Sudbury Reservoir

Sudbury Reservoir, 1,240 acres in Southborough and Marlborough about 25 miles west of Boston, is a backup water supply you can fish only from shore. The Fisherman's writer, who grew up nearby, says the lack of boats keeps pressure down and lets the largemouth and smallmouth bass grow big. The whole shoreline is undeveloped watershed land laced with fire trails, so the best spots go to anglers who walk.

When to fish

• Mid-April to early May: smallmouth move onto pebbly flats next to deeper water to spawn.
• Summer: bass on deadfalls, rocks and deep banks.
• Fall: go back to the deeper edges of the spawning flats. DCR closes the reservoir from December until early April.

Where to fish

• The Marlborough side: The Fisherman's writer enters from the Marlborough access points and works the shoreline south along the fire trails, watching for steep banks that signal deeper water.
• Deadfalls: trees lying out into the reservoir are worth working thoroughly; bring heavy line.
• Rocks and boulders: he names a cove with a big boulder in the middle where a twitched stickbait has taken big smallmouth.

How to fish it

The Fisherman suggests a slow, rattling crankbait in crawfish colors or a small spinnerbait for spring smallmouth on the flats, a plastic worm or jig around deadfalls, and a stickbait twitched patiently around boulders.

Getting there

Access is through DCR gates, with parking at Acre Bridge Road by the athletic fields, Parmenter Road at the Bay Circuit Trail head, Nichols and Clemmons streets, Route 30 and Route 85. Fishing is from shore only, from just before sunrise to just after sunset, and there's no fishing near the dam and the water-supply facilities. Like Wachusett, it's a drinking-water reservoir: no boats, wading or other contact with the water, and no pets, alcohol or fires. There's a mercury advisory that rules out eating the bass. You need a Massachusetts freshwater fishing license, and small lead sinkers and lead jigs are banned in fresh water.