View of the town beach area on Burnt Meadow Pond
Burnt Meadow Pond is a 69-acre body of water located in Brownfield, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B2). The easiest access is via the excellent boat launch located off Route 160 (Spring Street) which runs parallel to the shoreline along the western side of the pond. An alternative access point, but only for small hand-carried craft, is from the town beach off Burnt Meadow Road (follow the blue signs for “town beach”) located by the outlet at the northern end of the pond. About a dozen houses dot the shoreline, mostly along the northern shore. The setting is actually quite pleasing with Burnt Meadow Mountain looming in the background. The surrounding watershed is completely forested.
General view of the eastern shoreline of Burnt Meadow Pond
The water in Burnt Meadow Pond is clean and only very slightly stained. The substrate consists mostly of fine sand covered by a thin layer of organic material. The largemouth bass habitat is actually rather limited, consisting of sparse vegetation along the shoreline and little or no fallen trees, sunken wood, or submerged boulders. Two exceptions to the lack of vegetation occur at the outlet by the town beach and to the right of the Route 160 boat launch. The pond has a maximum depth of 45 ft and an average depth of 17 ft, making it relatively deep. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. No size or bag limit exists for bass, presumably because the State wants to preserve and enhance the trout fishery on this pond. Click here for more details on the fishing regulations, particularly as they pertain to trout.
The outlet of Burnt Meadow Pond is shallow and weedy
I arrive at the town beach on Burnt Meadow Pond with my 11-year old nephew Christian at 12:30 pm. The sky is overcast with a chance of showers, but the wind is calm. We launch my canoe from the small town beach and immediately fish by the vegetated outlet to the left. I catch two largemouth bass (12” and 14”) in the 15 minutes that it takes Christian to get organized… He received a box full of lures for Christmas but is overwhelmed by the choices. He tries one lure for a few casts but then decides to change it for another. It also takes him several minutes to tie a new lure to his fishing line. I told him that real fisherman, which he proudly says he is, don’t depend on uncle Stan to make their knots… I tease him gently but tell him that he has become quite adept at the sport since he started bobber fishing with me last year in the spring.
Burnt Meadow Mountain looms large over the pond
We fish the entire shoreline (to our left) between the outlet and the boat launch on Route 160. That effort yields me a 15” largemouth bass. The fishing is actually tough considering the general lack of fish holding structure. We observe several dozen abandoned bass nests in 2 to 4 ft of water all along the shallows. This lake seems to have a healthy bass population! We also see just one other boat on the water. This lack of activity is fantastic considering the easy access to the water and the fact that it is Saturday afternoon. I love the sense of solitude that we often enjoy on our Maine waters. Christian has finally settled on a 5″ soft stickbait. I’ve been using a buzzbait all along, which he affectionately calls “The Machine”. I find it to be a great search lure that allows me to cover a lot of water in a short amount of time. Besides, bass love to pounce on this noisy, in-your-face lure!
This nice largemouth bass was caught by the island on a buzzbait
We have reached the island located in the middle of the pond and fish the shallows around it. This area is also peppered with abandoned bass nests. I start casting my buzzbait in a small cove and immediately set the hook when I suddenly notice it being sucked down in a gentle swirl during the retrieve. The business end of the line explodes when a very nice bass angrily tries to shake off the lure. The fish also takes several leaps in the air. Christian yells “Uncle Stan, you’ve got a big bass!” You bet, and I should consider myself lucky too because the hook popped right out of its mouth after I landed the fish. We need to move on to check out another pond. I enjoyed the quite surroundings of Burnt Meadow Pond and recommend it highly.
The results: I caught four largemouth bass (largest = 20.5”) in two hours, but Christian got skunked.
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