Conference wahoo::fishing

    I have to agree with you Quabbin is a funny place.  I too love to
    go there but rarely catch anything of interest.  Have you ever fished
    the small end of the reservoir?  If you have a canoe you can take
    it into the small end.  I have caught more fish out of there then
    the big end.  The small end is shallow and weedy seems like a good
    place for those lunkers!
    
    				Good luck and enjoy the sights,
    
    				Bart Lasky
    

    
Since I love to fish the Quabbin, I thought I might as well respond.
It's quite a challenge to catch trout and salmon out of that lake with
any degree of regularity.  I am far from what I consider a successful
Quabbin fisherman.  How one fishes can make a difference also I believe.
I troll most of the time and been correcting a lot of mistakes and learning
in the process.  I figure it will take me another two years to totally
get my "act" together there.  In the meanwhile, I'm learning a lot about
the lake's characteristics and structure and the behavior of the fish
relative to that.  Along with this vital information, I'm constantly
making adjustments and fine improvements to my fishing techniques.  I'll
be quite satisfied when I can take a keeper once out of two times out
during prime time (early spring and fall).   Now, taking one for every
five times out is more realistic.  I know there are more successful Quabbin
anglers in this conference so what do you say?

Everything else the Quabbin has to offer is a bonus... Steve

    Well I have taken atleast one keeper laker every time I have gone
    in the spring to this place.  All I do is drown shinners in the
    right places.  Last friday I took on just over 5lbs.  The salmon
    are a little harder.  only one short.
    
    Got to be in the right place at the right time and lots of luck!
     

    ::::THE OLD WAYS WORK WELL:::::
    IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMMING BUT WITH THE REBIRTH OF SPRING COMES
    STOCKERS AND NATIVES. IN TWO OUTINGS, THIS YEAR, MANY LAKERS HAVE
    TIPPED THE SCALES OF UP TO 5LBS.  THE AVERAGE FISH CAUGHT PER DAY
    IN OUR BOAT WAS FOUR LAKERS AND TWO SALMON. OUR BOAT CONSISTED OF
    TWO MEN ASSORTED TACKLE AND LUNCH.  "PLEASE NO BEER" AND ALWAYS
    PICK UP AFTER THOSE WHO SEEM TO CARE LESS...WE FISH THE QUABBIN
    WITH A PASSION USING ONLY LEAD CORE AND MONO. IF YOUR AFTER LAKERS
    FISH DOWN DEEP. SALMON ARE NEAR THE TOP. FISHING AT A TROLLING SPEED
    FOR SALMOND, WHICH IS FASTER THAN FOR TROUT, HAS CAUGHT BOTH SPECIES.
       WE THAT FISH "THE BIG WATERS" ARE REALLY LUCKY.  THERE'S NO PLACE
    IN CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND WHERE THE QUALITY OF SPORT FISHING IS BETTER.
    THERE'S LOADS OF RESTRICTIONS MANY PEOPLE DISLIKE MYSELF INCLUDED.
    THESE RULES ARE ONLY PROTECTION THE WATERS AND WILDLIFE OF THE MOST
    BEAUTIFUL BODY OF WATER I'VE EVER BEEN ON. I'M WILLING TO EVEN PAY
    MORE TAXS.  JUST LET ME CATCH THAT QUALITY OF FISH...
       THIS IS JUST A SHORT BLIP......THE GROUP "QUABBIN ANGLERS ASSOC."
    HAVE SOME MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE QUALITY OF FISHING IN THE 
    NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY AREA.  I PERSONALL WANT TO THANK THEM!!!!

    What kinds of restrictions are there on boats, such as size and
    size of the motor?

    	I know motor size is limited to 20 h.p., as for boat size
    I'm not sure..............
    
    
    							//john
    

    
    I've never heard of a restriction on boat size, but the way the
    motor restriction is worded is that the limit is 20 h.p. and your
    boat must be rated for at least twice the horsepower you have on
    it. This keeps people from having small boats that are overpowered
    with a 20 h.p. on it. Can make for a dangerous situation.
    
    I love fishing Quabbin. Even if it's a slow day I love it cause
    I just sit back and enjoy nature and I let my husband 'not' catch
    fish.
    
    Patty

    Quabbin has the following boat restrictions:
    
    1. Boats must be over 12' in length
    
    2. No Jon boats
    
    3. No Canoes   
    
    4. No inflatables (I think)

    I have the MDC 'quabbin fishing guide' in front of me!   
    
    It says ... 
    
