Massachusetts Fishing Report – March 10, 2022

They may not wear flashy uniforms or capes but the hatchery folks are playing the role of avenger for winter-weary anglers! Masswildlife trucks are making their appointed rounds with the first stocking taking place in the Southeast and consisting of rainbow trout. Not every trout targeted is a freshly stocked fish however thanks to cooperative holdovers.

Massachusetts Fishing Report

It’s “Powerbait to the people” time according to Pete Belsan Bait and Tackle in Scituate! From the Cape through Plymouth, a fresh batch of rainbows are swimming! Blink and chances are that you’ll see other ponds/lakes which will be added to the ongoing Masswildlife stocked list! It’ll be interesting to see what the Powerbait color de rigueur will be this year! Best bets in the artificial category according to Pete are gold Kastmasters, chrome or gold Thomas Bouyants and Finish minnows of all sorts. Prior to the stocking of Fearing Pond, Little Pond and Long Pond in Plymouth, the latter was giving up some impressive holdover brown trout. Not all is trout-or-nothing on the South Shore, just ask those exiting the shop with large shiners in the hopes of lucking into a lunker largemouth! When asked where the haunts of those hawgs just might be, without being too specific Pete said, “Duxbury”!

Eric from Lunkers in Ashland told me trout are the top ticket in Metrowest but the rainbows that Hopkinton Reservoir is giving up are not from a recent stocking but are holdovers from the fall. One angler whose mantra is “mealworms, mealworms and more mealworms” has been “hammering” them.

Lisa from Fore River Fishing Tackle in Quincy has customers who have had similar luck with holdover browns from Long Pond. Owing to their more rapacious tendencies than their rainbow cousins, the preferred bait for the browns is a lively shiner!

Elsewhere pickerel are the pick throughout Greater Boston bodies of water such as Whitman Pond, Sunset Lake and in Pond Meadow Park. With breeder pickerel in close, now is one of your better chances to nail a 3, 4, or even bigger trophy! However be aware that not every toothy is in the mood to feed. Nick Diphillipo, who has landed 44” pike in the Merrimack River had an eye opening encounter recently with a monster northern. While working his X-Raps, a broad-shouldered pike which he estimated at 48” long, swam out of the depths and repeatedly bumped his lure only not to actually “take” it. All the more astounding was that he saw the fish harassing suckers just off the shoreline but it did not actually predate! That big girl apparently was more intent on guarding it’s breeding territory than feeding and it left one angler simply awestruck! When asked if he had ever heard of that David from MMerrimack Sports replied in the affirmative. He felt the deal-breaker there would be a hooked/impaired large shiner or sucker, both of which the shop stocks! Elsewhere in the Merrimack Valley Region ponds and lakes are largely open with Round and Plugs giving up holdover trout for casters who just can’t wait for fresh stockings!

Regarding rainbows, while there’s not a lot going on in the Wachusett area Eddie of B&A Bait and Tackle Co. in West Boylston did say that some are targeting trout below the spillway of the Chu’. That section of the Nashua River below the reservoir dam collects a little bit of most everything which swims in Wachusett, with one of those species rainbow trout up to 20” long! More good trout news came from Ed Manning who has been catching holdover brown trout in the Stillwater River. There are sections of both the Stillwater and Quinapoxet which can be fished all year long and they occasionally hold everything from native brookies to rainbows, browns and lakers.

Rod from Flagg’s Fly and Tackle in Orange told me that anglers are beginning to crave Quabbin Reservoir which is slated to open on the third Saturday of April. Meanwhile there is plenty of ice on water bodies but shorelines in many cases are shot. Clubhouse Pond purportedly still recently had 18” of ice as well as two trucks perched on it! That’s a reality best observed from afar in mid-March but if you can’t quit the hardwater habit, provided you’re cautious, this pond is a great option. As for open water prospects, surprisingly, there is one according to Rod. He told me that one angler picked up some shiners to fish an open section of Lake Rohunta near the bridge where the river meets up with the main lake. There’s been no word on the angler’s luck but odds are he’s content with just getting in a few casting licks, after all it is barely mid-March!

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

While there are still pockets of good ice, thanks to ongoing trout stockings as well as willing holdovers it’s probably time to put the traps away and reconnect with the cast! Plymouth ponds such as Fearing, Little and Long are percolating with freshly stocked rainbows. It’s a safe bet that as you read this, that list has grown! If you’d rather not wait, holdovers in Hopkinton Reservoir, the Nashua River and the Stillwater River make for a suitable warmup. Wherever you can find open water, odds are that there will be spawning breeder pickerel nearby. And then there’s that matter of pike which are also breeding and fair game in many Mass rivers including the Merrimack, Concord, Shawsheen, Sudbury and Connecticut rivers.