Hook, Line & Sinker!
- Visit North Central
Love freshwater fishing? Well, grab your gear! With its wealth of rivers, streams, lakes and ponds, North Central Massachusetts is an angler’s dream.
Brown, brook and rainbow trout; large- and small- mouth bass, yellow perch, brown bullhead, sunfish and pickerel; even freshwater salmon can be found in the waters of Johnny Appleseed Country.
Consider these spots: The Nissitissit River in Pepperell is home to the state’s first catch and release fly fishing area. The Stillwater River in Princeton and Sterling hosts a population of reproducing landlocked Atlantic Salmon. And local rod & gun clubs often open their properties for fishing derbies, making it easy for kids to try their hand at the sport.
What are your chances of coming home with dinner? Well, both the private sports associations and the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife stock waterways throughout the region. Check out the website at mass.gov/masswildlife-trout-stocking-program for details, and head out for some angling fun!
The following waterways are stocked by the state each year:
Ashburnham: Phillips Brook, Whitman River
Athol: Ellinwood Brook, West Brook, Tully River, Millers River, Silver Lake
Barre: Ware River*, Burnshirt River, Canesto Brook, Prince River
Clinton: Lancaster Millpond, Mossy Pond
Fitchburg: Fallulah Brook, Phillips Brook
Gardner: Dunn Pond*, Kendall Pond, Otter River, Perley Brook Reservoir
Hubbardston: Asnacomet Pond*, Natty Pond Brook, Burnshirt River, Canesto Brook, Joslin Brook, Ware River
Lancaster: Fort Pond*, Spectacle Pond
Leominster: Barrett’s Pond*, Crow Hill Pond
Lunenburg: Lake Whalom*, Mulpus Brook
Petersham: Swift River East Branch*, Connor’s Pond, Fever Brook West Branch
Royalston: Millers River*, Lawrence Brook, Priest Brook, Scott Brook
Sterling: Stillwater River, West Waushacum Pond
Templeton: Otter River
Westminster: Crow Hill Pond, Wyman Pond Brook, Phillips Brook
Winchendon: Millers River*, Lake Dennison*, Priest Brook, Tarbell Brook
*Spring & Fall