    "All boats, canoes, and jon boats must be at least 12 feet long.
     Canoes and jon boats cannot launch on the main bodt of the reservior
    but may launch on Pottapaug Pond above the Regulating Fan at Launching
    area 3, gate 43, in Hardwick."
    
    "No boat may carry more than four persons, and boats inter 12feet,
    6 inches are limited to 3 persons"
    
    "No canoe or jon boat may carry more than three persons, and canoes
    under 16 feet and jon boats under 14 feet 6 inches are limited to
    two persons."
    
    "MDC rental boats are limited to 10 horsepower maximum.  Private
    boats are limited to 20 horsepower or 1/2 (BIA or OBC rating for
    boat) whichever is smaller."
    
    "Private boats may use two motors provided the total combined horsepower
    does not excede 20 horsepower or 1/2 (BIA or OBC rating for boat)
    whichever is smaller."
     
    "25 horsepower motors restricted to 20 horsepower are not allowed"
    
    \s\Rick
    
    

    As I noted before you can put canoes on Quabin as long as your on
    the small side.  If you go to gate 43 out of Hartwick you can put
    a canoe in there, trust me.
    
    
    				Bart Lasky

    Re. .0 & .2 
    
    I have also spent many enjoyable hours on the Quabbin, but have
    had only a small number of keepers. Back to the orginal question.....
    "how do you catch um'".....let here about technique and tackle.
    
    I have often seen coolers full of outstanding catches, so there
    surely is a way!. My first two years there where limited to catching
    sight of several deer, beavers and shore birds. Once I added a sounder
    to my equipment and could see the structure, things began to change.
    
    Mostly we have had good luck with smallmouth bass and perch in shallow
    protected areas around Russ Mountain. There are several submerged
    stone walls there and once you locate them ( look for them on the
    shore and follow the line into the water ) you'll do well with top
    water lures. Perch are often close by in the middle of grassy bottoms
    of the small bays.
    
    
    I believe that with addition of "correct" terminal tackle and the
    Down-Rig I'm installing I'll have a good shot at the Trout near
    the deep water off Mount L. The southern end of this island has
    "canyons" of 60' to 80' and judging by the number of 'Ol Salt' boats
    in the area it should be a good place to get serious.
    
    It just a matter of time,
    Jerry
       

    re:.11

     I like trolling as a method of catching the trout and salmon.  I can't
     say I do as well as those who fish deep off the bottom with live shiners
     for the lake trout, but in time I expect to do better.   I use downriggers
     to fish at a controlled level, particularly when fishing over 15' down.
     I find a LCD unit invaluable to monitoring the depths I'm fishing over
     and for locating the dropoffs, structure, holes, etc.  It is also helpful
     to see where any fish may be congregated or the depth they may be cruising
     or suspended.  A more recent "tool" I've acquired is a temperature
     probe.  I'll get in some deep water and take a sampling of the temperature
     and depths to get a general idea of the stratification and where the
     preferred ranges are for the fish.  I say general because it varies
     in different areas of the lake, with time of year, with weather, etc.
     So it's a good idea to periodically take a check while moving around.
     For the spoons and plugs I use,  I have a variety of colors and
     combinations to use.  This is important I believe particularly the
     deeper  you fish.  Light gets filtered as it travels down through the
     water so the deeper you go the fewer the colors there are that are
     "visible".  I use fish formulas/attractants from time to time only
     to mask my odors of gas, oil, or whatever which may not be appealing
     to the fish.  A general rule I've been using with downriggers is the
     deeper I go the less distance I use between the release and the lure.
     The closer to the suface and the boat, the spookier are the fish so
     I give more distance.  During the early part of the year, I like to
     keep things simple in regard to terminal tackle.  A barrel swivel and
     short leader with lure tied directly.   During the summer fishing deeper,
     I'll use a clip swivel and add cowbells, or a dodger/flasher ahead
     or the leader and lure.  Another method I use which has been productive
     on the salmon when they are up on top is trolling (without downriggers)
     shiners with a small keel weight.  In all cases, I prefer steel ball-
     bearing clip swivels and snap swivels.  The cheap ones just don't cut
     it for me and aren't worth the trouble and possible lost fish or tackle.
     Whenever I'm fishing through possible weeds or with lures that twist,
     I'll use a trolling keel also.  Another area I keep an eye on is trolling
     speed.  Some lures cannot be trolled together effectively to get their
     proper action.   I have many spoons that must be trolled faster than
     some plugs to get the action correct.  There are some plugs that work
     well at almost any speed like the Fastracs.  Sometimes varying the
     speed can be effective around dropoffs when fishing close to the bottom.
     The idea is allowing the lure to drop and flutter in the case of some
     spoons over an edge than picking up the speed to climb over.  Some
     areas there are major rises and falls where you have to raise and lower
     the ball to avoid hanging up unless you are ready to try anything to
     wake up the fish and bang the ball along the bottom.  I'd be careful
     about that because it can cause a lot of false releases and once I
     lost a ball in a snarlup of someone else's downrigger cable on the
     bottom.  Another thing that I believe is an absolute neccesity is to
     keep any hooks honed as sharp as you can get them.   The fish will
     usually hook itself on the strike and not because of the spring of
     the rod after the release although the spring helps to pick up the
     slack.  

