The morning fog is lifting as the sun is about to emerge over Hancock Pond
Hancock Pond covers 858 acres and straddles the boundary between the towns of Sebago and Denmark in Cumberland County and Oxford County, respectively (see The Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B3 and 4). The public access is located along the eastern shoreline at the intersection of Hancock Pond Road and Wabunaki Road. The boat launch is hard-topped and can accommodate large motorized craft. Ample parking is available on Hancock Pond Road behind the large white electrical switch boxes across from the entrance to the launch. This pond, one of many in southern Maine which are stocked annually with brown trout, is known to grow some serious fish. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. I have it on good authority that 6++ pound brown trout behemoths swim around this body of water… This species is hardier than our native brook trout and also does better in the presence of other competing fish species, which is why browns are stocked in “marginal” brook trout waters. However, they are weary creatures and are less likely than brookies to grab artificial lures like spoons. I take advantage of the fact that I can still use live bait before the seasonal rule change on October 1, when only artificial lures are allowed in southern Maine.
The fog unexpectedly rolls back in, keeping the light levels low for another hour or so.
I arrive at the public boat launch on Hancock Pond at 5:30 am. It’s still dark and the sun won’t rise for another 45 minutes. That’s great! The general approach to catching brown trout in ponds and lakes in the summer is to (a) get on the water at the crack of dawn in order to fish during low-light conditions, if possible, (b) use live bait, or “sown” shiners or smelt (leave the lures at home until after October 1), (c) place your baitfish 15-20 ft below the surface, and (d) troll sloowly (around 1 mile per hour). Browns, unlike landlocked Atlantic salmon, lake trout, or splake, do not hide in or below the thermocline (i.e., the sharp temperature boundary layer located 30 or so feet below the surface in larger ponds and lakes which separates the warmer upper layer from the much colder lower layer) in the summer but swim and feed above it.
OK, I agree, it’s not a huge brown trout, but I’m still happy to have caught one!
I push off from the Hancock Pond boat launch a little before 6 am and deploy two separate rods with a single bait fish hooked to a “sliding hook” rig, one of which is attached to my lead core line, and the other to the downrigger. The surface water temperature is a still balmy 73°F. The weather conditions are just perfect this morning, with no wind but a dense fog layer covering the entire pond. Unfortunately, I get no bites for the first 45 minutes. That sucks because the fog has started to lift in response to the rising sun and soon the whole lake will be flooded with bright sunshine, which is not optimal when trolling for trout. But then something unexpected happens: the fog closes in again and I’m soon trolling in a thick pea soup! I’m excited because this decreased visibility seriously extends my fishing time this morning. I suddenly notice that the rod with my lead core line is twitching. I grab the rod (my mistake for not holding it in the first place…) but set the hook on nothing. A check of the bait shows that it’s been mangled pretty good. I put on a fresh bait, turn the boat around and retroll over the general area where I had the hit. But this time I keep my lead core rod in my hands. I get another hit a short while latter and immediately set the hook, which results in an angry response at the other end. YES! I bring in a small (13”) but hard-fighting brown trout.
I thought I hooked into the big brown trout I was hoping for but it turned out to be a hefty largemouth bass instead. Not quite the same thing…
I refresh the baitfish, continue trolling in the same general area for another 30 minutes, but elicit no further reaction. Meanwhile, the rising sun has burned off all of the dense morning fog once again and the sky overhead has turned into a brilliant blue azure color. I put-put my way back to the boat launch still trolling my two rods along the shoreline, but with both bait fish placed 20 ft deep on account of the bright sunshine. I get a tremendous hit on my lead core rod and feel real serious heft at the other end. Oh, that feels like that big brown trout I’ve been looking for all morning… My hopes are dashed as soon as I see the fish emerge from the depth through the crystal-clear water column: it’s a very nice (20”) and hard-fighting largemouth bass, but it’s not quite what I was hoping for… Regardless, I consider my morning of trolling on Hancock Pond a success. I caught the brown trout I was targeting, landed a sizable bass, and just enjoyed being out on the water by myself in a gorgeous setting. Life is truly good!
The sliding minnow rig: a simple and quick way to use live bait when trolling.
The results: I caught one small 13” brown trout and a fat 20” largemouth bass in 3.5 hours of trolling with live bait.
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