Regulations about the freshwater fishing at boston

Hi Guys.

I have already got the freshwater fishing licence for 2013. I want to try fishing at Charles River and Chestnut Hill Reservation. My first question is whether fishing is allowed at these two places for the whole year. The second question is what type of fish i can keep and how much i can keep? And what kind of fish i need to release?

I have checked these information on http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/fishing/fishing_home.htm

But i couldn't found specific answer to the question.

Thanks for your help:)

yes it's allowed. i would highly encourage keeping panfish like perch and sunfish and pickerel, especially pickerel. it's legal to keep bass 12" and over but i highly discourage it as it ruins the sport. i would also suggest NOT keeping anything around here due to contamination and mercury.

Thanks very much!

I just bought a set of fishing equipment and want to try it nearby. However, from the fishing forum of MITBBS, i found many people being fined due to the size and type problem. Thus, i come to here to ask this question.

Start fishing from Jan 1st: )

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/regulations/cmr/cmr_400.htm

Check this one out it has specifics on certain bodies of water

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/regulations/plain_language/taking_fish.htm


This one has the specifics about harvesting / size / quantity restrictions of all the different game fish in our area hope this helps

I wouldn't recommend eating fish from the Charles River. In the summer there are toxic algea blooms that get pretty bad. They recommend not even touching the water during the blooms, so I would imagine eating the fish is probably not the healthiest thing. Also, during heavy rain the sewers discharge into the river. But, I see the same people eat the fish year after year so I guess eating them hasn't killed them yet.

The Chestnut Hill Lake may be a better bet. Cleaner water. There are some decent crappies in there, but you have to fight through an army of pickerels to get to them.

Thanks very much for your information and valuable suggestion : )