     Enough for now... Steve

    Re. .12
    How do you rig the Dogger/Flasher? Any brand names and Wocester
    area dealers would be helpful as well.
    
    Jerry
    

    Re: .13

    I use the dodgers much like the cowbells with some differences.
    Depending if the dodger has swivel clips, barrel swivels, plain
    rings, or any combination of the above, I'll use a ball-bearing 
    swivel on the end of the rod line to the dodger ("clip" to "ring"
    or "barrel swivel", or "barrel swivel" to "clip").  Then attached 
    to the tail of the dodger a leader with another ball-bearing swivel 
    again using a "clip" type to "ring" or "barrel" or "barrel" to "clip".
    At the end of the leader a I the lure dirrectly.  When I tie directly
    I prefer a knot with a loop unless the lure has a ring then I'll tie
    a cinch (clinch?) type knot.   Others may have their own ideas about
    what I'm about to say but this is how I look at the use of dodgers.
   
    Dodgers produce a swinging action into the line, and this can be con-
    trolled to a degree with a little bending of the dodger at the right
    spots.  They typically work properly when bought but they can easily
    get bent later hindering their action.  Now the way I see it, these
    work best with lures with little to no action.  For instance, streamer
    flies, shiner, or a squid-type lure would fall into this type.  The
    dodger will impart the swing action into the lure/bait following the
    dodger.  Attention must be brought to the length of leader because too
    much leader and the swinging action will never reach the lure which
    will just be twitching behind the dodger.  A foot and a half works fine
    for me but be aware of the variables like trolling speed and dodger
    action.   I've found that when using some plugs and spoons with dodgers
    the action of the dodger defeats or fights the action of the lure or
    vice-versa.  That is why I say using lures with little or no action.
    There is nothing wrong with experimenting though.

    I don't shop in Worcester so someone else might be able to help you
    there or check out some catalogues mentioned in other notes.  I'm not
    sure what items you're referring to as far as brand names?  I'll list
    what kind of stuff I use if you're interested, but I'm not necessarily
    endorsing any particular ones over others.

    Steve

    That's a good start for me and you have my good thanks. Hope to
    try the "Q" again soon.
    
    Jerry
    

    re .13
    
    Spags has all that fancy hardware your looking for.
    
    Rich

    
    
    Heard on the radio news this morning that you better not eat what
    you catch at the Quabbin. Mercury levels are high.
    They say the water is o.k. to drink, but the fish may have
    accumulated high levels in their systems.
    Heard it on WZLX. Anybody else hear this?
    
    Mike
    

    	Heard the same yesterday on the 6 pm news, channel 5 I think.
    They also said that children should not eat *any* fish but it's
    safe for adults to eat one per week. I think I'll pass.
    
    RAYJ

    The Worcester paper had front page new about this.  I did not read
    it yet but after a lunch conversation with Al whitman I have to
    wonder.  Those fish samples were taken 18months ago and were just
    sent out for testing now.  The reason they did testing was an Eagle
    died from it last year.  
    
    Hay Al fill everyone in on the story.
    
    

  An autopsy on a dead eagle indicated the bird died from mercury poisoning so
the officials wanted to test the Quabbin fish for heavy metals, pcb's etc. As I
understand it (my wife was reading me bits & pieces) the fish were caught in
the spring of 1986 and frozen (70 fish in all).  Due to some screw-ups, lack of
funding, & other red tape, the results of the tests did not come back until a
few days ago, and they only had tests on 5 fish. the three lakers had 2.9 ppm,
2.7 ppm, and 1.0 ppm. The two Small-mouth had levels of 2.5 ppm and 1.5 ppm of
mercury (1.0 ppm is the federal gov'ts limit). They claim the water is fine,
the Hg is getting into the food chain from sediment on the bottom. 

					Al