While not native, black bass have adapted well to New England.
April 08, 2024
By Matt Crawford
You don't need to jump on Google or pay big money for insider information to determine the best bass-fishing waters in New England. The all-stars shine brightly and are well known: Lake Champlain, Lake Winnipesaukee, and Candlewood Lake grab plenty of attention–and for darn good reason. These big lakes, darlings of the tournament crowd, are consistent, reliable producers of quality bass.
While New England is full of wonderful, smaller bass lakes, it's important to note that both largemouth and smallmouth are interlopers to much of the Northeast. Technically, smallmouths are native to the Lake Champlain basin, but for much of New England, they are an introduced species, products of aggressive, state-run stocking programs in the mid-1800s. This was a time in history when native trout waters had been altered by pollution and dam building, so the hardy bass helped fill a void.
We must say, bass have certainly adapted quite nicely to New England. They are found in rivers and ponds, lakes, and reservoirs in every New England state. And here we look briefly at some of the better bass waters in the region that are not necessarily on everybody's forward-facing sonar. These are places to get from the crowds–mostly.
Connecticut Connections It's safe to assume that every bass angler with more than one rod in their quiver is well aware that Candlewood and the Connecticut River are the top spots in the Constitution State, but there are plenty of other awesome bass waters.
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Lake Winnemaug in Watertown has a reputation for lunker largemouth while Wyassup Lake in the southeast corner has slowly been building its own legacy.
Maine Attractions There are legions of bass anglers in the Pine Tree State for sure, but in parts of Maine, some of the old-timers consider them interlopers in trout water and are not particularly fond of them. But a couple of places do stand out for the bass fishing and those spots are revered by bass anglers.
While it's not a secret spot by any means, Umbagog Lake (on the border with New Hampshire) is a smallmouth factory. Shallow and tannic-stained Brann's Mill Pond in Dover-Foxcroft often warms up earlier than other bodies of water in the Moosehead Lake region and has a reputation for coughing up decent numbers of bass.
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Massachusetts Alternatives Massachusetts is full of bass heads, and while Quabin Reservoir tends to be generally the top destination for many of them, there are a whole bunch of other gems in the Bay State. Here are a few: Mashpee-Wakeby Pond in Mashpee; Lake Cochituate in the Framingham/Natick area, Quacamquasit in southcentral Mass., and 231-acre "The Oxbow," a remnant meander left from the Connecticut River flood in 1840.
Don't overlook New England's smaller lakes and ponds for abundant bass. New Hampshire Picks New Hampshire officials are a little prickly about suggesting alternative places for bass anglers outside of centrally located Lake Winnipesaukee.
"New Hampshire currently has a lot of angling pressure on our more productive bass waters," wrote biologist Jason Carrier in an email. "We currently permit around 500 bass tournaments a year, which is much more than our surrounding states. I do not want to spotlight any particular water body for its exceptional bass fishery."
It's important to note that bass are found throughout the Granite State, from holes in the wall like Potanipo Lake (home to the state-record largemouth) and the large impoundments on the northern tip of the mighty Connecticut River.
One place New Hampshire officials will talk about is Winnisquam Lake. Just south of Winnipesaukee it provides good access and is a nice option when the tournament crowds invade the bigger lake.
Rhode Island Options Rhode Island is one of the few states that has actively stocked bass into its public waterbodies in recent years, but for the most part, the bass fishing in the Ocean State is self-sustaining.
By and large, "bass" around here means stripers, but for those looking for largemouth in smaller spots, check out Wilson Reservoir (just 112 acres), while Wallum Pond (322 acres) will produce decent smallies.
Vermont Varieties Lake Champlain gets all the glory, and rightfully so. It is, without question, one of the best bass fisheries in the Northeast. But the big lake can be a bear to get on when the wind blows hard or when the crowds arrive for derbies, tournaments, and holidays. So bass anglers in the Green Mountain State often head inland when looking for a change of scenery.
Lake Bomoseen in Rutland County hardly counts as a sleeper–it sees its fair share of local tourneys, but it's a solid Champlain backup. Close by, St. Catherine is another quality largemouth lake. And don't overlook smaller spots like Curtis Pond, Lake Eden, or Waterbury Reservoir.
