Sudbury River

[albiejunkie]

Ive never fished the Sudbury river by canoe before but since I'm on vacation this week it seems only natural to spend some time exploring its waters. I plan on targeting both Pike and Carp although carp is my first choice. If I wanted to fish the Fairhaven Bay area where is the best spot to launch the canoe. Thanks in advance.

[PMcHallam]

It's been awhile since I paddled that area, but there used to be a nice put-in area on Rt 117, in Lincoln, I believe, immediately to east of Rt. 117 bridge, on the right if coming from east. A short paddle upstream to Fairhaven Bay - I used to catch some nice bass in there when I lived in those parts.

PatM

[albiejunkie]

Thanks for the info. Went out today and did a little exploring. Caught three nice carp on fly and had a few good shots at a BIG pike i spotted under some timber. This fish was huge and managed to get him to flash on my fly but was spooked by the canoe. Going back for another shot at him tomorrow.

[bdowning]

Just out of curiosity, what fly pattern did you get the carp on?

-bd

[albiejunkie]

a purple mayberry fly.

[boba]

I have never heard of a Mayberry fly before or a Mayberry tree. I have seen carp eating mulberries under a Mulberry tree in Spy Pond and thought about trying to work up something to imitate the berry clusters but never tried it. I tried Googling the Mayberry fly and found this description in another forum, along with descriptions of other carp flies:

4) Mayberry Fly
Size 12 or 14 hook wrapped in black or dark purple chenyle (probably spelled wrong) and have a piece of feather stripped down to the central vein that will come out one side or the other to mimic a stem. Then find a few mayberry trees along the river or lake that are dropping fruit. The carp will be stacked up underneath looking for a treat.

Does this sound about right for the fly?

[albiejunkie]

That pattern sounds about right. I was taught not only this pattern but flyfishing for carp in general by one of the masters, Chris Windram. I like this fly because I can see it in the water and carp cant seem to help themselves as it drops in front of them.

[hq2]

I've poked around in the Sudbury at a lot of spots over the past few years casting for pike, with no luck. I've met people who say they've caught them at Fairhaven bay, which I've never gotten to even though I live in Sudbury and own a kayak. You can catch them in other areas too; below the Route 27 bridge is a spot where I know people have caught them, and there's nice deep water and a side channel for the pike to sit in. Overall, I've mostly caught yellow perch in the Sudbury.