Deer Pond is a 32-acre body of water located in the town of Hollis, York County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 A5). The town-owned access point, which is not shown on the map, can be found at the southern end of the pond right off busy Route 117 (Cape Road). Driving east on Route 117, look for a long brown wooden fence on the left. This access point, which is not posted, is situated on the left at the end of that fence. Parking is mostly on the shoulder of Route 117. I’m targeting Deer Pond for ice fishing this morning for two reasons: (a) I had great success catching trout while trolling this pond last November (click here for details), and (b) the pond was nicely stocked by the state last fall with larger trout (click here for details). My goal/hope is to catch some of those larger fish through the ice. In addition, Deer Pond is unusually deep (maximum depth of 60 ft) for its small size. The large volume of cold, highly oxygenated water allows the trout to survive from year to year, and grow big. As a result, this pond has restrictive ice fishing rules to protect the high quality of its trout fishery. Specifically, only two lines are allowed per person. Click here for more details on the fishing rules. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
