Sportsman’s Corner: The trout are out

Published: 03-27-2025 4:00 PM

By Mike Roche

The MassWildlife stocking trucks are rolling! As always. The first stocking took place on lakes and ponds on Cape Cod. The Cape waters are always open earliest and that is a key to getting trout into stocked waters.

Massachusetts has no closed season for fishing except in the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs. Last Thursday, the first black dots near the Mount Grace region appeared on the MassWildlife map of stocked waters on the agency’s web site. On Thursday, Anacomet Pond in Hubbardston (known as Comet Pond) received a load of rainbow trout. Friday, Connors Pond in Petersham was also stocked with rainbows. Silver Laker in Athol was stocked Tuesday and that was all that was posted when this column was penned on Tuesday night.

You can look up stocked waters by district and town. Locally, Athol waters include Ellinwood Brook and Tully Brook in addition to Silver Lake. The Millers River is stocked in Athol and Orange and Lake Mattawa is heavily stocked. Erving’s Laurel Lake will be stocked and Moore’s Pond, Sheomet Pond (AKA Clubhouse Pond) and Orcutt Brook will be stocked in the town of Warwick. You can check the web site for real-time stocking information.

Time to dig out the fishing gear! This writer has gotten away from fly fishing and maybe this will be the year when those specialized rods, reels and lines get put to use. My plan is to clean the lines using warm bathtub water and try to get rid of the “memory” from so many years of neglect.

Fly fishing is done by casting a weighted line. That is different from spin fishing where the lure provides the weight to energize the rod. Fly lines can be floating or sinking and are matched by weight to the fly rod. Flies are virtually weightless, so you actually cast the line and the fly, attached by a monofilament leader, follows the line. When a fly line is left for a long period on the reel, it will maintain the round shape until stretched and that makes casting difficult. Lines can be cleaned with special line cleaner or a mild detergent and when left for a period in warm water the tight loops will open up, renewing them.

My efforts are in part energized by plans made for a fly fishing trip to Lakewood Lodge in the Rangely region of Maine. The dogs and I spent a couple days hunting at Lakewood last fall, and it is one of Maine’s original sporting camps. The rustic cabins are just like they were in bygone days when “sports” from the eastern cities like Philadelphia, New York and Boston took the train north to fish.

The history of the Rangely Region is fascinating as the wealthy would send their families to Maine for the summer to escape the city’s heat and join them for vacation to fish for the big brook trout and landlocked salmon that made the region so popular with anglers. Joining me will be Paul Rullo, who has become a great hunting and fishing buddy, and his neighbor in Essex, Massachusetts, who happens to be my high school classmate and good friend Clay Morin. We are trying to time our excursion with hatches of insects in June and hopefully will have some great fishing.

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Clay met me at the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough in January and we both found a really great place to get hand-tied flies. With the loss of legendary fly tier Rodney Flagg, there is huge void. Enter RoxStar Fishing. They had selections of great flies that matched hatches specific to regions of the country and specific seasons. Those big monster brook trout have no idea what they will be dealing with when we arrive at Lakewood!

It also is a shame to not get involved in the great fly fishing available locally. The Millers River, from Royalston to Athol and on through Orange and Erving, is a really top-flight trout river. The Deerfield and Swift Rivers are close and are world-class trout waters. The Deerfield River will be undergoing a change this year. A group of fishermen successfully lobbied the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to cease stocking rainbow trout in the upper reaches of the river. They argued that the wild population of brown trout would do better without the hatchery rainbows. There is a very active fishery on the Deerfield and several very successful guiding operations which take out fishermen using inflatable drift boats and provide a great fly fishing experience. Hopefully, the change will provide more of the same.

My problem is that the best time to fly fish is in late April and May and that is also turkey hunting season. The draw of the gobbler has influenced me strongly for years and hopefully this year will shift my focus a little to fly fishing. Another influence this year will be the New England Outdoor Writers Association reinstituting a spring safari. The first weekend in April the group will meet in Jackson, New Hampshire, and that area supposedly offers some good fly fishing. Now to get my homework done in time and get that fly fishing gear in order!

Reminder! Black bears are out and prowling and looking for easy meals like your bird feeder. They have great memories and if they have ever visited your feeders, they will be back! Take them down of at least pull them is at dusk.

Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.