Hit Wachusett Reservoir this month for inland trout fishing that reeks of surfcasting.
When I was in my late-teens and early 20s, still living at home, I had already been bitten by the surfcasting bug. Living in central Massachusetts, a trip to the ocean required a little more planning, and for some of those years, borrowing a car. And much like today, when it became obvious that the stripers had mostly migrated past my favorite spots, I would feel a little twinge of panic-laced melancholy. To be obsessed is to be so in love with something that you can’t imagine life without it.
That panicked feeling lead me to the second largest body of fresh water in Massachusetts, the Wachusett Reservoir, aka ‘The Chu’ for short. Back then, there was no YouTube or searchable catalogs of articles online, so I had to figure it all out myself. A challenge that I welcomed and a challenge that didn’t turn out to be all that difficult. One of the things that quickly became apparent to this budding Wachusett angler was just how much deep water access an angler has from shore in this place! From the Stone Church, to Scar Hill to what the old timer’s called The Rook, deep water was not hard to come by.
I started my journey with two long and limber spinning setups that had the cushion to cast a live shiner a long way and the backbone to handle a heavier fish. My rig was quite basic; a 20- to 30-inch leader of 20-pound fluorocarbon, with a size 4 hook at one end and a tiny barrel swivel at the other. The swivel would double as a stop for my half-ounce slip sinker (non-lead is the law!) that was threaded onto my main line above the swivel. I preferred to hook my shiners through the back, just under the dorsal, because I felt that they stayed on better during the cast, but you can certainly lip-hook them if you like. After that, it was all about making a good cast. When you make a long cast from the shoreline at The Chu, you’ll be amazed by how long it takes for your shiner and sinker to reach bottom.
When the sinker has settled, you’ll want to reel up the slack until the line is pretty taught. Opening the bail, I would pull the line out, between the reel and the first guide, to get it nice and tight and I’d set a small stone on top of the line, this was my strike indicator. Some anglers used little rod-mounted flag contraptions, others used bobbers hung from the line or even pieces of tin foil. Once the rods were rigged, I get busy sitting on the shore and watching for a strike.
This was a time I really enjoyed, there was no Instagram to scroll, there were no texts to pass the time, I was alone with my thoughts and focused in my concentration in a way that I’d dare to say, most people can’t achieve in 2025. With my eyes pinned to the rods I’d wait for one of those lines to slip out from under its pebble, seize the rod, reel up to find weight and set the hook.
Most of the late trout you’ll catch in Wachusett will measure under 20 inches and weigh 3 pounds or less, but monster fish do live in this place and each year teen-sized fish measuring up to 40 inches are caught by anglers pinning shiners to the bottom. Others are taken using artificial lures like Kastmasters and Krocodiles. It was the possibility of catching a giant fish, the solitude and desolation of the ‘beach-like’ shorelines and the secretive nature of the old guard that made me feel at home after the stripers had left. These days, Wachusett Reservoir stays open to fishing a full month longer than it did back then, closing each of the last several years on December 31, rather that the classic November 30.
If you plan to go this year, make sure to download the fishing map off of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife website so you know the areas where fishing is prohibited. This map can also provide some good insights as to where an angler might access the deepest water with a cast. It’s a fun place to fish that provides a unique opportunity to catch lake trout from shore. You may also catch rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and there are even some massive pickerel in some of the shallower spots.
Take my advice and give The Chu a try.
