Category Archives: Ponds and Lakes

Fishing for lake trout on Kezar Lake in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (October 19, 2019)

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I just love the way the rising sun “paints” the surrounding landscape.

 

Kezar Lake is a 2,510-acre body of water located in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D2). To reach this location, drive north on Route 5 past Lovell and turn left on West Stoneham Road. Drive on this road for about 500 ft and look for the large blue boat-launch sign. After passing the sign, turn left on North Lovell Landing Road and drive about a quarter mile all the way down to the lake. The boat launch, which is located at the north end of Upper Bay, is spacious and provides lots of parking area. The launch itself is not improved but can accommodate large boats. In fact, the lake residents use it to put in and take out their pontoon boats. I note for the record that a second boat launch is located further south, by the Narrows on West Lovell Road, between Middle and Lower Bay. I don’t use that launch today because I aim to catch lake trout and landlocked salmon which are more abundant in the deeper Upper Bay.

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Fishing for brown trout on Silver Lake (a.k.a. Figure Eight Pond) in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (October 12, 2019)

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The boat launch is unimproved, steep, and gravelly…

 

Silver Lake (a.k.a. Figure Eight Pond) is a 29-acre body of water located in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 B5). To reach this location, drive on Route 27 north (towards Belgrade), turn left on Summerhaven Road, go for about 0.6 miles before turning left on Baxter Drive, drive for about 0.2 miles and turn right on Community Drive. The southern lobe of the pond will soon appear on your right. The public boat launch consists of loose gravel and is otherwise unimproved, but can accommodate small trailered boats. However, keep in mind that the launch is fairly steep; I had to use four-wheel drive to pull my boat up the wet and gravelly incline on my way out. In addition, the water by the launch is rather shallow, which requires backing into the lake a fair bit before the boat will float off. I also had to put on my hip boots to manually guide my boat back on the trailer on account of the shallow depth by the launch. Parking space is limited on Community Drive and occurs along the side of the road next to the launch.

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Fishing for brown trout on Biscay Pond in Bremen, Lincoln County, Maine (September 28, 2019)

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View of the sandy boat launch. The picture does not do justice to the wind howling down the length of the pond.

 

Biscay Pond is a 377-acre body of water located in Bremen, Lincoln County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 7 A4). To reach this location, drive on Route 1 into downtown Damariscotta, turn onto Biscay Road (by the McDonald’s restaurant), and drive down that road for about 2.5 miles. The pond will appear on your right. The boat launch is sandy and unimproved, but can accommodate large trailered boats. The biggest challenge with this launch is its shallowness, which requires backing your vehicle quite a way into the water before the boat will float. I’m very glad I brought my Jeep and hip boots! Ample parking is available along Biscay Road.

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Fishing for brook trout on Dixon Pond in Pierce Pond Township, Somerset County, Maine (May 28, 2019)

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Pierce Pond Mountain plunges into Dixon Pond.

 

Dixon Pond is a picturesque 17-acre body of water located within the Pierce Pond Township in Somerset County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 30 A1). It is sandwiched between Dixon Mountain and the eastern flank of mighty Pierce Pond Mountain. I access this pond via a poorly-marked 1-mile trail that starts at the water’s edge in the narrows separating lower from middle Pierce Pond. However, the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows that Dixon Pond can also be reached via a rough 2.5 to 3 mile logging road off Cobb’s Camp Road starting at Lindsey Cove in lower Pierce Pond. I haven’t used the latter and can’t tell how easy it would be to find the pond from that direction. What I can say is that the 1-mile trail I used on my expedition today was a total clusterf*ck on account of extensive clear-cutting in that part of the woods in the recent past, plus significant tree blow-downs during last winter’s storms. A half-hour stroll through the forest became a one hour ordeal of carefully working my way through mud pools, deep skitter gullies, fallen trees, root balls, and other obstacles, without getting lost along the way.

