General view of Perley Pond
Perley Pond is a 79-acre body of water located in Denmark, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B4). Access is available via Hancock Pond Road which runs along the southern shoreline. Beware that the access point is steep and rough and can only accommodate hand-carried craft, such as a canoe or kayak. Cars can be parked on the shoulder of Hancock Pond Road.
View of the shoreline of Perley Pond
Perley Pond has a maximum depth of 27 ft and a mean depth of 13 ft. It is very lightly developed, with only a handful of cabins along Hancock Pond Road. The pond is surrounded by woods. The entire shoreline is lined with emerging pickerelweed/arrowhead plants which also provides the only available largemouth bass habitat in the shallows. Lily pads and submerged wood are sparse or absent altogether. The water is clean and crystal clear. The substrate along the shoreline consists of sand and gravel interspersed with larger boulders. General fishing law applies. Note, however, that motorboats over 6 horsepower are prohibited on the pond (see the fishing rules for more details). Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
Joel focusing in his fishing
I arrive at Perley Pond with my son Joel at 10:30 am. The sky is partly cloudy with rain forecast for later on in the afternoon. We are impressed with the general setting and eagerly put my canoe on the water. Joel hasn’t fished over the last 3-4 weeks, so he is hitching to get going before the summer is over! I rig up a 5” soft stickbait and a big black buzzbait with a two-tailed white trailer, whereas Joel only uses a soft stickbait. We start casting along the southern shoreline and generate no interest in the first 15 minutes or so, until I hook and land a small pickerel which went for the buzzbait. Joel has two bites on his stickbait, but fails to connect. Meanwhile, the wind is playing tricks on us, first blowing this way then that way.
A Perley Pond largemouth bass that fell for my buzzbait
We paddle across Perley Pond to go hide in the northeastern corner. That area is actually quite nice, consisting of large boulders, a shallow shelf full of pickerel weed/arrowhead plants and some lily pads, and a nearby drop-off. I finally hook into a largemouth bass on my first cast in that area with the buzz bait. None too soon considering that we’ve been at it for close to an hour! Joel, meanwhile, gets several more bites on his stickbait but fails to set the hook. It certainly doesn’t help that he’s fishing with an ultra-light spinning rod that doesn’t have the backbone to properly drive the hook into the fishes’ mouth…
Perley Pond is a keeper!
The wind turns again, so we paddle back to our starting point and let ourselves drift along the western shoreline while fishing the weed line. We get no bites after another 20 minutes and decide that it is time to leave to the next pond on my list. Overall, we both liked Perley Pond for its general setting and “remote” feeling. We were also the only ones on the water. I’d expect the pace of fishing to be much quicker early in the morning or later in the evening when the largemouth bass are actively feeding in and amongst the aquatic vegetation along the shoreline. This pond is a definite keeper!
The results: I caught one pickerel and one 15” largemouth bass in 1.5 hours of fishing; Joel got skunked!
Was the information in this blog useful? I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions. Also, feel free to discuss your fishing experiences at this location.
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Love your blog! It’s so helpful! We fished Perley Pond from our kayaks today. I caught a pickerel within minutes and then a bass (but couldn’t get him in the kayak because he went right for the weeds and I lost him). We ended up catching several decent sized bass and a few pickerel. We don’t keep anything (and don’t keep as good records as you!). We had the whole pond to ourselves until the last 5 or so minutes. Talked to the other fisherman, and he said he had caught a bass and pickerel already. Thanks so much for your detailed posts!