One of my favorite ponds to fish in Mass for trout and bass as a kid at the former Ft. Devens, Little Mirror Lake aka Little Hell Pond (not to be confused with larger adjacent Mirror Lake) succumbed to acid rain after I moved away in 1971. Went from a good brook trout pond with holdover, (larger and beefier than adjacent Mirror Lake), and some really large largemouth bass with literally thousands of frogs for the bass to feed on to basically a dead pond. It presently has a surface Ph of 4.5, (I personally tested it last summer), and is devoid of fish life except for a few small runt fish present. If there are frogs there, there aren't many. For the surface area to depth ratio for a natural kettle pond it may be one of the deepest ponds in Massachusetts. Six acres and 30 feet deep. (See contour map below). One local I talked to was surprised as he assumed it was a shallow bog pond due to its tannic water color. Before I moved there when the Ph dropped the first time, the PH dropped to 4.7 in 1963, it was limed with what would cost under $700.00 in today's dollars, and was such as success it was used to as a model to bring the Ph back up in other Massachusetts ponds through out the state when acid rain wa bigger problem than it is today. Now this secluded forgotten heavily wooded kettle pond on state property with no development would be an ideal little pond to launch a kayak on and fish if they would just treat it. I've contacted all parties in Mass that have either jurisdiction over it, or could do the treatment and was ignored (I had to contact them twice in some cases to get a response), or a lukewarm response.I just can't see a bigger bang for a buck than adding under $700.00 of lime, but no one wants to commit. But I believe the community of Devens spent $30,000 on fireworks last summer. And that area is getting developed big time. On April 18, 1963, six acre Little Hell Pond at Fort Devens was stocked with 400 (9-12 inch) rainbow trout. By opening day of the fishing season� April 20, numerous trout were dead while a few were along the shoreline. Water chemistry performed on April 22 indicated a pH of 4.7 and an M.O. alkalinity of 0.8 ppm. Rapid mortality of live caged rainbow, brown and brook trout confirmed the stressful conditions associated with this high acidity. During June and July a total of three tons of agricultural limestone were added to the pond. The pH rose to 6.7 and alkalinity rose to 8 ppm. Subsequent stockings of rainbow trout survived and produced excellent fishing. Follow-up chemical analysis in March 1969 indicated that the pH was still holding at approximately 6.0 and alkalinity was 16 ppm. The retention of the elevated pH was credited to the kettle shape of basin. It was also concluded that the expense of liming was justified in light of the fishing it supported.
Interesting story.
Its so bad people will put ropes on each side of their dock to try to prevent people from flipping their docks.
We have that issue too.
Its funny. If anything I fish those more.
A lake in our state that has a horrendous amount of boat traffic and PWC's has or had the biggest bluegills in the state (I say has or had as I no longer go there as I find the boat traffic too much to deal with). I actually mounted a 12 inch non hybrid bluegill out of there for an angler. Over 10 inches was the norm.
The boat traffic might be one reason for the larger fish.Less fishing pressure!!!Maybe.
Have you ever fished Yellowwood in Brown County? It had the biggest bluegill I've ever seen (very tall with tiny mouths), but that was fifty years ago. The serious bluegill fishermen knew spots fifteen feet deep that held them so they used 15' cane poles with 15' of line. Hook one and you lift the pole straight up and the gill is at your hands. I've always wondered if the fishery held up.