First off John would like to say great site, looking forward to hearing more about fishing for stripers in the New England area. As was posted on Tim's board concerning free herring runs in Mass, was wondering if you or any of the members could point me out to some runs and directions to these runs. Looking at trying to liveline herring for the first time this spring. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, John you mentioned a run at Watertown Falls on the Charles River. Is this run in Watertown right down the road from Watertown Square near the intersection of Route 16 and Galen Street? I work down the road so this run would be ideal in June. Thanks again.

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Thanks Tobias, there is still alot of work to put into the site but its getting there...

Herring runs: The Watertown run is right down the road from you. All you need is a Mass fresh water license. There is also a limited # days that are allowed. I'll post that as soon as I have more completed info but last year was Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat. I beleive that the limit was 25 per day. The spot is not the easiest (you get them yourself as opposed to the managed runs) and I managed to fall in once last year after slipping on a very slick rock. These were also the regular "alewive" herring and not bluebacks but they still caught a ton of stripers... The DEM does patrol the run very frequently, I saw them grab one guy that had over 100 herring <img src="/Images/Sad.gif"><!--e2--> and they fined others that did not have fresh water permits...
There are some runs north of Boston although I don't get to those. The Weymouth run can be pretty sparse and They have not decided availability yet. Mass Striped Bass Association volunteered on a clean up of the run (I was unable to make it) hoping to make the run more attractive and productive for upcoming years. There are the obvious runs, Canal and Wareham which have had rule changes this year that I will post next week... I'll also post more as it becomes available...

I'll post when I am heading to the Watertown run and maybe we can hook up over there. Show you what we figured out last year.
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Hey John - Thanks for the response. Since getting your response, I've talked to some of our environmental scientists at work and they showed me a book showing all the anadromous fish runs in Mass. It doesn't specifically show the location you can get the herring but it tells you which river has anadromous fish runs.

Whenever you make it up to Watertown let me know and I'll meet you down there. Thanks again.

To add my two cents... The herring run John mentioned in Watertown is just as he said (a freshwater liscense, 25 fish per day, I don't remember the days but I think he is right. He forgot to mention that towards the end of July there is also an abundance of eels to be caught as well. As far as the Weymouth herring run, it has been loaded with herring for the past week or so. The permit cost is $3.00 or so and available on Saturday from 10:00 to 2:00 (I think) and you are allowed 12 fish per day.

Good Luck