This weekend is Free Freshwater Fishing Weekend in Massachusetts on June 5 and 6! No license is required to fish any public lake, pond, reservoir, stream or river in Massachusetts from 12 a.m. Saturday, June 5, until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, June 6. The rest of the year, you need a license to fish in fresh water if you are 15 or older. If you’re 15 to 17 or 70 and older, your license is free. Funds from fishing license sales support MassWildlife’s fisheries research, fish stocking programs, and angler education programs. All other regulations, including catch limits, apply during Free Fishing Weekend. Before heading out on the water, make sure you know the rules. You can review fishing regulations online at MassWildlfe.org. For saltwater anglers, Free Saltwater Fishing Weekend is June 19–20.
Massachusetts is not alone in offering free fishing in June. New Hampshire has a Free Fishing Day tomorrow, June 5. Both residents and non-residents can fish anywhere, both fresh and saltwater, without a license and all regulations and bag limits must be followed. Across the Connecticut River, Vermont also has a free fishing opportunity for both residents and non-residents and Vermont’s Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 12. Like the other states, all regulations and bag limits must be followed. Maine, like Massachusetts, allows free fishing for all for this weekend. So, you have a choice of where to enjoy free fishing for a day or weekend. Take advantage and get out and wet a line. When you are done, however, get your Massachusetts fishing license or, better yet, purchase a sporting license that provides you with 365 days of fishing and quality hunting during the small game and big game seasons.
It seems that the pent-up demand from the pandemic has translated into a huge increase in demand for vacation properties of all kinds and ocean cottages, lake rentals and everything in between is booked. This writer is hoping to get away for some fishing in a Maine or New Hampshire lake and it may be a challenge. My first choice would be Whisperwood Lodge in Belfast, Maine. The New England Outdoor Writers Association held our Spring Safari there a few years ago and it was a great fishing lodge. My time was mostly spent turkey hunting, but the time that I did spend fishing convinced me it was a great place to chase largemouth and small mouth bass. The cabins were clean and comfortable and the food was outstanding. At the present time, there is some arm-twisting going on as my wife’s mother grew up in Maine, not far from the lodge, and a getaway including her twin sister and my fellow fisherman, brother-in-law Norm McDade. They are being queried as to whether they would like to make it a joint excursion. One never knows how these delicate negotiations will turn out.
Don’t forget the public hearings coming up regarding the proposed Massachusetts license increases. After 26 years without a license fee hike, MassWildlife is proposing changes to hunting, freshwater fishing and trapping license fees. In May 2021, MassWildlife released a new license proposal, which incorporates public input on the original February proposal. In the new proposal, most license fee increases will be phased in over five years, and the proposed increases for hunting permits and stamps are lower than originally proposed. Public hearings will be held on June 22, 23 and 24 on Zoom to provide the public an opportunity to comment on the new proposed changes.
The boat continues to be a “work in progress” as most of the checklist of things needed to make her “perfect” have been accomplished. The last job is replacing a thru hull flange fitting that serves as the outflow for the livewell. The original fitting from the 2007 Tahoe Q6 SF had a crack and was leaking. Finding the right replacement part ended up being a challenge because the transom hull of the Tahoe is two and a half inches thick! This requires a much longer flange as most are two inches in length and this part is over five inches long in addition to being located behind the Mercruiser 5.0-liter engine block where there is no room to work. For some installations, replacing a flange requires pulling the motor! Fortunately, that is not the case and this weekend the boat should be seaworthy after a period to allow the adhesive to dry. It is always something but in reality, summer is just starting.
Bass are definitely in the shallows to spawn and there were swarming schools of hatchling minnows to be seen this week. Bass fishing during the spawn is not allowed in some states and in New Hampshire, bass fishing for both largemouth and smallmouth bass is catch and release only from May 15 to June 15 to protect beds and spawning females. Some fishermen avoid targeting spawning bass as removing the larger females eliminates that fish spawning and eliminating males removes the egg and hatchling protection.
Males largemouth bass create nests by moving debris from the bottom of the body of water using their tails. These nests are usually about twice the length of the males, although this can vary. Bass prefer sand, muck or gravel bottoms, but will also use rocky and weedy bottoms where there is cover for their nest, such as roots or twigs. After finishing the nest, the males swim near the nest looking for a female to mate with. After one is found, the two bass swim around the nest together, turning their bodies so that the eggs and sperm that are being released will come in contact on the way down to the nest. Bass will usually spawn twice per spring, with some spawning three or four times, although this is not as common. The male will then guard the nest until the eggs hatch, which can take about 2 to 4 days in the southern U.S and Northern Mexico, and slightly longer in the northern part of the country. Finally, depending on the water temperature, the male will stay with the nest until the infant bass are ready to swim out on their own, which can be about two more weeks after they hatch. After this, the male, female and newborns will switch to more of a summer mode, in which they then focus more on feeding. That is when it gets to be fun and a challenge.