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Fishing for brook trout on Broken Bridge Pond in Albany (White Mountain National Forest), Maine (June 9, 2019)

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Broken Bridge Pond is an 18-acre body of water in the township of Albany (White Mountain National Forest, WMNF), Oxford County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 C3). To reach this spot, drive down Route 5/35 and turn on Old West Bethel Road, followed by Patte Brook Road, and then Crocker Pond Road (through the open WMNF gate) for about 1.5-2 miles. A GPS will definitely help keep your bearings! Look out for a sign on the left side of Crocker Pond Road which announces a campsite on the shore of our target pond. The rough canoe launch is down an unmarked dirt road on the left about 500 ft before this campsite.
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Fishing for brook trout on Round Pond in Albany (White Mountain National Forest), Maine (June 8, 2019)

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The float tube is my secret fishing weapon this afternoon!

 

Round Pond is a picturesque 11-acre body of water located in Albany (White Mountain National Forest, WMNF), Oxford County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 C3). To reach this spot, drive up to the Crocker Pond camp ground managed by the US Forest Service and leave your vehicle at the head of the Albany Brook Trail, located about 300 ft past the campground entrance. By the way, this clean and well-maintained campground is a great base to explore the tremendous hiking and fishing opportunities in the surrounding WMNF. Round Pond is an easy 1-mile hike (about 30 minutes) from camp. A serious limitation is that, unlike Baxter State Park, the Forest Service does not store a canoe along the shoreline of remote ponds for day use. Hence, you’ll have to bring your own floatation device. Two people could conceivably drag in a canoe at great metabolic cost. I carry my much lighter float tube since I’m fishing by myself this afternoon. For the record, quality fishing from shore would be a real challenge at this location because the entire shoreline is surrounded by dense shrubs
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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon on Pierce Pond, Somerset County, Maine (May 26, 2019)

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A quiet moment of reflection at the camp site located in the upper basin of Pierce Pond

I’m on my annual extended Memorial Day weekend fishing bonanza to Pierce Pond, located in the undeveloped wilds of western Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 30 A2). We stay for several days at a camp site on one of the islands in the upper basin of the pond, but head to Cobb’s Camps located in the lower basin across from Lindsey Cove to let ourselves be pampered for four days.

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Ice fishing for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass on Panther Pond, Raymond, Maine (February 23, 2019)

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It’s crisp and cold this morning. Time to rise and start ice fishing!

 

It’s the annual winter school vacation, so it’s high time to go camping and fishing with the kids… on the ice! My son Joel and I are eager to make it a success because this will be a new experience for his two boys. The goal is to find a spot on a local lake where we can drive up, pitch the family tent, and be reasonably assured of catching quality fish to keep the two boys engaged and entertained. Previous fishing experiences on Panther Pond in Raymond, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 B2) has shown us that this body of water supports a serious smallmouth and largemouth bass population of braggin’-size fish (click here, here, and here for examples). My son Joel and I are putting that information to good use.

 

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Ice fishing for largemouth bass on Bradley Pond, Lovell, Maine (February 9, 2019)

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Bradley Pond Road is one continuous sheet of slippery ice this morning!

 

Bradley Pond is a 34 acre body of water located in Lovell, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D2). To reach this destination, drive north on Route 5 from Lovell, and turn right on Bradley Pond Road. Drive down this winding road, keeping right at the split, until the pond appears to your left. The ice can be accessed via the rough boat launch indicated by a sign. No real parking is available during the winter because the small launch area remains unplowed, so vehicles have to be parked as best as possible along the side of the road. Fortunately, the road itself has no through traffic since it is a dead end that serves only the three houses present along the western shoreline.

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Ice fishing for white perch on Panther Pond, Raymond, Maine (February 2, 2019)

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Panther Pond is a 1,439 acre body of water located in Raymond, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 B2). One way to reach the ice is to turn right on Meadow Road (Route 121) from Main Street in Raymond (off Route 302, a.k.a. Roosevelt Trail), drive north for 0.5 miles before turning right unto Giselle Lane. Park your vehicle on the side of this road. A short snowmobile trail leads directly to the pond.

Panther Pond is filled with large schools of voracious white perch

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