On September 30, 2026, I spent a fascinating morning of fishing on the Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts, hosted by Quabbin Fishermen’s Association President Clayton “Syd” Sydla. It was not yet light when cameraman AJ Derosa and I met Syd at Gate 43 in Hardwick, where we launched Syd’s 16-foot Starcraft at Fishing Area 3 and headed out to the main part of the reservoir.
Boating on Quabbin is a remarkable experience, one reserved only for anglers. That’s right: Canoes, kayaks, sailboats, and motorized non-fishing craft are not allowed on most of the reservoir (kayaking is permitted in a small northern section). To fish here, anglers may rent a small, outboard-powered aluminum boat managed by the state’s Department of Conservation & Recreation, and must possess a Safe Boating Certificate, a fishing license, and fishing tackle. Anglers can also trailer their own boats to the Quabbin, but must adhere to a strict inspection process to prevent invasive species from entering the reservoir.
As we threaded our way through meandering channels toward open water, Syd explained how the current water level (the reservoir was down by about 12 feet) had exposed lots of rocks, sandbars and other hazards normally hidden below the surface. Such hazards can make boating on the Quabbin tricky for the uninitiated, so it pays to have a chart plotter and depthsounder, or at least a detailed printed chart. Just remember to subtract 12 feet from the printed depth markers! The rental boats are not equipped with any electronics, by the way.
Once we reached Syd’s favorite late-season salmon spot in some 100 feet of water, he set a trolling spread of four lines (Quabbin regulations permit two rods per angler) fished off downriggers and lead-core outfits to get the lures down deep to where the salmon and trout were holding.
The salmon bite was pretty much over for the season, but we did manage to land a small lake trout after about an hour of slow-trolling. As we trolled, we saw a bald eagle and numerous loons. In fact, it seemed as if we were fishing a remote lake in northern Maine, given the lack of manmade structures along the heavily forested shores and lack of boating traffic. It was hard to believe we were less than two hours from Boston!
Later in the morning, we turned our attention to the Quabbin’s plentiful smallmouth population by trolling in a shallower basin known as the “Golf Course” (site of a former golf course that was flooded when the reservoir was created in 1938). We marked lots of fish on Syd’s depthsounder and soon landed a 2.5-pound beauty. Syd told me that the local smallmouth can reach 5 pounds or more, and lots of smaller fish provide fast action all season. He likes to target the bigger fish using live yellow perch, which are also abundant.
