Massachusetts Fishing Report – March 12, 2020

Pictured above: With warming water temperatures, anglers are having a “crappie day”!

Telling someone to “have a crappie day”, is not necessarily a bad thing! Black crappie or as they are referred to in “Mass-speak” – calico bass – are active right now and present an interesting alternative to stocked trout. Regarding stocked trout, brookies have now been added to some water bodies to join the rainbows of last week.
 

Massachusetts Fishing Report

Pete from Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate said that more than just spring peepers are making noise in the evening. Anglers are taking advantage of the later sunsets and hitting a spot for a few casts after work. In addition to rainbows in such places as Plymouth’s Long and Little Ponds there are now brookies in Norris Reservation Pond and Tack Factory Pond. As waters warm, species such as crappie and bass are becoming an increasingly attractive alternative. Two largemouth and crappie favorites Pete mentioned are Oldham Pond in Pembroke and Scituate Reservoir. Salters who are determined to be the first to snare a striper are targeting holdovers in the North River and Green Harbor, with a rumor of a 34” fish taken!

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy has a few eternally optimistic anglers who have been poking around for flounder off the Nut Island Pier and other locations. Back in a far friendlier winter flounder era, Saint Patrick’s Day signaled the beginning of the flounder season and one of the better spots to catch those “green” fish was at the Sugar Bowl in South Boston. A better bet is to target trout at Jamaica Pond, Mary’s Pond or Big Sandy Pond. Whitman’s Pond and Charles River crappie and largemouth bass are also surging in activity thanks to warming temperatures. While small spinners/jigs will work for crappie and all manner of baits will do the trick for bass, a small shiner for the former or larger for the latter will do better when water temps are still below 50.

Eric from Lunkers in Ashland told me that trout are the target for most of his customers in Lake Cochituate and Ashland Reservoir, although the bite has not been stellar thanks to chilly water temperatures. Kayak anglers and shore anglers are catching crappie and largemouth bass in the Charles and Sudbury Rivers. Other warm water bodies to consider are Little Chauncey, Dug Pond, Winthrop Pond and Farm Pond.

Eddie of B&A in West Boylston told me that authorities have been busy hauling out of Wachusett Reservoir a few ne’er-do-wells who have been trespassing and illegally fishing the Chu’. One guy even had a 7-pound laker on a stringer at the second Cellar Hole! The quickest way to lose access to the commonwealth’s main drinking water supply is for a spate of scofflaws to trespass before opening day, which is on April 4th this year. The good news for those Chu’ lovers is that there is good flow in the Stillwater River and anglers are catching holdover rainbows and brown trout there! Quinsigamond and Comet have been stocked with trout. Ray Scichilone III brought int the shop an 11-10 pike which is now leading the pike category in the shop’s derby. Ray now leads in many of those categories! To his credit, he takes great pains to release his fish back where he catches them including the employment of coolers, aerators and a lot of effort. The pike was caught at the Sudbury River where there is no shortage of crappies. Indian Lake is also renowned for northerns and has some solid crappie fishing as well.

While we are on the subject of “northern” species, how about a little walleye report or more accurately a report on big walleye. Captain Patrick Barone of Charter The Berkshires has been putting his raft through the paces floating along in the South Hadley stretch of the Connecticut River and is experiencing a very unusual combination for early March – low current, high 40s to 50-degree water temperatures and hungry pike and walleye. While Patrick hasn’t taken a trophy yet this year, pals who fish the same stretch have taken them up to 8 pounds! That’s a serious walleye no matter where you fish, let alone in Massachusetts! Ordinarily, the river is raging from snow-melt at this time of the year; in this case, something can be said for a historically mild winter making for a March like no other. If you’d like to book a trip, he still has openings!

Bruce Round from Round’s Hardware in Stoneham said that he wishes he had a dollar for every time someone walks in and says, “I didn’t know that you carried shiners?”. In addition to different sizes of shiners and worms, being a hardware store Round’s seems as if it’s always open. Anglers have been by buying the bait for bass and panfish in Walkers Pond, Winter Pond, Wedge Pond, Wright’s Pond, Walden Pond and White’s Pond. That’s no typo, there are that many water bodies around that really begin with a W! And then there’s Quanapowitt, which with a silent Q, sounds as if it begins with a W! Regardless, there’s good reason to have a northern Greater Boston shop with shiners. While Walden or White’s are due to be stocked any day, they both have the propensity to hold over impressive trout!

David from Merrimack Sports said that customers have trout fever up there with many choices of freshly-stocked ponds to choose from! He’s heard good things from Lake Pentucket, Baldpate Pond and Pleasant Pond. Soon the first of the year “scout” shad will begin cruising up the Merrimack River, in anticipation of that the shop already has in stock an assortment of shad darts and willow leaf spoons. For black bass, the nod goes to Millvale Pond and for crappie and bass, Big Island Pond which is across the border in New Hampshire.

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Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

Brook trout have now been added to the stocking list and on the South Shore, you can find them at Tack Factory Pond as well as Norris Reservation Pond, find an inlet and odds are you’ll find these current-craving fish. Rivers continue to be interesting including the Stillwater River, Connecticut River and Merrimack River. Ironically while some are complaining about lockjaw from some of the freshly stocked trout, the fishing for warm water species is getting hot! Bass from Whitman’s Pond, the Sudbury River and Millvale Pond are all packing on the pre-spawn weight while anglers fishing Indian Lake or Big Island Pond are enjoying a “crappie day”!