Wallum Lake

Wallum Lake straddles the Rhode Island line in Douglas: a deep (81 feet), very clear, rock-bottomed lake with holdover trout and plenty of smallmouth bass. MassWildlife stocks it every spring and fall and lists it as a best bet for trophy rainbow trout; fish over 5 pounds turn up now and then. Because it's shared with Rhode Island, you can fish it with either state's license, but Rhode Island's rules apply everywhere on the lake.

When to fish

• Spring and fall: fresh trout after each stocking. The lake keeps a cold, oxygenated layer all summer, so some trout carry over for years.
• Summer: smallmouth bass along the rocky shores.

Where to fish

• Rocky, boulder-lined shores: MassWildlife says smallmouth are abundant all around them. The bottom is rock and boulders with almost no weeds.
• Small coves and the southern basin: the shallower water where the lake's fewer largemouth live.
• The west shore: undeveloped Douglas State Forest, reached by footpaths.

Getting there

DCR runs a concrete ramp with parking for about 30 trailers off Wallum Lake Road on the north shore, with shore fishing near the ramp and along footpaths in Douglas State Forest. A Massachusetts or Rhode Island fishing license is valid, and Rhode Island's regulations apply on the whole lake. There's a PFAS consumption advisory for the lake's fish.