Persistence at Wachusetts Finally Pays Off

   Today I went to Wachusetts Reservoir for the first time this year. I planned on going last Saturday but the
weather was “too nice”. It was sunny and warm. Not ideal conditions for catching lake trout. Since I usually go fishless every time I fish at Wachusett, I thought there wasn’t any point in going when the odds were not
in my favor.

   Today the daytime high temperature was only supposed to be forty five degrees. Also the forecast called for partly cloudy skies. I thought I might as well give the Chu a try. So I packed a lunch and drove for an hour before reaching the bait shop. I bought a dozen shiners and set off for Gate 30.
My usual plan when I fish the reservoir is to fish an area I’ve never been too then after a couple hours go to spots I’ve been to before. I had never fished at Gate 30. I had read that fishing is good at Tahanto Point.

    Unfortunately I wasted forty five minutes trying to find a legal place to park. I even drove back to the bait shop, the owner wasn’t sure where I could park. I then drove to Mass wildlife where they were friendly but equally unhelpful. So I drove to Gate 29 and walked to Gate 30.

   It’s a long walk to Tahonto Point. To my chagrin, it was not as deep as I imagined. I fished there for 90 minutes without any luck. This would become the theme for my day. Fish an area for an hour or more and move to another area. I never went back to the car. I walked and fished the area from Tahonto Point to the Cellar Holes. This is a distance of a couple miles.

   Even though I wasn’t catching fish I could tell I was in fishy water. The map said the deep water came very close to shore. Casting a red/gold Kastmater confirmed I was in deep water. Around 1:30 I sat down and ate some cookies (I left my lunch in the car assuming I’d be back in a couple hours). While eating a guy came out of the woods and told me he caught 7 lake trout yesterday. He also told me he went fishless until 3:30 pm then “all hell broke loose”. I felt a surge of adrenaline when he told me there was hope. Then I felt glum when I realized I had another two hours until 3:30. Even then I assumed with my luck I wasn’t going to catch anything anyway.  At that point I was trying to figure how much time I’d have to fish the fly pond in Rhode Island if I left then. Needless to say, I sucked it up and stayed until 3:30.

   Well three thirty came around and…nothing. I fished hard. I had one rod with a shiner on the bottom. I casted the Kastmaster with the other rod. Every twenty minutes I’d reel in the shiner and cast it in a different spot thirty feet up the shoreline.

   Four thirty came around and still nothing to show for it. Keep in mind, I am a carp fisherman so I know what it’s like to wait hours for a fish to hit my bait on the bottom. Carp fishing will make any fisherman patient or they quickly give up targeting carp. Still at this point I’d fished seven hours without a hit at a giant lake that I’ve caught exactly one lake trout and one salmon (and a few smallmouth but I was not targeting them today). I had a couple highlights. I saw a couple deer. I got some good pictures of loons and some warblers.  Again I was thinking “if I left right now I’d have an hour at the trout pond”.

   At four thirty the light breeze shifted from northeast to south. It was really cool to see it. The change reminded me of the current change at the Cape Cod Canal. One second it was blowing from NE then it was calm then small waves went in the opposite direction.

    Right after the wind changed I got my first hit. I was using my baitrunner reel on the shiner rod. I set the hook and reeled in a lake trout about 17 inches. I put another shiner on and casted out. I got my camera ready to take a couple pictures. My rod started bouncing again. I picked it up and set the hook. Instantly I could tell this fish was much bigger. One thing about lake trout, there fight will never be confused with a bluefish or smallmouth bass. It’s like reeling in a trash bag. None the less, I didn’t want to lose it or break the line so I played it cautiously. I was very relieved it land it. It was about five pounds and easily the largest of the three lakers I’ve caught in my life.

   As lake trout go, a five pounder is a decent fish but not a giant. The leader board at the bait store has a thirteen pounder as the top fish so far. Still I was extremely happy to catch this fish. I took a boat load of pictures of it.

   The wind turned northeast again and the fish stopped biting. I have no idea if the wind direction turned the fish on and then off again. In theory a school of lakers could have came through at that time. Maybe the wind direction was the key. Either way, I fished another hour and made the forty-five minute walk back to the car where I devoured two turkey sandwiches and a banana before heading home.

In case you go;

The spoon most recommended at the bait shop was a 3/8 ounce red/gold Kastmaster.

I caught my fish on medium shiners. I used a one ounce sinker and two feet of 10# fluorocarbon and a size 4 hook.

The fish were caught between Gate 30-32. It’s a solid 30-40 minute walk.

Gate 8 is across the way. This is where I caught my only other laker a couple years ago. Today was Good Friday and I knew there would be a lot of people there. Sure enough I saw 5-6 guys on the point.

Any gate with a short walk to the water was filled with cars. This was one reason I took the long walk.

Expect to be overwhelmed by the immenseness of the lake and do not be disappointed in a skunking. Even though I caught two today, I firmly expect to get skunked every time I go.

There is a lot of wildlife. I saw deer, loons, warblers and a game warden (yes he checked my license) told me there is a young moose hanging around the reservoir.

Be patient