I will be in the Bershires next week and will be bringing my canoe along. I don't have a "real" boat yet. I would like to do some fishing and didn't know if anyone had the skinny on either of these two lakes.

If so...here are a few questions:

If I have time for only one...which one...is there another that is better in the same general area (30 minute drive with a swim area as well).

What baits are hot right now?

Since I have a canoe...where are the most productive areas?

Any other species I should target other than Bass?

Any help/input would be much appreciated. I usually have issues finding fish in a new body of water and want to maximize my time...plus my six year old gets bored easily when we aren't catching fish...just for fun I attached a pic him holding his first decent smallie.

I am from Vermont and fish the Waterbury reservior for smallies as well as some smaller ponds in central Vermont in case that helps in providing feedback.

Personally i'd choose Onota - smallies and largies - i have a tourney coming up there and i've pre fished twice now - lure selection is endless and i'd just let the fish tell you what they want to eat but i caught them on something "sexy" - hope you read into that one

i fish pontoosic quite often,catch mostly bass,pickeral and pike but anyone planning on fishing in the berkshires check the mass wildlife page first for lake closings. zebra mussels were found in laurel lake in lee,mass and they are blocking off the access to many lakes. right now pontoosic and onota are still open,but i won't be surprized if they close them...also there may be wildlife personnal at the boat ramp to question you about where your craft has been and if it is mussel free.....

i usually fish the northeastern end on the opposite end of the lake from the boat ramp,there aren't many weeds because they killed them off with chemicals but i have caught some huge crappies and decent perch along with 2-3lb bass with a chart/blk dt6 or dt4 fished slow,also have luck with a perch x-rap....i also use pumkin or black 7' power worms with a dab of chart. dye on the tail...some 5-6 lb bass have also been caught in 12-14 ft(not by me)!!!...funny your coming to the berkshires,if they close the lakes i was considering going to st catherine......good luck

I will be in the Bershires next week and will be bringing my canoe along. I don't have a "real" boat yet. I would like to do some fishing and didn't know if anyone had the skinny on either of these two lakes.

If so...here are a few questions:

If I have time for only one...which one...is there another that is better in the same general area (30 minute drive with a swim area as well).

What baits are hot right now?

Since I have a canoe...where are the most productive areas?

Any other species I should target other than Bass?

Any help/input would be much appreciated. I usually have issues finding fish in a new body of water and want to maximize my time...plus my six year old gets bored easily when we aren't catching fish...just for fun I attached a pic him holding his first decent smallie.

I am from Vermont and fish the Waterbury reservior for smallies as well as some smaller ponds in central Vermont in case that helps in providing feedback.

Since when is a canoe not a real boat? You almost sound apologetic.

An enduring truth about fishing.

The man in the boat is more important than the boat the man is in.

I will be less apologetic when my six year old can help paddle.  

Buying this canoe was the best $800 I've ever spent.  I guess I am a little lazy and would like to cover more water without the effort.  Also, I would like to fish standing up more, but I don't like to risk sending me, my son and gear for an unscheduled swim.

I guess the point of mentioning the canoe is that I won't be able to cover as much water on a big lake like I could in a power boat.  

I just got off the phone with Jack at the Office of Fishing and Boat Access.  As long as your vessel has not been on a body of water known to have Zebra Mussels you should be fine to launch in Onota and Pontoosuc.

With that said, I am going to make sure there is not a speck of dirt on my canoe before I head down.

there was an article in yesterdays newspaper that they are not going to close any lakes except laurel lake...some towns have closed off the boats ramps but mass wildlife has told them to open them backup......

You may want to re-think your plans. Both lakes are on the list for restricting private boats due to zebra muscle infestation prevention. This, according to Frank Sousa's column in the Springfield Republican yesterday.

that would suck,knew i should have went fishing this past weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So we made it out on Pontoosuc. It Sucked! My buddy and I paddled around for 3-4 hours. Didn't catch a thing. We launched at the picnic area, paddled out to the island and then over to the abandoned boat house. Tried all around the island and around the sailboats and docks for bass and nothing. I then took my son from the picnic area over to the boat ramp (didn't want to carry the canoe back up the hill) and he caught 2 good sized blue gill and a small perch.

We also fished a little pond just north of Hancock on route 63. Very weedy...super thick. We managed a few small bass, but again my son ended up with a few slab sized blue gill and the largest pumpkin seed I have ever seen. The thing was at least 10-11 inches long and I could barely grip the fish belly to dorsal fin...should have fried them up.

BTW there were no monitors or people preventing people from launching boats.  We watched several bass and pontoon boats get launched.

i was there sat morning....7 bass,mostly around 2 1/2 lbs,largest was 3 1/2 lbs...and a couple pike....should have paddled to the northeastern end as i suggested.....i rarley catch anything around the marina,a couple around those docks but few and far between.....