Conference wahoo::fishing

    Walden pond is on RT 122 (I think)

    
    
      Re. Where is Walden correction.
    
          It is Route 126 in Concord.Ewe can get there from Rte 2 from the
          North or Rte 27 from the south.
    
          Great smallmouth and trout fishing.
    
    
                                             The Keg
                   

    Walden is a very nice place to shore fish. Just about anyplace along
    the shore is accessible. The fishing seems to be hot or cold, and
    I've only been there when it was cold! You have to park across the
    street in the state park lot, and walk. You can launch a boat, but
    no motors allowed. They do have a little launch area, but it's not
    always open for parking.
    
    Ed
    

There is Whites Pond which is slightly smaller than Walden and is stocked
with trout and smallmouth bass. It is located just off RT 117 on Plainville Rd.   
I just caught a 15" Rainbo there Sun.  

Someone may correct me, but I believe it also is where the state record brown 
trout came from.

There is also the Concord and Sudbury rivers.  In the Sudbury river, there is
a section called Fairhaven Bay.  I have only fished the river a few times, but
I plan on doing alot more this year.  The rivers are rated for largemouth 
bass but signs are posted warning anglers that they are not edible.

Phil

    RE .4

    	Phil, Yes a very large brown was caught there. At the time I think
    it was a state record. Could still be, I think it was 14#'s. The
    smallies may have been stocked at some point in time, but I dont think
    they are stocked now. Actually I dont think the state stocks bass
    period, but I have been wrong before. Anyone want to make a liar out of 
    me
    
    Rich

    Nope, no one is going to make a liar out of you Rich. None of the
    states around here stock bass anymore. They did back in the 20'
    and 30' and still some more in the 50's but that was it. Same thing
    with the walleye programs. The only stocking that has been done
    lately, outside of the normal trout, salmon on-going programs, has
    been tiger muskies. This was done in an attempt to rid certain lakes
    of large populations of white perch and kivers, so the trout and
    bass would better be able to survive. No one around here cares about
    the bass anymore and I'm not real sure if they should. Many of the
    lakes around here that now have bass didn't originally or they were
    fished out or killed off durning the past hundred years. After being
    restocked, they were just left on their own.
    
    This is the major reason that catch and release is so important
    in New England. With the HUGE population centers that fish our waters
    they wouldn't last 10 years without it. Add to this Acid Rain and
    polution and the fish don't stand much of a chance.
    
    Ranger Ron

    RE; .4
    Phil,
    My buddy and I were scoping out the Sudbury & Asabet today @ lunchtime.
    We saw a nice launch area just off the common in Concord. 
    Unfortunately, we also saw the sign warning anglers not to eat any fish
    caught in these waters due to contamination.  Now I'm a catch & release
    fisherman, but it pains me to know that the fish are dying by degrees
    because of polution!  Anyways, I was wondering if you could expand on
    your experiences on the river, such as is the river totally navigable,
    or are there certain bridges that can't be rowed under? Or other
    dangers or hotspots?  Tanks for your help!  Good luck to ya!
    
    Dave A.
    
    
    

Well, the information that I have is that 900+ 8-9" smallmouths were stocked 
there this year.  I got this from 2 anglers that frequent Whites.  They both
agreed on the stocking, but disagreed on the size released.

I am trying to call the Mass Stocking program, but Buzzy is not available today.

Will let you know later

Phil
 

    If you're real concerned about polution killing the fish in any
    water system, you could always join a sportsmens group that tires to
    clean it up.
    
    On the Assabet, I seem to remember there were two groups.  One was
    called "Adopt the Assabet" and the other had another name.  Stretching
    my memory, I remember a credible source telling me that one was a 
    totally anti-sportsmen, granola crunching society and the other was
    a real good group that did many positive things in the Assabet and
    then other rivers.  Sorry, can't remember which was which.  Maybe
    someone else can give you more info.
    
    Some of the things that group members do is observe violations of dumping
    laws and reporting or perpetrators.  Laws are tough to enforce if 
    the violators are not noticed.  Since fishermen spend time on the 
    waterways, they often observe things like dumping of contaminants
    and raw sewage.  
    
    /brett

As for the river ...

I believe the Sudbury river is clear and navagatable from the Boathouse in 
Concord on 62 all the way to Saxonville (or at least RT 27 at the Wayland 
Country Club) by canoe anyway.  The Bridges that I am aware of are near 9 acres,
on 117 and across from the Wildlife preseve on Lincoln Rd, Sudbury (which has 
a canoe launch)

Again, I don't have a lot experience with the river.  Ask me again in September
I will probably be more imformative.

Enjoy

Phil

    I'm not positive if it was a state or federal stocking but during
    the summer of 1988 (one year ago) several thousand smallmouth bass
    were stocked in Stiles Pond, Boxford, Ma.  A call to the district
    headquarters in Acton should verify this.  I've never seen bass
    at the Belchertown or Sandwich State hatcheries so I don't know
    where they are raised.  The fish were in the 6" class last year.
    

