I'm a student at UMass Amherst and I'm an avid saltwater fisherman, looking to get into freshwater fishing. There's one drawback: I know absolutely nothing about fishing fresh. I've been doing a lot of reading and trying to learn on my own, but when it comes to finding local places to fish, I haven't had much luck.
I'm limited to about a 30 minute car ride from Amherst, and have no access to a boat. I've heard that the Swift River, Lake Metacomet and the Conn. River are good bets. Quabbin sounds great if you have a boat, but, sadly, I can't bring mine to school with me. Does anyone have any other ideas about where I could try, or even where on the Conn. River I should fish?
Also, any early season tips (bait, retrieval, time to go etc.) tips for any species, either spinning or fly would be much appreciated. I really just want to catch something! Thanks for the help.
I'm limited to about a 30 minute car ride from Amherst, and have no access to a boat. I've heard that the Swift River, Lake Metacomet and the Conn. River are good bets. Quabbin sounds great if you have a boat, but, sadly, I can't bring mine to school with me. Does anyone have any other ideas about where I could try, or even where on the Conn. River I should fish?
Also, any early season tips (bait, retrieval, time to go etc.) tips for any species, either spinning or fly would be much appreciated. I really just want to catch something! Thanks for the help.
You can rent boats at the Quabbin for 30 bucks a day. They're pretty decent sized, with a small hand throttle motor and a full tank of gas. That place is huge though, you may want to try some smaller places first to get a feel for it before you hit the Q.
a lot of people use this site for a resource for local waters. It's not all inclusive or up to date, but gives you a decent idea of depths, sizes and what species are in different ponds.
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps.htm
You could also check out a Delorme Gazeteer for Mass. I picked one up at Target and its sweet - it has all the roads in the state, and it marks out fishing access spots, campsites, etc. It also tells you what kinds of fish are in a bunch of different lakes throughout the state
a lot of people use this site for a resource for local waters. It's not all inclusive or up to date, but gives you a decent idea of depths, sizes and what species are in different ponds.
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/habitat/maps/ponds/pond_maps.htm
You could also check out a Delorme Gazeteer for Mass. I picked one up at Target and its sweet - it has all the roads in the state, and it marks out fishing access spots, campsites, etc. It also tells you what kinds of fish are in a bunch of different lakes throughout the state
check out the lakes in granby, MA. i have been having good luck with poppers and the like. i also got some on a jointed swimbait twitched slow. you should get a spinnerbait, buzzbait, 3/8 oz. jig, and a package of 4/0 EWG hooks and some stick worms. this should cover all of your avinues for now, and once you get the feel for were they are, then slowly work on a wider selection. i am a collage student too, and just spent over 500 dollers on gear this winter alone, so be carful, it gets addicting 
this info is aimed at the bass angler(from shore), but can also be used for other larger preditory fish. good luck, and if you ever need a guide just let me know, im always looking for people to fish with and am only 10 minutes from your school.
this info is aimed at the bass angler(from shore), but can also be used for other larger preditory fish. good luck, and if you ever need a guide just let me know, im always looking for people to fish with and am only 10 minutes from your school.
At this point, the Quabbin seems a little bit daunting to me. I want to keep the training wheels on and hit a few smaller places first.
haha, yeah me and my buddy went there last year, and we've been fishing bass since we were little, and we had no idea what the hell we were doing at that place. It was fun though.
Sadly I didn't really start fishing until I moved away from the area, but the mass wildlife pond maps are a good place to start looking for ponds.
I've fished Aldrich Lake in Granby for bass a few times, and it's never been super productive but it's probably good for a couple fish an outing. Shore access is sporadic though, with only a few different openings that you can cast overhand from. Get comfortable with pitching rather than casting if you go there.
The Oxbox area on the Conn. River is supposed to be pretty good, but I don't know how shore access is. You could probably rent a canoe or something similar from the marina off Rt. 9 right before you go across the bridge into Northampton. It's on the left hand side when going from Amherst to Noho.
The Swift River is pretty good for trout, but be aware that it's artificials only south of Rt. 9 and fly fishing only north of it, if I remember correctly.
There's a pond just outside of Amherst, Puffer's Pond (Factory Hollow Pond). It supposedly has trout stocked, and it's not a bad place to take a dip if the fishing is bad.
If you don't mind doing some field work, I'd suggest picking a few decent looking smaller lakes/ponds out on google maps or from the mass wildlife maps, and then spend a day driving around checking them out.
Are there any species that you are especially interested in, or not interested in at all?
I've fished Aldrich Lake in Granby for bass a few times, and it's never been super productive but it's probably good for a couple fish an outing. Shore access is sporadic though, with only a few different openings that you can cast overhand from. Get comfortable with pitching rather than casting if you go there.
The Oxbox area on the Conn. River is supposed to be pretty good, but I don't know how shore access is. You could probably rent a canoe or something similar from the marina off Rt. 9 right before you go across the bridge into Northampton. It's on the left hand side when going from Amherst to Noho.
The Swift River is pretty good for trout, but be aware that it's artificials only south of Rt. 9 and fly fishing only north of it, if I remember correctly.
There's a pond just outside of Amherst, Puffer's Pond (Factory Hollow Pond). It supposedly has trout stocked, and it's not a bad place to take a dip if the fishing is bad.
If you don't mind doing some field work, I'd suggest picking a few decent looking smaller lakes/ponds out on google maps or from the mass wildlife maps, and then spend a day driving around checking them out.
Are there any species that you are especially interested in, or not interested in at all?