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Wachusett Reservoir Fishing Report

Updated Mon, Sep 14, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Boston’s water supply: Wachusett holds landlocked salmon, lake trout and smallmouth in deep clear water.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~66 F est.
Air / High
67 / 68 F
Wind
NW 11 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Monday
14
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Wachusett Reservoir lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 11 mph, rising pressure near 1017 hPa and a high of 68. Water sits around 66 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing crescent, the solunar majors run 1:11 AM-3:11 AM and 1:11 PM-3:11 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Landlocked salmonGood

Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook troutGood

Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Smallmouth bassGood

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Lake troutFair

Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Tomorrow: Similar at 66 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Tue, Sep 15, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp67 F
High / Low68 / 53 F
WindNW 11-18 mph
Pressure1016.5 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 12%
Sunrise / Sunset06:25 / 18:58
MoonWaxing Crescent, 8%
Water temp (seasonal)~66 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Mon Sep 14 · Showers, 68/53 F, wind 13 mph, rain 12%

Fair or better. A 13 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Wachusett Reservoir: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Landlocked salmon illustration

Landlocked salmon

Best: ice-out through June, and September

Atlantic salmon that never see the sea: smelt-chasing acrobats of Maine and New England lakes, and the reason ice-out is a holiday up north. Transition depths: work 15-30 ft along drop-offs and points with trolled smelt imitations, or find them where cold tributaries enter. Early morning is the honest window.

Brook trout illustration

Brook trout

Best: May-Jun and Sep-Oct

North America’s native char: a small-stream specialist that demands cold, clean water and repays it with the prettiest fish in the woods. Prime pocket-water fishing. Work upstream with an attractor dry or a dry-dropper, hitting every seam behind boulders and the head of each plunge pool. Short casts, quiet feet.

Lake trout illustration

Lake trout

Best: ice-out and fall turnover

The char of the deep: 40-year-old predators patrolling the cold basins of glacial lakes, from the Finger Lakes to the Rockies. Transition depths: work 40-80 ft structure edges with white tubes and flutter spoons. Early mornings can find fish surprisingly high over deep water chasing bait.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

When to come: the Wachusett Reservoir calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Landlocked salmon
Brook trout
Lake trout
Smallmouth bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 66 F (estimated, not a reading).

304050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~66 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Wachusett Reservoir today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Sun, Sep 13

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 69 F, wind to 6 mph.

Sat, Sep 12

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 76 F, wind to 8 mph.

Fri, Sep 11

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Landlocked salmon led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 11 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Massachusetts requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Massachusetts license. Shore fishing only from designated areas within a defined season and hours: no boats, no wading. Verify current DCR and MassWildlife rules before every trip.

Access

Designated and marked shoreline access points around the reservoir near Clinton and West Boylston.

About this water

A 4,100-acre Boston water-supply reservoir in Worcester County, Massachusetts.

Fishing Wachusett Reservoir: the full guide

A drinking-water reservoir

Wachusett Reservoir covers about 4,100 acres in Worcester County, Massachusetts, part of the water supply for metropolitan Boston. That role shapes everything: no boats, no wading, no swimming, and shore fishing only from designated areas during a defined season. What it protects is exceptional water quality and a genuinely first-rate coldwater fishery.

Salmon and lake trout from the bank

Landlocked salmon and lake trout hold the deep clear water and come within reach of shore anglers in the cold months, particularly at ice-out and again in late fall. Casting spoons and hardware from the designated shoreline, and fishing bait on the bottom, are the standard methods. Fish run large in this forage-rich water.

Smallmouth and other species

Smallmouth bass hold the rocky shoreline and drop-offs and provide the most consistent action through the warmer months. Largemouth, white perch and rainbow trout are also present. The shore-only rule means walking is part of the game: the anglers who cover ground catch the most.

Worcester County logistics

Designated shore access points around the reservoir are marked and the season and hours are strictly enforced by the DCR, with a list of open and closed areas published each year. Clinton and West Boylston are the nearest towns and Worcester is fifteen minutes away. Read the current rules before you go: they change.

Common questions

Can I use a boat?

No: it is a drinking-water supply. Shore fishing only, from designated areas, within a defined season.

What is the headline fish?

Landlocked salmon and lake trout, reachable from shore in the cold months, particularly at ice-out and late fall.

Do the rules change?

Yes: open areas, season and hours are set annually by the DCR. Check the current list before each trip.

Is fishing good at Wachusett Reservoir right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Stillwater River3 miWebster Lake24 miCharles River25 miMerrimack River29 miQuabbin Reservoir31 miSwift River31 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 42.3800, -71.7300 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Written and reviewed by a person against the sources above. Errors are published in the verification log, not quietly corrected.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.

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