Cold Rain Pond is a pretty and isolated 38-acre body of water located in Naples, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B5). Click here a description of this pond and the directions to it. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. Access to the pond in the winter is either on foot or by snow mobile because Tiger Hill Road is groomed as a snow mobile trail. A plowed parking area is located at the intersection of Kimball Corner Road and Tiger Hill Road. The state of Maine stocked the pond with 16 brook trout per acre in the fall of 2012 for the 2013 ice fishing season. These fish are the target of our attention today.
Winter camping on Cold Rain Pond, Naples, Maine
My son Joel and nephew Salvador decide to spend Saturday night “winter camping” on the ice with their newly-acquired four-season camping gear. They leave for the pond late Saturday afternoon to set up camp, and I join them early Sunday morning for the ice fishing part of the trip (I prefer sleeping in a warm bed in the winter…). I reach Cold Rain Pond at around 7 am the next morning. Joel is already out of his tent drilling holes and setting up his traps. The weather is quite blustery, with temperatures in the low 20’s and a biting wind chill. It snows on and off and a fierce northwest wind blows in at 20-30 MPH due to a low pressure system which moved in overnight. The ice, which is 13” thick with 10” of snow on top, is also covered with 2” of sloppy slush. Not ideal fishing conditions, but they’ll have to do. We set up our traps along the shoreline in 4-12 ft of water, with small shiners placed about half-way down the water column. I’m thrilled to see that we have the pond completely to ourselves this morning. It’s nice when you consider that we’re no more than 10 minutes from downtown Naples.
Salvador proudly showing off his miniscule pickerel caught on Cold Rain Pond
We know from past experience on this pond that we’ll have to endure lots of pickerel action before we get to catch trout. And today is no exception. We’re treated to about a dozen flags between 7 am and 10 am, which yield eight small pickerel between 12” and 17”, and two 9” brook trout. The latter are caught by Joel and Salvador. I also jig with a small “airplane” jig for about two hours and catch another 9” brookie (but no pickerel), which we clean up and fry on the camp fire for immediate consumption. I’d been skunked for trout if it wasn’t for the jigging!
Our temporary kitchen and dining room for the morning on Cold Rain Pond
The last feeding flurry of the morning occurs around 10 am, when four flags pop up in less than 10 minutes. Then the bite stops and does not return. Boy, have I seen this pattern before during ice fishing! The snow also stops falling but the wind has become quite fierce, generating large snow swirls that blow clear across the pond. Joel and Salvador start packing up their camping gear and I bring in the traps at around 11:30 am. Afterwards, all three of us sit around the camp fire for another hour enjoying a beer and getting excited about our upcoming spring fishing trips in western Maine, the Allagash, and Baxter State Park. We’re having a great time together dreaming about future fish, regardless of the current winter weather or this morning’s rather disappointing results.
The results: I caught one 9” brook trout and three pickerel in 4.5 hours of ice fishing. Joel and Salvador caught another two 9″ brookies and five pickerel.
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