Photo by Keith Benoist.

June in southern New England usually means stable and comfortable weather with trees and wildflowers in full bloom. Birds sing boisterously as they flit about in the brush.

Adding to the joyous sights and sounds of the season is some of the year's best freshwater bass fishing.

Find the time to be on the water this month, because it just doesn't get any better than this!

Plan to start your summer fishing adventures at one the following southern New England bass ponds:

CONNECTICUT
Mashapaug Pond
Mashapaug Pond is a 287-acre natural lake that was raised by constructing two dams across the lake's outflows. The water has a maximum depth of about 39 feet, with an average depth of about 15 feet.

Shoreline development is light and confined to the northern and western shores. The east shore is protected by Nipmuck State Forest. Bigelow Hollow State Park shields the southern shore.

The lake bottom is made up of gravel and sand, with scattered boulders in the shallow areas. Don't worry about weeds -- the pond lacks the green stuff.

Water clarity is good, with visibility down to depths greater than 20 feet. Clear water often translates to great topwater bass fishing.

Mashapaug Pond will not disappoint the popper enthusiast. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass dwell in the lake. Its largemouths have above-average growth rates, and bass over the special 16-inch slot limit are common. Smallmouth bass are abundant, but the growth rates are slow. Big fish are hard to find.

To help enhance Mashapaug's bass population, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection set a 12- to 16-inch slot limit. All bass between those two lengths must be released.

The daily creel limit is six bass, only two of which may exceed 16 inches.

During spring, the DEP stocks the pond with both brown and rainbow trout. Walleye fingerlings get released every fall. And yellow perch are plentiful in Mashapaug Lake.

All four species fish could provide good fishing when the bass aren't cooperating.

Public access is via a boat-launching ramp at the southern end of the pond in Bigelow Hollow State Park.

The park can be reached by taking Exit 73 off Interstate Route 84 to Route 190 north. Turn east onto Route 171 for about 1.3 miles to the park entrance. The parking area has room for about 30 cars.

Mashapaug Pond has a boat speed limit of 10 miles per hour.

Quinebaug Lake
Quinebaug Lake is a natural lake, but the water level was raised by a small stone and earthen dam on the southern end of the pond. The dam increased the surface area of the pond to 87 acres with a maximum depth of 29 feet.

Bass anglers will find a distinct six-feet-deep shoal around the shoreline's perimeter where the average depth is about 15 feet.

Quinebaug's bottom consists of sand and gravel with a few large boulders strewn about the bottom. Aquatic vegetation is sparse, thus crankbaits and topwater plugs are perfect lures for summer bass in this pond.