Road Trip

[bogtrotter]

My younger son and I traveled to Montague this morning to fish the Saw Mill (which I used to fish a lot with my Dad back in the '80's).

Beautiful day - - sunny, blue skies and 65 degrees.

We started by the Book Mill (Gotta love their motto: "Books You Don't Need at a Place You Cann't Find") and then fished from the South Street bridge to the Union Street  bridge.

Unfortunately, the stream levels were higher than we'd expected, and we didn't have any luck.

However, on the walk back to our car, we met a couple of other fishermen (a pair of early teenaged brothers, from the look of them), who reported similar lack of success, but suggested trying Cranberry Pond in Sunderland (which I'd never been to before).

Figuring "why the heck not," we gave it a whirl and drove over.

Cranberry Pond is a beautiful body of water, and there were quite a few people there, albeit fairly well spread oput.

The Pond didn't look very deep, but the banks around it are quite steep, so it was a bit of a pain walking along the shore. 

But we did manage to salvage our trip with a few sun fish apiece (which seemed about as well as anyone else we saw was doing) before heading home around 3 PM.   

[lowaccord66]

Good day for some exploring.

[bogtrotter]

As a grace note to my post, this evening I commemorated today's trip to Cranberry Pond by bottling the batch of cranberry wine that my wife and I had put into a carboy last November.

[scooper47]

Cranberry Pond is shallow -- in the areas you can get to. Once it widens it drops off to over 20'. You really need a boat to fish it unless you get there right after a stocking. It used to have great bass fishing, too, until the lily pads started disappearing. That's a problem I have seen at several ponds in Western Mass, with no explanation forthcoming.

[Ryan51993]

Consider going back to cranberry during ice season for a better experience. Ices early compared to the surrounding waterbodies and has large bass as well as all 3 species of trout. Only ever caught bluegill jigging but its supposed to have other panfish. It is always very crowded and highly pressured during the warmer months unfortunately, especially right after stocking. Not so much in the winter probably because there are so many other good spots in the area.

[fishercat]

Congrats on your second stop you where in my front yard.

[bogtrotter]

Congrats on your second stop - - you were in my front yard.

Small world.  I envy you your proximity to the Saw Mill.  It's a great stream, even if I did get skunked on it yesterday.

[maxma]

Oh Cranberry pond!

A friend of mine got a 5-pounder bass right in front of me a couple of years ago. Still remember his excitement. Just like yesterday...

Cranberry pond used to be my go-to spot for trout. Yes the water is shallow by where people park. But if you know where to cast (there's a deep channel), there is trout.

Jim you might wanna try Greenwater Pond in Becket. Should be closer to you. Bad access to the water (right btwn two highways) but the fishery is more than awesome....

[scooper47]

Consider going back to cranberry during ice season for a better experience. Ices early compared to the surrounding waterbodies and has large bass as well as all 3 species of trout. Only ever caught bluegill jigging but its supposed to have other panfish. It is always very crowded and highly pressured during the warmer months unfortunately, especially right after stocking. Not so much in the winter probably because there are so many other good spots in the area.

I would say there is not much pressure because it is so hard to get to in the winter. The roads in are not plowed and very steep. The road from the west is in good condition, but I don't think the lower half gets plowed. The road in from the east is less steep but heavily rutted. I haven't made it in in years because of that.