Fish species composition is changing in Upper Woods Pond. Over the past five years Waterways Conservation Officer (WCO) Kaneski has received increasing reports of anglers catching bass in the pond in addition to trout. During his patrols of the area, he has personally seen bass, primarily largemouth, being caught, confirming angler reports. On one occasion (24 May 2008) WCO Kaneski witnessed an angler catch and release a 21 inch, 7.5 pound largemouth bass! Reports of bass being caught by anglers and WCO Kaneski’s observations of increasing bass catch over the last five years lead to his request to have our office conduct a survey to see examine the status of the “new” bass population.

We were curious ourselves about the status of the bass population since we didn’t stock largemouth or smallmouth bass in the pond, nor have they ever been documented as present in prior surveys which date back to 1979. The staff of Fisheries Management Area 5, assisted by WCO Kaneski, electrofished for 1.46 hours covering 75 percent (1.2 miles) of the total shoreline on 9 June 2008 catching a total of 65 bass. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass were collected, with largemouth being more abundant (n=40). The legal bass component of the population was also dominated by largemouth bass which accounted for 86 percent (n=25) of the legal catch.

The origin or method of introduction of bass into Upper Woods Pond is unknown. Perhaps the bass species migrated upstream from Lower Woods Pond during previous high water events. Upper Woods Pond now provides a nice “little bass” fishery in addition to the Big Bass Program offered at the PFBC’s Lower Woods Pond.

Other species collected or observed during the survey included bluegill, pumpkinseed, rock bass, American eel, white sucker, and alewife. No rainbow trout were caught, mostly due to the fact that the water temperature in the upper 3 feet of the water column water was 79.2 oF. Trout anglers, however, can rest assured that water temperatures below the thermocline, dropped to acceptable levels. The fishery at Upper Woods Pond now supports both warmwater and coldwater species partitioned by thermal habitats within the Pond. Enjoy expanded fishing opportunities.

Biologist Reports -- PFBC Home