Conference wahoo::fishing

    
    Hi Dave, I live on lake rohunta and would advise another lake this
    year. It is true that they stock it with pike/muskies, but in the time
    that i have fished it i have yet to catch any of them. the only keeper
    that i have ever heard of is mounted at dodge city tackle store in
    athol. also about 1 month ago they drained it 6 ft. Now considering the
    overall average depth in this lake is 4ft you can imagine the potential
    damage done to the fish population. Now according to the fish and
    wildlife assc. there was no fish kill, but was thought that a lot of
    fish went over the dam into the millers river.
    
    sorry to spoil your plans ;'{    

    re .1
    
    Didn't catch your name in your reply, but wanted to thankyou
    for the feed back. What a shame they dropped the level in the
    lake. It sounded like it would have started to produce this year.
    Was it done as flood control or something? Have you spent much time
    through the ice there or open water. Does the water appear to be
    on the rise again? Hope you don't mind all the questions?
    
    Dave
    

    
    Dave, the names' Mark. what happen on this lake was totally illegal.
    Theres this a__hole who suppossibly has total water rights to the lake
    cause he owns the the dam. I believe that he drained it to pass on some
    perc tests. he claims he did so that we could do a major weed kill.
    anyways he did it with out any permits from any type of organization
    which is now on his butt big time. I hope they make him restock it with
    some strong strain of bass, crappies and other panfish. personally i
    could care less about the pike and muskies because i believe they do a
    number on the bass. if i was catching keeper pike and muskies i would 
    probably change my mind on the subject. 
     The water is back up to normal conditions now due to some of us
    complaining to the authorities.
    From my understanding this lake really produced some lunkers in the
    past but ceased due to the fact of major weed growth. I have caught
    some 5 and 4'lbers, but had to work extremely hard for them{many hours}
    most people fish for the pike and crappies through the ice but only catch
    crappies. thier is a great deal of ice fishing that goes on at the
    northern end of the lake{this lake runs backwards}.
    
    If you do decide to fish here PLEASE release the bass unless you plan
    on mounting the fish. I really hate to see the population decline
    anymore than it has.  

    Thanks Mark, I'm a big supporter of catch and release. As a matter of
    fact I can't remember the last time I kept a fish with the exception of
    a trout here and there. Ihope this guy gets whats coming to him. To bad
    pike fever hasn't gotten you. Sounds like you live in an ideal spot to
    fish them because of the amount of fishing time required to put one on
    the ice or in a boat. Good luck and if it looks like the fishing hasn't
    been too disturbed I'd like to here from you.
    
    Thanks again,
    Dave
    
            

    I was driving up Rte 2 about 3 wks. ago, and I had to do a double-take
    when we passed Rohunta....it looked like a swamp or marsh!  The only
    standing water was in the channel, and even that looked to be a foot
    or two deep.  I can't believe that many fish survived that kind of
    droppage; and I can't believe that the guy who dropped the level was
    able to do so, with the new attention to water and wetlands in Mass.
    Maybe some good will come out of this--we'll just have to wait and see.
    I'm with Mark, I would pick another location for this year! Sorry 8*(
    -dave
    

    
    If i was planning on the all day fishing trip with 15 people i would
    probably try ONATA LAKE in pittsfield for really BIG pike. I have heard
    that it has large mouth,small mouth, pickeral, pike, white perch,
    crappies, and trout. With all these spieces, and that many tilts out.,
    lets see now 15 x 5 = 75 tilts????.. The lake is 600+ acres. I would 
    also suggest that you go during the week because the place is heavily 
    fished.
    
    30LB pike HMMMmmmmm, maybe i could get interested in pike fishing.
    
    still bassman at heart, mark

    Ya Mark Lake Onota was on my list as well as Quabog in Brimfield.
    Quabog was stocked in 81,84,87,88 with Pike and some Muskie. Onota
    showed only a stocking in 87, but I was told had some fine fishing
    there. Webster is another possiblity stocked in 80,81,84,87,88.
    Thats a big lake (1181 acres) wouldn't now where to begin fishing.
    
    Dave
    

    
    What a strange coincidence that Rohunta should come up this week!
    I always fish it on my way back from points east and have had some
    luck there.  I was returning from NH monday afternoon and stopped
    as usual.  I always fish the channel that runs under the Rt. 2 
    bridge and can usually coax one good fish from the northern side
    and a few smaller ones from the southern side.  Given Fall conditions,
    I opted for the southern side first and after 20 casts or so, I
    hooked a mother!  I thought it was the twin of the 5# LM I pulled
    out of there a couple years ago but changed my mind when it leaped
    and tailwalked away from me across the channel.  I landed it a couple
    minutes later and hung it on the deliar 5# 4 oz ... my first SM
    over 5# !!!  The drawdown probably had something to do with her
    location.  I spooked a few smaller fish from the shore with my shadow
    but didn't get another bite.  FYI, I caught it on a blue/yellow
    spinnerbait that I hopped across the bottom like a jig.  I'll be
    sorry to hear if conditions at Rohunta are spoiled by the illegal
    drawdown.  It's always been a favorite.
    
    BTW, I released the fish so there's at least one decent one left.
    
    -SSS-
    

    
    If that bass was a small mouth, it is the first i have heard about in
    the lake. I'm glad you released it, maybe with some luck they will
    begin to thrive in thier. How long was the fish?? was it a healthy
    species???
     If the sm was over 5# thiers has got to be more in thier. My guess is
    that someone put him in thier or it came down from a quabin stream.nice
    catch. if anyone is interested in fishing the lake, ice or open,drop me
    a line.
    
    mark, dtn 241-3152
    

    
    Y'know, Mark in the excitement of the moment, I never measured her.
    But, When I lipped it, the tail was well below my elbow so I'd say
    it was 22-23" long.  It was a healthy looking fish; not skinny,
    not pot-bellied but a nice hefty tapered shape with good color.
    
    Now that you mention it, I've fished Rohunta 20-30 times and never
    caught a Smallmouth before.  I'd always assumed that was because
    I was shorebound and away from the deeper water and structure.
    Of course, I didn't realize there WAS no deeper water.  I have to
    believe that the fish was released there by another angler.  If
    it had come up from Quabbin, there would surely be more and you
    or I would have caught a few of them.
    
    I'd love to fish the place with you sometime, but I'm running out
    of time up here.  Maybe on a trip north next spring/summer.  Is
    there a ramp?   I've only seen one power boat on the lake, beached
    on private property.
    
    -SSS-       
    

    
    The ramps are beat up pretty bad, horse power is limited to 20. The
    asscociation that is now going on is trying to bring it down to 10.
    I don't mind this so much cause my boat is a 15 with a 10 horse cover.
    I prefer to canoe the lake anyways. 
    
    That smally certainly sounds like a loner to me. Would be nice to see
    more of them though i dont really believe that they can survive in
    that type of enviroment.
    
    mark