Lake Pentucket Fishing Guide, Essex County, Massachusetts

• Overview

  Massachusetts holds Lake Pentucket, in Essex County. The sea is 11 miles distant. With some 38 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. A shoreline of some 1.0 miles keeps the choices simple. Supplies mean a trip to Haverhill, 1.1 miles off. For a city, Lowell is 16 miles off. A border sits close enough to be relevant to the paperwork.

• Where to Fish on Lake Pentucket

  It is listed as an impoundment in national data, which explains the shape of the basin. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Survey and observation records for Essex County include alewife, bluegill, striped bass, pumpkinseed and rainbow trout. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Fish Lake Pentucket where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 71°F for July and 25°F for January. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late March. Break-up near late March, freeze-up near late December: that is the shape of an average year. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. The season on Lake Pentucket rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A slipway is marked about half a mile from here. You can park half a mile away and walk in from there. Part of this sits inside or beside Lake Pentucket, so read the notices. Look for a notice board at the entrance. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Should this one be busy, Lake Saltonstall is 0.7 miles off. Check the position at Lake Pentucket before loading the car.