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    Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters
    Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters
    Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters
    Ebook333 pages4 hours

    Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters

    By Manny Luftglass

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    About this ebook

    From catching rainbows, browns, and brookies in the streams and rivers of the Berkshires to hauling in cod, haddock, and tuna in the salt waters of Stellwagen Bank, this book is your ultimate guide to fishing in Massachusetts. Manny Luftglass, a veteran fisherman and journalist, has written a definitive and entertaining guide to fishing the salt, fresh, and brackish waters of the Bay State. Providing easy-to-follow directions, boat launch information, and detailed advice on live and dead baits, artificial lures, fishing methods, equipment, depths, weather, best times of the day and the year, and even specific areas to fish at most locations, this is truly the only fishing guide to Massachusetts you’ll ever need. For ease of use, the book has been organized according to the areas recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, with an accompanying map for each section. Good-humored and packed to the gills with useful information, it’s like having the author as your personal fishing guide.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity Press of New England
    Release dateDec 15, 2009
    ISBN9781584658078
    Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters

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      Book preview

      Gone Fishin’ - Manny Luftglass

      Introduction

      Massachusetts offers residents and visitors alike an incredible variety of top fishing opportunities. From the wild trout streams of the Berkshires in the west, to the fabled Quabbin Reservoir and its countless varieties of game fish, to the ponds of Cape Cod, freshwater anglers have a challenging number of places to fish. Beyond freshwater, an incredible number of saltwater species can be caught in the ocean. Cod? That’s the state’s Official Fish! Throw in scup, tuna, flounder, striped bass, sharks, and many other fish of the brine and it’s no wonder that so many people love to fish in the Bay State!

      In this book, I will identify the best fishing locations traveling across the state from west to east, highlighting the top fresh and salt waters that are open to the public. In addition to talking to fellow fishermen and industry workers, I consulted the experts at the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game to get the latest information about their very best area waters. Please note that I have listed as many GPS or Loran numbers as I could obtain for salt water locations. It’s easier by far to find a freshwater site without the GPS numbers, but we have also provided them for District 5 since our source gave us the data.

      For ease of use, I have adopted the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game’s division of the state into five freshwater sections. Beginning in the western part of the state, we have the Western Region (District 1), followed by the Connecticut Valley Region (District 2), the Central Region (District 3), and then the two coastal regions divided into the Northeast Region (District 4) and the Southeast Region (District 5).

      In addition to these five separate areas, I include the waters of the famous Connecticut River within District 2 (since the entire Massachusetts portion of the river runs through this district) and divide the river into three sections from north to south. Several other rivers will be divided within their own districts, such as the Deerfield, Merrimack, and Westfield rivers.

      As for saltwater locations, geography buffs may get a headache trying to understand the numbering system. As simply as possible, in the saltwater section, we will start at the northernmost site, and follow the numbered locations down the coast, hook around the north side of the Cape, work our way around, and then travel down the Cape on its southern side. From there, we will head west around a few islands and up into Buzzards Bay, ending at the Cape Cod Canal. Our journey picks up again to the south, heading toward Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

      A Word of Caution

      This book will not cover much detail about fishing rules and regulations because, quite simply, they change too often. For any number of reasons, some areas open and others close and some of the spots suggested here may have been closed to the public or to fishing since this book went to press. Doubtless, I will discuss places that require you to hold a permit to access the beach, especially those on Cape Cod, where summertime brings so many tourists that some control has had to be put in place. In addition, try to remain aware of the fact that fishermen often have to share the outdoors with other living things. For example, signs may alert you to the temporary closure of beaches in Cape Cod due to plover nesting or seal breeding.

      Gone Fishin’: Massachusetts’ 100 Best Waters will not dwell on the various controversies associated with recreational fishing. Certainly, there may be some mercury-related problems for a person who eats freshwater fish quite often, but I’ll leave it to the biologists to tell you what you can and cannot ingest. Suffice it to say that rarely will healthy people develop a problem if care is given to what they eat, be it fish, chicken, beef, or pork. The same rule would apply to saltwater fish. Do swordfish and tuna contain mercury as do some freshwater bass? Maybe, but we are not trying to advise you what to eat in this book—rather, where to go fishing!

      So, even if this book tells you how big a fish must be to be a keeper, or how many of which species you’re allowed to keep, such numbers change so often. I encourage you to check your state rule books and websites yearly to find out what is allowed to go home for a meal and for that matter, if you can legally fish there.

      Finally, besides bag and size limits, as well as seasonal closing times, quite a few telephone numbers, addresses, and websites will be found within the book and over time, some will change. If you use this book for reference (and we certainly hope you do just that), please note that few things are forever. If you cannot reach a number printed here please look up the site on your computer and you may find a revision. As for boat rental facilities, here again, your computer could be quite helpful.

      Stocking

      You may be interested to hear about the state’s freshwater fish-stocking programs. They have four hatcheries in which they grow rainbow, brown, and brook trout, plus some tiger trout as well. They remove somewhere between 600,000 and 650,000 trout yearly to stock throughout the state. Most of the stocking is done in the spring but 50,000 or so good-sized fish are put in during the fall.

      In addition to the trout that are grown for stocking, more than 700 coldwater streams in the state produce wild trout, mostly brookies and brown trout. Most of them are in the western section of the state. Further, while Put ’n take fishing is fine, meaning that anglers often are encouraged to take their trout home for a meal because some waters cannot support trout life after they warm up too much, trout find many venues quite comfortable and they most certainly do hold over from year to year therein.

      Massachusetts obtains adult-sized broodstock Atlantic salmon from its hatchery in Palmer, as well as from hatcheries in Vermont and New Hampshire. These are big fish indeed, ranging from 3 pounds all the way up to 20 pounds, and usually are stocked each fall. Landlocked salmon are stocked into the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs. Some different regulations are in place regarding which salmon you can keep and where, so do make certain to read the regulations before hitting the water.

