Purgatory Cove/Charles River, Waltham, MA

Purgatory Cove is a small pond connected to the Charles River in Waltham, MA. You can park on Forest Grove Rd and fish on either side of the street. While there is limited spots to cast from in between the trees, I've only ever seen 1 or 2 other people fishing so I've had plenty of space to work. This place has consistently produced fish for me, including a couple of 3lbers during my last trip.

You'll quickly see that there is heavy vegetation along the shore, especially on the Cove side. Most of my success has come from landing a senko or rubber frog into holes between lilly pads. On the river side, it's a little more open and you've got space to throw something with an open hook. I've caught a few running a white spinner along the weed line.

You can also find some shore access by driving up the end of the road to the round about in the image below. There's a path going up the side of the Charles, which has various opening to cast from.

I've only fished from the shore here, but I'm dying to get a boat out on there. I constantly see fishing breaking on both the cove and river side just a little bit out of casting range. There's also a bunch of structure in the cove that I'd love to fish, including a bunch of tree stumps in the southern corner.

It's a pretty small spot and not too much more to say. Tight lines!

Successful Baits:
Shore Fishing?  Yes
Boat Access? Yes - on Forest Grove Rd
Boat Ramp? No, kayak or car topper access only



Click here to see Purgatory Cove on Google Maps
1 comment:

Billington Sea, Plymouth, MA

 Billington Sea is a warm water fed pond in Plymouth, MA that seems to be a very popular spot and supposedly holds some big bass in the 5-7lb range. I fished there recently and unfortunately did not have much success finding any lunkers, but did pull in about 8 bass in 3 hours. I didn't fish anything to the west of Hathaway point but I'd like to go back and try again as I know my luck will be better the next time around.

This pond has a little bit of everything when it comes to structure. Along the northern shore, near the boat ramp, you'll find some lilly pads and some bushes that you can fish. There's a creek mouth in the northeast corner that gets pretty shallow but definitely holds some fihs. Along the southern shore, where it is more developed, you'll find plenty of docks to target. The outer edges are shallow, anywhere from 1-5ft deep, while the middle drops down to about 10 ft.  The island in the middle offers some quick drop offs that I fished with my MS Slammer and a shallow diving scatter bait to see if I could find any bass hanging around the ledge. There's also a good amount of downed trees if you can find them, I've marked a few on the map below.

Most of my success came along on the eastern shoreline and in the cove in the southeast corner. I had multiple top water strikes as I fished my senko worm quickly, trying to cover ground. I also caught a couple on a fat body crank bait, working it just outside the weedline.  I think the next time around, I would focus more on the windblown points where it drops off quickly and throw some larger swimbaits, like my Spro SB BBZ60 or Spro BBZ-1 Rat.

As far as I can tell, there is no shore access outside of  the boat ramp and maybe Hathaway point, if the road is open. When I first arrived, I went through Morton Park, only to see that the road was blocked off. You'll want to access the boat ramp via  Morton Park Road, off of Billington St.

More to come after my next trip here. 

Successful Baits:
Shore Fishing?  No
Boat Access? Yes - Morton Park Rd
Boat Ramp? Yes, but not paved.
Avg/Max Depth: 5 ft/10 ft


Click here to see Billington Sea on Google Maps
4 comments:

Towners Pond, Melrose, MA

Towners Pond is one I am looking forward to fishing again soon. It's a small pond just off of Swains Pond Rd that appears to have no shore access but actually has a very accessible shoreline via a path that goes around nearly the entire pond. If you park on the southwest side of the lake on Swains Pond Ave, you'll find a couple paths that lead you down to the water. Along this path, you'll find a multitude of spots to cast from.

There are a couple of spots that you could drag a kayak or canoe down to but having a boat is not a requirement to get some good action here. Along this path, you'll have access to some pockets of lily pads and a bunch of laydowns along the shoreline. If you walk over to the northern shore, you'll find a nice big rock outcrop that actually has a wooden platform to fish from. A little further down that path, on the north east shore is another big rock to fish from.

I've only fished this place twice but I pulled in plenty of fish in the couple of hours I had here. Most of them were small, with 2-3 going in the 2-2.5 lb range. I talked with a guy there who showed me pictures of a couple of 4s that he pulled out of there, which is awesome for a pond that size.