    If you have a canoe the sudbury river is a very nice place to canoe and
    fish.  I know the sign's that your talking about it has a fish with a
    skull and crossbones through it.  The fish in the river do not look bad
    but I surly would not keep'em.
    
    Concerning the OAR (I believe it satnds for Organization for the
    Asebett River)  they are by NO MEANS a kill all sportsmen group, but
    instead a group of people who are trying to clean up the river by
    making sure that the sewerage is kept down and by cleaning it up
    themselves.  This June the Hudson JayCees are planning to clean up a
    stretch of the river in downtown Hudson.  If anyone is interested in
    helping out give me a buzz (291-7161)
    
    			
    					Bart Lasky

    OAR is sponsered or supported by many of the various sportsmens
    clubs in the area.  As previously stated, they are trying to stop
    towns like Westboro and Shrewsbury from dumping sewage into the
    river.  Westboro now has there sewage plant on line and is reducing
    the amount of cr*p they are pouring into the water.
    
    Jeff

    
    	Dave,  You don't have time to go fishing !!!
    
    		Now get back to work!!!
    
    
    DM

    Ahhhhh!!  The Sudbury river...have fished there many a times.  It seems
    that the river is either feast or famine.  Usually, in the spring it is
    extremely difficult to fish because of the water level.  Anytime the
    marshes fill up with water the bass tend to scatter all over the place.
    I usually don't even fish it until the water level drops, at least to
    the point where you can see the shore from where you are fishing. 
    Plus, you don't have to worry about whether or not you have enough
    clearance to get under the bridges.
    
    I do know for a fact that there are some VERY large bass, and even some
    good size pickerel, and yes even northerns!  My brother a couple of
    years ago lost one that must have been pushing 10lbs.!!  I have on a 
    given night(just before sun down),  picked up several 4 and 5 lbers.!
    
    There are two main areas of the river that I fish.  One place I put in
    my canoe is in Concord(not where the bost house is, but down the river
    from Emerson Hosp.  The other place is on the Sudbury/Wayland town
    line.  It is down past Lincoln-Sudbury H.S.  Both of these areas have
    been productive for me.
    
    Go for it!  The river can be a lot of fun! 
    
    Todd

    
    
          Re .15 Pike in the Sudbury....
    
          Those fish were stocked in Lake Urine (Cochituate).They went
          over the dam and down to Heards pond in Wayland (in back of
          Sandy Burr C.C.) which runs into the Sudbury river.Have also
          heard of Muskies coming out of there via the same route.
          These fish have also been caught in Fiske pond route 135 Natick
          and in Dug pond in Natick.I sure hope the state takes into 
          consideration that these fish are on the wander all the time
          and that if they were to get into a good trout lake/pond they
          would do a job on the stocked trout population.These are great
          gamefish and they do keep panfish under control,but,what if some
          got into say quabbin res????? 
    
    
                                            Just a thought.
    
                                                The Keg
    
          Oh ya,watch for people to start taking them from the Assabet as
          A-1 site is its headwaters.Correct??????

    I know the Sudbury River as a fisherman, boater, and member of the
    Wayland Conservation Commission for many years. The river is flat
    and beautiful from Stone's Bridge at the Wayland-Framingham line
    all the way to Billerica. It drops about a foot in that whole run
    of more than 20 miles. It is really a long narrow lake. I have taken
    a 16 foot runabout most of that distance; upstream past Wayland
    High School it gets too shallow and is only navigable by canoe or
    inflatable. However, I think the upstream stretch is the nicest.
    
    Largemouths, pickerel, and hornpouts have always been excellent
    in the river. However, about 15 years ago there started to be
    indications of mercury in river fish. It has been getting worse
    ever since. The assumed source is Nyanza in Ashland, which for a
    century or so was occupied by companies that dyed cloth and dumped
    the effluent in the back- within leaching distance of the river.
    Nyanza is a Superfund site, which means it has remained untreated
    throughout the Reagan foot-dragging years. Not the sort of issue
    that local citizen activists can do much about. 
    
    Curiously, however, the highest concentrations of mercury have been
    found in fish in Fairhaven Bay, many miles downstream of Nyanza,
    and nowhere near any potential pollution source anyone can think
    of. Clearly, fishing throughout the river should be catch and release
    only.
    
    The major threat to the river that is amenable to individual action
    comes from the Mass Water Resources Association, which for many
    years has been threatening to reactivate the Sudbury as a Boston
    water supply. The resulting reduced flow would make the river much
    less valuable as a recreational resource. Probable the best way
    to monitor this and help protect the river is to join Sudbury Valley
    Trustees (P.O. Box 7, Wayland, MA 01778) which gets involved in
    all sorts of protection activities throughout the Sudbury valley.
                                                       TOM  

    Hi, is there anyone out there that can give me directions to Stiles
    Pond in Boxford? Boxford is not to far from where I live and I would
    like to try the fishing there.
    
    thanks Norm