      Northern pike and tiger muskies are obtained from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Stocked sizes range from 3-inch babies all the way up to a foot long. It could take five years before they reach keeper size, 28 inches in length. The recent emphasis has been on tigers because pike have proven to be able to reproduce here.

      Part One

      Freshwater

      Chapter 1

      District 1: The Western Region

      When asked for details regarding where the hot spots are in the westernmost part of the state, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife biologist Andrew Madden points out that several very fine rivers are found in his area, including the last one described in this chapter, the Deerfield. The other rivers he felt worthy of mention include the Westfield, Hoosic, and Housatonic, all of which exhibit a combination of both remote and accessible areas.

      Mr. Madden explains that his district offers a fine combination of lakes and ponds for warm-water fishing, in addition to those fine cold-water rivers just mentioned. Further, his section, the truly beautiful Berkshires, has quite a few smaller rivers and streams that support growth of wild brook and brown trout. Andrew is particularly proud of the large numbers of quality northern pike and tiger muskellunge his waters contain.

      More than 120,000 trout are stocked into District 1 each year. The bigger rivers hold over trout and produce their own spawning populations, but finding the smaller bodies of water can be very exciting for light wand users. Let’s start with three lakes and two reservoirs before talking about the Deerfield River.

      1. Pontoosuc Lake

      Pittsfield/Lanesboro: Pontoosuc Lake is considered to be among the most productive in the entire state for a wide variety of both cold- and warm-water fish. They include trout, of course, as well as largemouth bass, crappie, yellow and white perch, and pike. Plus, it features a population of big tiger muskellunge. These sterile hybrids of pike and true muskellunge have been stocked in the lake for many years, and in fact, the current World Record tiger muskie came out of here through the ice via a tip-up!

      Over a recent ten-year period, more than 25% of the good-sized tigers that were registered with the state were caught in this one lake alone. And 15% of the big northern pike caught in Massachusetts also were bagged at Pontoosuc, so if you’re after the bigger Green Giants, you may want to hit this lake. The pike are spawning naturally but the muskies must be stocked, because they cannot breed.

      The lake has quite a bit of vegetation present, especially in the northern end, making it tough sometimes to keep out of the grass, but it is well worth the effort. Also found in the lake are chain pickerel, rock bass, shiners, suckers, an assortment of sunfish, yellow catfish, and yellow perch.

      Pontoosuc covers 480 acres and when full, is 35 feet deep. Heavy rain discolors the waters but they quickly clear up and visibility is present down to 11 feet. One of the primary attractions at this popular lake is the fine ice-fishing opportunities it presents. Just imagine: three kinds of live-shiner-eating tip-up critters to seek at the same time: pickerel, pike, and tigers. Now throw in some largemouth bass and while waiting for a flag, you might keep busy with a jig while catching a bucket of perch!

      Trout are stocked in two brooks that feed the lake, Secum and Town, and they create a great deal of interest for trout fishermen each spring. Besides anglers, you can count on some tiger muskellunge and northern pike to be waiting in line to catch a brownie or two themselves. Pike have reproduced in the lake, which is not normal for many of the waters that contain them.

      The lake gets lots of boat traffic when it warms up, so fishermen might want to fish early mornings or late evenings during the summer, or perhaps stick to spring and fall to do their boat fishing. The shoreline is heavily developed and folks really do enjoy boating here.

      Just about every freshwater-sized boat afloat can enter the lake via a double ramp. Upwards of 75 vehicles can park nearby with their trailers. The ramps are found at the extreme southern end of the lake just off Route 7. Besides the trout-stream connections, there isn’t much shoreline access on the lake proper, other than at the causeway section on the northwestern end of the lake.

      Deeper waters can be found in the western side of the lake adjacent to two towns, Lanesboro at the northern end (via Blue Hill Road) and Pittsfield at the southern end (via Hancock Road).

      2. Onota Lake

      Pittsfield: Located near Pontoosuc Lake in the heart of Pittsfield, Onota Lake is large by District 1 standards (617 acres) and is rightly considered to be worthy of being included in our 100 Best waters, according to biologist Andrew Madden. In fact, if big fish are what you want, this lake in particular has given up impressive amounts in a variety of species. If your question is what kind of big fish have been taken here, how about: white catfish, largemouth bass, and carp, plus brook, rainbow, and brown trout.

      If that variety doesn’t impress you, how about also adding salmon and pike? Of all the big pike checked-in with the state, 23% came from Onota! The ten-year Best Bet list also included 21 big salmon.

      Besides holding large numbers of fish, the lake itself is quite accessible and even has a fishing pier for those who prefer that style of angling. The entire eastern shoreline is owned and managed by the City of Pittsfield, which gives folks who don’t have a boat plenty of space to stand and fish.

      Onota freezes over with as much as 20 inches of ice at times, which makes hard-water fishing quite popular. One of the other reasons for its popularity is the fact that some rather huge northern pike inhabit its waters; where 20-plus pounders are caught each year. Pike reproduce in the lake but lots of anglers prefer fishing it for salmonoids.

      More than 5,000 trout are stocked in the lake every spring and more are dropped in every autumn. Top that off with the addition of broodstock salmon when available, and you will have an idea why the combination of a variety of game fish, tied together with ease of access, makes this a place that you may want to check out.

      An excellent and large double boat ramp can be found at the southeastern side of the lake by taking Lakeway Drive to Burbank Park via Valentine Drive. Up to 75 vehicles can park their trailers nearby and the concrete pier isn’t far away either. The lake also has a boat livery up at the northeastern end of the lake off Pecks

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