Buffumville Lake is a reservoir in Massachusetts, near Worcester County.
Buffumville Lake covers 451 acres in Worcester County. The recorded maximum depth at Buffumville Lake is 20 feet. The documented storage volume is about 12,700 acre-feet.
Buffumville Lake is a 451-acre flood-control reservoir with largemouth, pickerel, crappie and both perch species. The old Little River route is the primary depth feature in its 20-foot pool.
Broad flats, standing or flooded wood, feeder influence and the channel create a classic shallow-reservoir layout. Its flood-storage capacity is about 12,700 acre-feet, so water conditions can change after storms.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed Buffumville Dam after damaging floods in the Thames River basin. That flood-control purpose explains why stable-looking shoreline cover may not remain at the same depth.
Fish reported from Buffumville Lake include black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, chain pickerel, golden shiner, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed, white perch, white sucker, and yellow perch.
A spinnerbait, square-bill and Texas rig cover the most useful largemouth situations on Buffumville Lake.
A soft-plastic minnow or live minnow placed beside cover is a sound crappie approach on Buffumville Lake. For sunfish on Buffumville Lake, keep a cricket or tiny jig close to weed edges and shaded wood. For Buffumville Lake yellow perch, work a light jig slowly along the first firm-bottom break.
A spoon or compact swimbait worked beside weeds is a practical chain pickerel choice on Buffumville Lake.
Use a nightcrawler on a light bottom rig for Buffumville Lake bullheads, especially in quiet water after sunset.
Buffumville Lake is too large to fish as one uniform body. Divide it into several sections, then stay with the zone showing forage and useful cover. Wind direction can make distant sections fish differently on the same day.
A sunny spring afternoon can pull Buffumville Lake fish toward dark bottom, wood and new vegetation. Summer fish in Buffumville Lake may feed shallow at dawn before settling beside cover or deeper structure. Cooling water can bring Buffumville Lake fish back to points and banks where bait gathers.
Trace the old channel until it touches wood or vegetation. Use a spinnerbait and jig for largemouth, a small suspended jig for crappie, and a spoon along plant edges for pickerel. After runoff, compare clarity between feeder arms.
A medium spinning rod with 8- to 10-pound line handles jigs, small crankbaits and live-bait rigs on Buffumville Lake. A medium-heavy rod with 12- to 15-pound line covers bass jigs and bottom rigs at Buffumville Lake.
Use three stops to simplify Buffumville Lake: a protected shallow section, the best point or channel turn, and the deepest dependable structure. Fish each with one moving lure and one slower bait, then repeat the first pattern that produces twice.
The old Little River channel supplies a repeatable depth change across the shallow reservoir.
Flood-control operations and runoff can change level, current and the useful edge.
The source records approximately 12,700 acre-feet.
Explore nearby waters, including local Featured destinations. Check each page for access and fishing restrictions.
Distances are straight-line estimates between mapped water locations.