Wachusett Reservoir

Wachusett Reservoir, a 4,041-acre drinking-water reservoir in Boylston, Clinton, Sterling and West Boylston, is a shore-only fishery: no boats are allowed, so every fish is caught from the bank. It's one of only two places in Massachusetts with wild lake trout and landlocked salmon, and it also grows big smallmouth bass and white perch. Catch rates are lower than at most lakes, MassWildlife admits, but the chance at a giant keeps thousands of anglers coming back.

When to fish

• April and May: the best time for lake trout, salmon and stocked trout, which cruise the shallow edges looking for smelt. The season opens in early April, ice permitting.
• Summer: the trout and salmon drop into deep water, and smallmouth bass and white perch take over.
• Fall into early winter: DCR keeps the reservoir open through the end of December.

Where to fish

• Scar Hill Bluffs (Gate 14, Boylston): from the end of Scar Hill Road, walk to the beach and around the bend to the left. The Fisherman's writer says deep water sits a short cast off the bluff and both corners, lake trout hold at the mouth of the next cove, and smallmouth are farther in.
• Gate 8 (Route 70): a walk from the big lot to a sand bar that reaches the narrows and some of the deepest water you can cast into.
• Gate 6 (Route 70): casting into Hastings Cove.
• Gates 35 and 36 (Route 110): a gravel beach at Gate 36 and paths to the water from the Chance Hill Road lot at Gate 35. No fishing on the north dike.
• Old Stone Church (Gate WB 12, Route 140) and Gate 25 (Route 12): short walks to sandy and open shoreline.
• Walk farther: pressure drops the deeper you hike into the reservation.

How to fish it

The Fisherman's lake trout method is to soak a shiner on a slip-sinker rig (if it's dead, inflate it so it floats off the bottom), or to cast a heavy casting spoon, let it hit bottom and snap it up so it flutters back down; locals carry several colors. Check DCR's current rules on bait before you go, since the reservoir bans bringing in fish or wildlife.

Getting there

Shore fishing is allowed along Route 70 (Gates 6 to 17A), Route 140 (Gates 17 to 23), Routes 12 and 110 (Gates 25 to 35) and at the Thomas, Oakdale and Stillwater basins in West Boylston. Fishing is allowed only from just before sunrise to just after sunset. It's a drinking-water supply, so no boats, wading or any other contact with the water, and no pets, alcohol or fires. DCR's interactive public access map shows every gate and parking area. You need a Massachusetts freshwater fishing license, and there's a mercury advisory for the reservoir's fish, strictest for bass and larger lake trout.