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Manchaug Pond Sutton MA
Manchaug Pond is a lovely fishing pond with a public access boat ramp. Technically it is an "improved great pond" - what does that mean?
A pond becomes a "great pond" if its surface area is over 10 acres. There is no separate category in Massachusetts for a Lake - there are only ponds and great ponds. Manchaug Pond is substantially over the pond amount, being 344 acres in size. It is the largest lake / pond in Sutton.
As for the improved part, I can't find any documentation on that. I imagine it means that the pond was artificially expanded at some point.
Manchaug Pond has a public access boat ramp with a fair amount of parking at its southeast corner. The deepest the pond gets is 30 feet, but it is typically about 13 feet deep. There is no public beach at Manchaug, and no swimming allowed at the boat dock. There is a fee to use this boat ramp in season. I am checking to find out what the fee for 2012 will be.
For fishing, there are primarily bass, perch, and bluegills in the pond. The pond has houses pretty much all the way around it, so most people go out in boats to do their fishing.
The History of the Town of Sutton, written in 1876, explains:
The village of Manchaug (as also the pond) derives its name from a noted Indian chief who was drowned in the pond now known by that name, and is situated upon the north branch of Mumford river, a tributary of the Blackstone. Its hydraulic power is derived from this stream, which is, in reality, the outflow of a chain of ponds lying within a radius of four or five miles, and covering an area of one thousand acres, nearly. Among the number may be mentioned Manchaug pond, Douglas reservoir and Stevens pond, which, in addition to being fed by perennial springs, have a large and increasing supply from other extensive sheets of water. The extent of country drained is estimated as follows: Douglas reservoir, six to seven thousand acres; Manchaug reservoir, three thousand to three thousand five hundred acres, and Stevens reservoir, one thousand five hundred acres. The quantity of power derived is attributed to the springs alluded to, and the great and rapid fall of the river, which in less than one-fourth of a mile is eighty-three feet. The remarkable advantages of this stream as a motive power have been increased by building a dam at the outlet of each of these ponds or reservoirs, which give the water an additional fall of several feet.
Here are a collection of photos we took in May 2011 from the boat ramp area.
Manchaug Pond Photos
These next photos are from September 2011 when we kayaked out on the pond -
Kayaking on Manchaug Pond
Manchaug Pond PDF from MA Dept of Fisheries
Mass.Gov page on boating areas
Sutton Ponds Lakes Rivers
The Villages of Sutton
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