Massachusetts Fishing Report - March 31, 2016

Stocked trout, the opening of Wachusett Reservoir and a unique white perch bite should enable you to wring the most out of the first two days of April. Unfortunately soon after that the weather forecast is looking like a cruel April Fool’s Joke!

It’s nice to hear from a shop that there’s demand for seaworms, but the species fueling the need is probably not what you expect. Don from Merrimack Sports and Tomo from Tomo’s Tackle in Salem are snapping up seaworm flats and heading across the border to the Squamscott and Exeter Rivers, which are tributaries of Great Bay for white perch! Just make sure you plunk down the pittance for a New Hampshire license before you wet a line there. A high/low rig will work fine and in addition to bloodworms and seaworms, mummichogs and grass shrimp will draw strikes. It’s nice to hear that a brackish white perch fishery still exists in New Hampshire since most Massachusetts runs are at best a shadow of what they once were. The Assonet River in Freetown along with the Parker River in Byefield were the last ones standing in recent memory but I haven’t heard of anyone successfully catching from either place in years. If you snoop around you may still find a run or two in the Cape.

One place you can still find big white perch is Wachusett Reservoir. And beginning this Saturday, the 2^nd, you can fish for perch as well as a host of other species to your heart’s delight. Water temperatures should be in the idyllic low to mid-forty degree range, and lakers should be chasing down smelt close to shore. There should be plenty of shoreline access so if you want to stick-and-move along the 37 miles of shoreline you should have no problem doing so. Eddie of B&A in West Boylston has all the goodies you’ll even need for this blue ribbon Bay State reservoir. I recall about six different shops around Wachusett through the years, but this place is the last one left; patronize these small bait and tackle business wherever you go – they are a dying breed! While smelt are the principle forage the odds-on best bait for lakers, smallies and even largemouth bass are yellow perch fry. It may be a hassle to acquire them, but they are dynamite bait. If you’re hopeful for a salmon, set up with the wind to your back and float a shiner with the wind as far out as you can see the bobber. Lighten up your leaders to 6-pound fluorocarbon and attach the float so that the line slips through the snap, pinch on a small non-lead split shot and opt for medium shiners. Salmon are champion swimmers, have excellent eyesight and in the crystal clear ‘Chu will spot the bait from quite a distant.

Many are anticipating opening day at the Quabbin, which is April 16^th. The surge in smelt sightings bodes well for the future of this cold water fishery. If you’d rather not rent a boat than fish from the shore of the rental areas such as Gates 8, 31 and 43.  This time of the year lakers, salmon and rainbows are caught right from the shore near the boat rentals. Russ Eastman from Monahan Marine continues to find a mixture of holdover and stocked trout throughout the Deerfield River. He recently was “schooled’ by a friend who fished a silvery flatfish in the Hoosac Tunnel section and caught rainbows and brown trout steadily. Russ did have a “swing and  miss” courtesy of what looked to be about a 4 pound brown which repeatedly followed his gold/chrome Colorado spoon only to slink away at the last minute.

Massachusetts Fishing Forecast

The hatchery trucks continue to reload ponds and lakes throughout the state with a mixture of rainbows, browns, brookies and even the occasional tiger trout and that continues to be your best bet. If you’re interested in the incomparable combination of a pristine environment along with the ever present chance at a trophy than head the call of Wachusett Reservoir which is open for business April Second. The incessant winds have kept salt water aficionados from trying for a certain flatfish we are very fond of in these parts. But if you have a yearning for something salty, grab a box of seaworms and take the short ride across the border to the Exeter and Sqaumscott tributaries where the white perch have put on the feed bag.