Fly fishing hooks on as club stocks local pond with trout

SAUGUS – You don?t have to go far for some of the best fly fishing in Massachusetts. In fact, you don?t have to stray far from Route 1, where across from the Oaklandvale Elementary School on Main Street, sits the Malden Anglers? Club and its private pond, fully stocked with rainbow, brook and brown trout.?It?s big fishing,” said Membership Chairman Harold Pettipas. “Up to four or five pounds.”Pettipas said the club boasts 78 members, and on Wednesday many of them showed up to watch the pond get restocked for the fall fishing season, which opened on Saturday.?(The fish) have to get acclimated,” said Pettipas. “We won?t have opening day until Saturday morning. Saturday morning bright and early all the club members will be down here fishing.”The Malden Anglers? Club was originally founded in 1946 in Malden, but moved to Saugus shortly after when the club bought the property it sits on now.Jim Collins has been a member since 1966, and said the Angler?s Club is the place to go if you don?t have a lot of time.?The scenery is beautiful and the guys are beautiful,” said Collins. “If you have a family and you only have a few hours to do a little fly fishing this is the place to go.”But Collins had a warning for anyone who tries to fish there illegally.?Watch out for the dogs,” said Collins. “We get the poachers coming over the fence.”Around the pond sit six docks where members can fly fish while steering clear of the trees. They also have several kayaks, but there is no wading allowed.For Malden resident Paul Morelli, his usual fishing trips were getting too expensive, and after leaving the club in the 1980s, he rejoined just in time for the fall.?It was cheaper for me to join the club and fish at the club than it was to travel all around,” said Morelli. “Gas prices are outrageous.”While members can enjoy all the fly fishing they want at the pond, the cabin built just off the shore features a full kitchen, a dining room and a wood burning stove, which Pettipas said comes in handy when the pond freezes over.?In the winter we build a fire and people will come down and have coffee and donuts,” said Pettipas. “There?s no fishing in the winter.”The pond is stocked twice a year and, aside from fly fishing, club members hold classes on fly casting and knot-tying and recently L.L. Bean put on a fly fishing class. The club is open to anyone and costs $200 year plus a $50 sign up fee.For more information visit maldenanglers.com