Benton Pond in Berkshire County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Berkshire County entry here is Benton Pond, in Massachusetts. It lies 1,483 feet above sea level. At about 62 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. A shoreline of some 1.3 miles keeps the choices simple. Compared with other Massachusetts water on our list, it sits high. The closest town, Otis, is 2.4 miles distant. It is 24 miles to Springfield, the nearest city. Rules can differ a short way off, since the county line is near.

• Where to Fish on Benton Pond

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Species logged across Berkshire County include brown trout, pumpkinseed, largemouth bass and brook trout. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. On Benton Pond the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 20°F to 67°F. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice-out usually falls in early April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at early April and the freeze at mid December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Anyone fishing Benton Pond regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Failing this one, try Big Pond, 0.7 miles away. Ask locally about Benton Pond if anything is unclear.