water levels. Roaming, casting and covering a lot of water has been the modus operandi for most. Smelt for the time being are residing in deeper water but he same cannot be said for yellow perch fry which are thick and in close. That could be a clue why firetiger and metallic Kastmasters and Krocodiles are working so well. Close-in locations such as Gate 36 have been fishing well for lakers and rainbows. Smallies have been taken in the transition area between shoal water/deep water off Gate 8. As for the rainbows they’re continually roaming and liable to be anywhere making the inexact method of floating Power Bait about a foot off the bottom as effective as anything.
When looking for a coldwater bite it doesn’t hurt to follow the bait. As one of the regions main bait distributors, Granby’s Bait is a brick-and-mortar GPS as to where anglers are burning through shiners. Joe from the shop said that there’s been a lot of focus on pike and walleye throughout the Connecticut River, especially in the Barton Cove and Oxbow area. Some anglers cross the border and fish the oxbows or setbacks in the Hinsdale area of New Hampshire and do very well. In addition to pike, walleye and bass the Connecticut River is just as likely to give up more unusual species such as channel catfish and bowfin.
Massachusetts Saltwater Fishing Report
As can be expected for December, saltwater options remain limited. Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate told me that the few who are tossing a sabiki rig from jetties/piers throughout the South Shore are finding mackerel. A better bet in that area is to target trout in one of Plymouth’s dynamic duos – Little Pond and Long Pond. Pete’s been admiring photos flashed by some of his patrons of big, colorful browns caught there. His suggestion for those looking for more than just any old stocked trout, is to steer clear of trout worms and small shiners and choose dillys and larger shiners.
Want to get in on the bite? Find an OTW-approved Charter Fishing Captain for Massachusetts
Tomo of Tomo’s Tackle in Salem said that the rebuilt Salem Willows Pier was a smashing success this fall with anglers taking to it in droves. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, fishers were still catching mackerel off the pier. It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, flounder fishery takes place here in the spring. In a perfect world, the Salem Willows Pier will mirror the Fisherman’s Beach Pier in Swampscott which gives up fatties as early as April. The only other option Tomo knew of was offshore pollock from headboats such as Eastman’s Fleet out of Seabrook.
Massachusetts Fishing Forecast
For about as long as it takes to read this, anglers were ice fishing higher elevation ponds in the Berkshires. The downpours put a temporary end to that but it shouldn’t take long for smaller trout ponds such as Plainfield, Goose, North and Windsor to lock up and we’ll be watching that closely. Meanwhile willing largemouth bass should take the bite out of the wait. Track down your trophy by fishing tailwater ponds/lakes of herring runs. Water bodies which are stocked with trout usually don’t contain a lot of largemouth bass but the Larrys that lurk there tend to get large. Soon it will be the last call for Wachusett Reservoir as the season ends at the end of the month. With unprecedented shoreline access and a solid smallie, rainbow and laker bite, don’t let the season slip you by!