Access point to Perley Pond
Perley Pond is located in the town of Sebago (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 C5). To reach the pond, turn onto Folly Road from either Route 107 (Bridgton Road) or Route 114 (Sebago Road) and drive for 2-3 miles. The pond is clearly visible from Folly Road. An unimproved sandy launch allows access for small trailered boats, as well as hand-carried craft.
The extensive lilypads along the shoreline of Perley Pond
This pretty 29-acre pond has a maximum depth of 16 ft and a mean depth of 6 ft. The substrate consists of fine sand and silt covered by organic muck. The water is dark colored. Much of the pond is surrounded by an exuberant amount of aquatic vegetation, particularly along the western shoreline and in the extensive shallows on the left side of the launch. This excessive vegetation is great largemouth bass habitat but can make fishing a challenge. The surrounding watershed is completely forested. Only one small cabin is located next to the launch.
Joel and I reach Perley Pond at 5:30 pm. We start fishing with 5” soft stickbaits along the outer edges of the lily pads on the western side of the pond but generate little interest from the fish. After about 45 minutes of non-success, we motor back towards the launch and focus our attention on the shoreline along Folly Road. Joel hooks several smallish largemouth bass but lands only one. The fish tangle themselves up in the thick vegetation and quickly unhook themselves during the ensuing struggle. Meanwhile, I have yet to get a single hit…
A nice Perley Pond largemouth bass
With the setting sun, we motor deep into the extensive shallows to the left of the launch, hoping that the bass will have moved in for the evening feed. We quickly discover that the vegetation is simply too thick to fish efficiently with a soft stickbait. I switch to a rubber froggy to skip over the surface in the hope that it will generate a strike. Joel keeps on playing around with the soft stickbait and is rewarded with a nice 17” largemouth. Meanwhile, I have yet to get a single hit…
View of the shallows on the left side of the access point to Perley Pond
The sun has set behind the tree line and the breeze slowly pushes us out of the shallows. We hear consistent surface feeding activity right up against the bank of the western shoreline. Some of the bass are actually jumping clear out of the water, chasing after dragon flies! Great, the fish are feeding but in the most impossible of spots. But what the heck, it’s going to be dark in 30 minutes and we have nothing to lose at this point. Joel has found a way to use the soft stickbait in the tangle of vegetation (I taught my son well…): he quickly skips the plastic worm on the surface of the water, which minimizes getting tangled in vegetation. His tactic works great: he gets five strikes in 15 minutes and lands two bass. Meanwhile, I’ve yet to get a hit even though I’m using Joel’s fishing strategy… I’m getting whipped by my son and am going to end the evening fishless. Fortunately, a 12” bass takes pity on me at the last minute and hooks himself on my soft stickbait. I’m not skunked after all : )
The results: I catch one largemouth bass (12”) and Joel catches four largemouth bass (largest = 17”) in 2.5 hours of evening fishing.
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