Looking for a smallie spot in Ma. any suggestions?

[keepr]

I'm primarily a LG Mouth fisherman but i'm interested in doing some Smallie fishing this year, can anybody steer me in the right direction as to where to go?

[zacksdad]

Try the cape. It has some great smallie fishing, and is not over fished. I've had good luck at Ashumet and John's pond. Look for a series of books called Bass Bets. It is written by Ted Ancher and has a wealth of information on ponds all over Mass and the rest of N.E.

[Fishing Rhino]

You didn't say where in Massachusetts, but South Watuppa pond, and Sawdy pond have both small and largemouth bass.

Another pond in the same area which has both is Stafford Pond in Tiverton, RI.  You'll need an RI license to fish it.

Thirty-five dollars, non-resident, last year.

Sawdy pond has good fishing for both, but you will want to use a bit of a beater of a boat, or one that you won't mind if you get a ding or three.

To get to the pond from the launching area on 177, you have to negotiate a tight winding channel, loaded with rocks along the edges.  Getting into the main pond from the mouth of that channel is no small feat either.

Canoes, kayaks, jon boats and the plastic pontoon style boats seem to be favored by most.  I've seen some use fairly nice bass boats, but I don't recommend it.

[Tokyo Tony]

Quabbin has some nice smallies  

[Cigarlover 1]

Quabbin has some nice smallies

X2. But you gotta know where your going. That's a HUGE body of water.

[amhewy]

Quabbin is big but you can purchase a map at gate 31 for cheap money which comes in handy.

[Saladmander]

CT river has some quality smallies.  Cheshire Reservoir is good.  Quabbin is outstanding.  There's a lot of smaller places with some big ones too out here in WMass.

[Boots]

merrimack river, however i suggest waiting until the summer to go there when it doesn't rain for atleast two weeks and the water gets really low and find the spots with a lot of rocks sticking out of the water and you will slaughter them in an hour.

i caught 34 smallmouth in an hour last year. with the majority in the 2-3 pound range.

[sdcoll]

merrimack river, however i suggest waiting until the summer to go there when it doesn't rain for atleast two weeks and the water gets really low and find the spots with a lot of rocks sticking out of the water and you will slaughter them in an hour.

i caught 34 smallmouth in an hour last year. with the majority in the 2-3 pound range.

yuppers i fished that place for a few yrs when i was living there....caught a walleye in there too

[Crestliner2008]

Hands down....it's the Quabbin. Last season I CPR'd at least 150 between 2 1/2 and 4 3/4 lbs. there. Have yet to break the 5, but it's coming! I fish it at least every week; most weeks twice. Great body of water, but you need to have your sonar set-up correctly and know how to use it. Let me know if I can be of any assistance this season.  

[sdcoll]

i say hands down that you know what your doing at the q ive seen some of your trophies from last yr you must be  itching to go I'm sure

[topher]

cresty is the smallie king!!!!!  i dont think that you can "buy" a map from the gatekeeper, but they do offer a free map that isn't very detailed.  Hard body to navigate if you never been there, i suggest going with a vetran to show you the ropes

[bassmedic46]

Quabbin is very good. Good advice to get a map at the gate.

[Beardog]

Ain't no bass in the Quabbin.  Seriously, though, the quality of smallie fishing at Q has been on the decline for the last three or four years.  There are still plenty of fish, but the days of 40-50 2+ lb smallies are gone.  Part of it is the increased bass fishing pressure as well as meat fishermen who pull them off their beds and keep them.  Another problem is the slot limit for lakers that resulted in a huge population increase of medium sized fish.  I've actually seen lakers preying on smallie beds in the spring.  The baitfish populations have suffered as well.  Five or six years ago, you couldn't help but catch a bunch of rockbass, now they are almost nonexistent.

As far as maps, many of the local stores (such as the New Salem General Store) sell a reasonably decent map, but there is no substitute for time on the water.  The water levels fluctuate greatly, and if you run around at full speed without knowing what's below you, you will lose a lower unit or worse.

[MJEFF]

Being a Quabbin die hard, there are some very good fish there. My fishing partner got a 6lb smallie out of 43 on top water, two years ago, there are lots of days when you can get 40fish.

However, when the water warms the smallies head for 25-55ft ranges , lots of the trout guys get smallies way down to 75ft.

The lake is very large, the maps are good and your better off picking a area where you can fish 5-6 good spots and learn that area and next trip , try a different section.

The better fisherman are deep water fisherman, who have spent a lot of time on the water. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could fish there 4 days a week.

Be carefull of the weather as thunderstorms are not fun when they creep over the far western shores.

Warm clothes in the spring and rain gear.  

Certainly a very interesting lake.

[Crestliner2008]

Ain't no bass in the Quabbin. Seriously, though, the quality of smallie fishing at Q has been on the decline for the last three or four years. There are still plenty of fish, but the days of 40-50 2+ lb smallies are gone. Part of it is the increased bass fishing pressure as well as meat fishermen who pull them off their beds and keep them. Another problem is the slot limit for lakers that resulted in a huge population increase of medium sized fish. I've actually seen lakers preying on smallie beds in the spring. The baitfish populations have suffered as well. Five or six years ago, you couldn't help but catch a bunch of rockbass, now they are almost nonexistent.

As far as maps, many of the local stores (such as the New Salem General Store) sell a reasonably decent map, but there is no substitute for time on the water. The water levels fluctuate greatly, and if you run around at full speed without knowing what's below you, you will lose a lower unit or worse.

I totally agree with what you are saying here about the Quabbin. Way too much fishing pressure on the bass these days. And the ONLY way you get 40 fish days are if you count "dinks". This past season I did find lots of bait however, so that's one point on which I disagree. Here's an example:

I've marked more bait last year than in years past. However, using an Aqua-View (and hooking some), the forage base has shifted. Now there are much more small yellow perch than there are the previous years staples of smelt.

I also agree that a lot more "meat" fishermen are practicing out there. Tough to enforce limits/sizes when there exists no patrolling! JMO.

[MJEFF]

Thanks for the bait fish picture, how long have you had the x 135? Do they still make that model? I plan on getting new electronics this year and was considering looking at a X-135 if I could find one.

There are lots of bait in the Q, lots of white perch and yellow perch, yes there are lots of small smallies too, but that shows good "spring hatches" of young fish.

There are days when we have run into lots of 1.5-3lb fish, but they are not shallow. Most bass guys use artificials and lots of boat renters use crayfish, hellgramites and earthworms.

And there are days when we have struck out of good fish too.

We were fishing two humps last year, in deep water and had 2-3.5lb fish almost every other cast using tubes and plastics.... hard work fishing deep but that afternoon was magical.  

[Beardog]

I too have marked baitballs such as shown and dropped down the camera.  I've also noticed that the yellow perch seem to be more numerous than the smelt once were.  Every body of water changes over time and recruitment rates of young bass vary from year to year.  I've fished the Q for over 40 years, consistently for the last 15 or so.  I fish with 4 or 5 guys who who also spend 30-50 days a year out there.  It's only anecdotal (tho we all keep records), but we all agree that there has been a serious decline in the past 3 or 4 years.  We are well familiar with fishing deep, shallow, and in between, only with artificials and always catch and release.  I think it's time to lobby MDC or DFW to make bass fiahing catch and release only, at least through spawning season.