This is one of the 2 times of the year that the state stocks bodies of water with trout from its hatcheries, but Wellesley is not among its targets.
Lake Cochituate, the Charles River and Dug Pond in Natick are getting fish, as is Crystal Lake in Newton and Trout Brook in Dover. But Lake Waban, Morses Pond and the Charles River in Wellesley are not among candidates. Not to say some of those trout from Natick’s section of the Charles might not find their way into Wellesley.
Sheedy adds that “In order for trout to survive, certain requirements must be met during the fishes’ most critical time (or biggest limiting factor), the summer months. In stream and rivers water temps should not exceed mid-60 degrees Fahrenheit, and have enough flow to maintain decent levels of dissolved oxygen. Lakes and ponds need to be of a depth that allows for the formation of a thermo cline. This is a layer of cold, well oxygenated water located about midway in the water column that trout will spend the summer months in to survive the warm water above and the cold low oxygen water below.”
One local fisherman we reached out to said, “I would quite like the chance to catch trout in Morses Pond. But I have noticed that stocked ponds seem to attract people who indulge in angling on an ‘industrial scale’ to get as many fish as possible.”
So maybe it’s best off to leave the trout stocking to neighboring communities after all.
MORE: The running of the fish in Wellesley
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