I fished mostly senkos here, throwing them deep into the lily pads. I had a lot of strikes right as it hit the water or at the surface as I brought it in. I threw some top water baits like my Whopper Plopper and 7in Slammer but didn't get any bites. I'm certain if I stuck to it and went at the right time, those baits would produce a great bite.

There's really not much more to this place. Now get out there and hook up with a good one. If you guys have any success or know any more about this place, feel free to let me know in the comments. Tight lines!

Successful Baits:
Shore Fishing? Yes
Boat Access? Yes - Kayak or Canoe off Swains Pond Ave
Boat Ramp? No



Click here to see Towners Pond on Google Maps
No comments:

Whitman's Pond, Weymouth, MA

Whitman's Pond is a place I have been fishing for years with mixed results. It used to be a great spot but I think fishing pressure and the overabundance of vegetation is having a negative impact.  That said, there are still big bass to be caught in here - each year I hear about a handful of 5 pounders getting caught there.

There are lilly pads along both the northern and southern shores and I have caught nearly every fish there either in or near the lilly pads.  Early in the season, you can work the shores but as the weeds get there, you need to start fishing a little further into the water.

For the most part, I have worked the shores both on the North and South side of the pond which can be easily accessed by a boat ramp on Middle St.  There is a sand bar in the middle where I have had some success as well as two natural springs where some bass seem to congregate.  There is also a beach on the south east corner that is always active with bass.  The beach can be fished from the shore by going down Westminster St off of route 53.  You can also fish off the long shore line on Middle St but that is highly over fished, so if you're going to do that I suggest working the corners more than the middle.

The weeds are really thick so if you plan to use an open hook lure, I would suggest using a top water lure.  There are some spots, near the beach and on the south side of the pond near a restaurant called Canoli's that are some what weedless where you could use a spinner or crank bait.  It can get pretty windy at times which makes it challenging to fish but usually it is coming off of the Middle St shore so if you're fishing off the shore it will only lengthen your casts.

Overall this is a great fishing spot.  I go out every time expecting to catch a couple good size bass.  Good luck!

Successful Baits:
Shore Fishing? Yes
Boat Access? Yes off of Middle St
Boat Ramp? Yes


See Whitman's Pond in Google Maps
14 comments:

Canton Reservoir, Canton, MA

The Canton reservoir has treated me and my friends very well for over 10 years. It is my favorite spot in the south shore but has become more challenging over the last few years. With increased water pressure and heavy vegetation, the proven honey holes are producing less quality fish. That being said, it is still a great place to fish, offering various types of structure and an opportunity to fish pretty much every type of lure with success.

As far as accessing the pond, there is a park off of Pleasant St where you can park and drag a car topper or kayak down to the water.  Please note, this is a public park and is locked from sunset until 6AM. I think if you want to get a real boat in there, you will need to know someone with property on the shore.

If you want to immediately catch fish at the Res, you should head straight for south east corner which is directly up against the Wampatuck Country Club.  There is a par 3 hole on the shore, where a cove cuts into the land.  This spot is absolutely stacked with bass.  You can fish the edges or the middle because there are boulders submerged everywhere which give the bass lots of structure.   We've pulled a few 3 and 4 pound bass out of that cove, so that's always our go to spot.

Along the eastern shore there are two coves inlets that you can fish if your boat can get into really shallow water, like 2-3 feet.  Between the two inlets tho is  a little rock that normally holds bass so feel free to drop an anchor and run some crankbaits or jigs through there. Depending on the water level, you can see some branches poking out of the water. I believe this used to be marked with a bouey but I think that's been removed.

If you head to the northern shore, we've had some recent success throwing some large swimbaits and poppers up and down the weedline, pulling in multple 4+ pounders.

If you're looking to fish from the shore, there is one spot that will give you some good access. If you park behind the ENE building on Route 138, you will find a path that leads out to the water.  This was the only spot we used to fish from about 8 years ago and we caught plenty of bass. It gets fished a lot and can get very shallow in late summer, so I'm not 100% how much it will produce.

We have had a little luck fishing in the middle of the reservoir but its pretty big and there aren't many drop offs to fish out there so it's usually just a crap shoot.

Successful Bait:
Shore Fishing? Yes
Boat Access? Yes, off of Pleasant St
Boat Ramp? No


See the Canton Reservoir on Google Maps
3 comments:
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