‍ Lake Quaboag (North Pond) ‍

Quaboag (North) Pond is a 558 acre great pond located approximately 2 miles southeast of Brookfield center on the Brookfield-East Brookfield town line. Quaboag Pond has an average depth of 6 feet, a maximum depth of 15 feet, and aquatic vegetation is relatively common within areas less than 10 feet deep. The majority of shoreline development occurs on the northern and eastern shores. The Quacumquasit Wildlife Management Area is located on the southwestern shore and is undeveloped. Quaboag Pond is fed by the East Brookfield River and the Quaboag River, the latter of which is navigable to motor boats for some distance through the Quaboag Wildlife Management Area up to the Long Hill Road crossing (not shown on map). Quaboag Pond is a popular destination for recreational boaters, swimmers, and paddlers during the summer months.

‍Recreational access

The town of Brookfield manages a large concrete boat ramp (get directions) and adjacent parking area suitable for 30 trailers off of Shore Road on the northern shore of the pond. A secondary cartop access  with a 12 car parking area is located off of Lake Road on the southern tip of the pond abutting Quacumquasit Pond (get directions). Shoreline access is available along Shore Road on the north end, and from the Quacumquasit Wildlife Management Area on the southwestern shore. Please contact the offices of the town of Brookfield for additional information, fee structure, and/or restrictions pertaining to public access of Quaboag Pond.

Fishing

Quaboag Pond is known throughout Massachusetts for its trophy northern pike, which occasionally exceed 20 pounds in weight. The majority of these fish are caught through the ice in winter along with good numbers of black crappie, chain pickerel, and largemouth bass, a few of which have been reported to exceed 7 pounds. Fishing the shores and weed beds of the Quaboag River for bass and pickerel is popular during summer as is fishing for bullhead in the main body of the pond. Quaboag Pond has produced largemouth bass, northern pike, chain pickerel, yellow perch, white perch, crappie, sunfish, and bullhead that meet minimum sizes for recognition by the Freshwater Sportfishing Awards Program.

‍Environmental Management

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The Quaboag Quacumquasit Lake Association (QQLA) works to protect water quality, monitor invasive species, and promote best practices for lake health qqla.org.‍ ‍

Lake Quacumquasit (South Pond)

‍Lake Quacumquasit, commonly known as South Pond, is a 218-acre great pond located approximately 3 miles north of Route 20 on the Brookfield and Sturbridge town line. The average depth of South Pond is 31 feet with a maximum depth of 73 feet and the water is transparent to roughly 12 feet. Aquatic vegetation is distributed intermittently along most of the shoreline but is more prevalent at the northern end where the Quaboag River enters. The shoreline is about 80% developed with year-round homes and summer cottages. Power boating, water skiing, sailing, and fishing are all popular activities during summer.

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Recreational access

MassWildlife manages a concrete boat ramp and adjacent parking area suitable for roughly 8 trailers off of Lake Road on the north end of the pond (get directions). Shore access is permitted along a small beach adjacent to the ramp. Please contact the MassWildlife Central District Office for additional information and/or restrictions pertaining to public access of South Pond.

‍Fishing

South Pond maintains a layer of cold, oxygenated water throughout the warm summer months which enables some trout to survive multiple seasons and reach sizes exceeding 5 pounds. Combined with the large numbers of trout stocked each year, South Pond offers exceptional trout fishing throughout the summer and has been designated a special brown trout water by MassWildlife (consult the MassWildlife Hunting and Fishing guide for current brown trout length and creel limits specific to South Pond). In addition, northern pike stocked in Quaboag Pond are occasionally caught in South Pond. In recent years, South Pond has produced excellent black crappie fishing. South Pond has produced largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, chain pickerel, yellow perch, white perch, black crappie, sunfish, brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and tiger trout that meet minimum sizes for recognition by the Freshwater Sportfishing Awards Program.

Environmental Management

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The Quaboag Quacumquasit Lake Association (QQLA) works to protect water quality, monitor invasive species, and promote best practices for lake health qqla.org.‍