Alright, I’m gonna discuss two more streams today: Boston Brook and Alewife Brook. These are two more streams that hold brookies, mostly stocked and some natives.
First off, Boston Brook is another tributary of the Ipswich River, in Middleton. It is pretty small, with some deep pools and a few riffles. To be honest, almost all of these small brooks look the same. I haven’t been to Boston Brook for a while, but in the past, I’ve caught a few stockies near the Ipswich, and some natives in the upper pools. At the very top of the brook, it meets a pond, and I have had some good luck there. I was there a few years ago, and the water level was very high, so up by the pond was very deep water. I caught a bunch of native brookies up there, and even a few in the pond. But that’s when the water was really high, and right about now the pond is probably a marsh, that holds no trout. As far as flies, I have had really good success in Boston Brook with cased caddis nymphs. No idea why, but the trout there love ’em. They probably hit all sorts of other flies there too, just as well.
Now for Alewife Book. Alewife Brook is located in Essex, MA. I’m not sure if it is actually ome to alewifes (the baitfish), but it does drain from a saltwater bay, so I guess it’s possible. I
do know that on Google Maps has it labeled as both a stream and part of the bay. (THIS is where the trout are.) I really have no idea where the trout are stocked in here, but near Chebacco Lake is some good fishing. Alewife Brook branches off into several streams, and many more come off of the Essex Bay. Now I’m sure that most of these don’t hold trout, but I know a few of them do. I’ve always wondered if there are salters in here, since they could go out into the saltwater. But anyways, near the pond is a pretty good spot, but I’ve caught trout throughout most of the stream (although its worth noting I usually fish here in April, before all the trout are taken). There are lots of spots with no good fishing, because they are right next to houses or parks, so you sort of have to explore. From my experience, most of the trout here “disappear” earlier than most streams. Maybe there aren’t many stoked, or the catch-and-kill crowd is more prevalent here. Anyways, San Juan Worms, and most flies work, but the San Juan Worms OWN Alewife Brook trout.
So theres a few more more brooks, that both are good places to catch some fish. Plan on hitting the Swif for a few hours tomorrow- I’ll have a report then.
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Thanks for the help. I will certainly look into that Boston brook. I know someone who lives in Ipswich, but it new to the area, so I will pass that name along to him. Interesting that they like to go for caddis nymphs. I have heard that the Ipswich river could be a world class salter fishery if the dams are removed. Good luck on the swift tomorrow.
Another thing, Troy, is that the boston brook no longer has the pond on it. The Ipswich river watershed association helped advocate for and win the dam removal of Curtis pond dam on Boston brook. The watershed association is doing a great job pushing for these dam removals. Two have already happened and one is going to happen in 2016. The big dam at the head of the bay is still in the process of removal planning, so it is probably 10 years away. Once the dam at the head of the bay is removed, Ipswich river and tributary brook trout will be able to be sea run.
Thanks RI brook trout,
I would love to see the Ipswich hold some salters. It definitely seems like a good spot, minus the dams. And thanks for informing me about the pond in Boston Brook- I have only been fishing near the Ipswich when I'm over there as of late, and its been a LONG time since I've been by the ponds. Just wondering, are you referring to the large part of water in the middle of the brook (that goes under Peabody Street) or the one at the end of the brook? I wonder if there are still any natives in that area then, or if they have moved towards the Ipswich…
~Troy
I am assuming that they are probably still more towards the headwaters especially with the stocking of the lower portion. I am referring to the part of the stream that is just above Peabody street where it used to widen to form curtis lake/pond. http://ipswichriver.org/restmapper/index.html
This link I attached is a map of the watershed. Boston brook is the left blue dot (shows where dam was removed). Hopefully this helps.
Hey Troy,
I'm in Northeastern MA as well, and it's great to see another fly fisherman with similar interests in the area. It looks like we've fished a lot of the same streams (Shawsheen, Swift, Willard Brook, etc.), so maybe I've seen you before!
Have you ever fished the section of Boston Brook in North Andover? I scouted it once, but it looked like the North Andover section is one giant beaver swamp, so I never went back. You should consider letting the DFG know about the wild brookies if they're still there, because it isn't currently listed as a Coldwater Fishery (a higher level of protection given to streams with spawning trout).
If you haven't seen the list before, you can find it here: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/wildlife-habitat-conservation/coldwater-fish-resources-list.html, and you can view the streams on a map here: http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/oliver.php (under available data layers click "Physical Resources" and then "DFW Coldwater Fisheries Resources"). Unfortunately, some of these streams no longer support trout, and some are too small to fish, but it's a great resource.