View of the lower reach of Bartlett Brook flowing through the marsh
Bartlett Pond sits in the middle of a triangle formed by Route 5, Deering Ridge Road, and Bennett Hill Road in Waterboro (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 B5). The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows a trailerable boat launch at the southern end of the pond. Note that this launch is NOT trailerable. It is also located on a private forest road and is therefore not accessible to the public. One way onto the pond is to launch a canoe on Bartlett Brook which flows through a culvert underneath Bennett Hill road 0.9 miles north of Route 5. The stream is narrow and confining at first but quickly opens up into a wide passageway through an enormous marsh. It takes about 20 minutes to reach the pond by that scenic route.
View of the woods along the northern shoreline of Bartlett Pond
Bartlett Pond covers 30 acres and reaches a maximum depth of 18 ft. The pond is the remnant of a much larger body of water which has been slowly filling in over the ages by a quaking bog. The setting is quite beautiful, tranquil, and serene. The southern and eastern shorelines are completely wooded and undisturbed. The edge of the marsh defines the northern and western shorelines, with the forest delineated in the background. The surface water is darkly colored. The bottom of the pond experiences a dissolved oxygen deficiency in the summer, which limits the fishing to the upper reaches of the water column. Patchy floating and emergent aquatic vegetation grows in the shallows around the rim of the pond.
View of the edge of the marsh lined with sparse aquatic vegetation in Bartlett Pond
I reach Bartlett Pond at 4 pm via the inlet and paddle across to fish the vegetation in the shadows along the forested shoreline using a “Texas-rigged” soft stickbait. I catch my first largemouth bass (13”) along a sunken tree trunk. I continue fishing the shoreline with my stickbait and a spinnerbait and catch two more largemouths (10” and 11”). I also miss half a dozen hits. The bass are small but the pond is a winner because of its sense of “remoteness” and its beauty. I will return at a later date to find the “big boys”!
The results: Three largemouth bass (largest = 13”) in one and a quarter hour of fishing.
Was the information in this blog useful? I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions by posting a comment. Also, feel free to tell us about your experiences fishing for largemouth bass on Bartlett Pond.
This looks like a pond I would like to explore. I appreciate the info about the boat launch as I was looking at my Gazetteer and saw what looked like a public launch site. Is there parking along Bennett Hill Road, near the culvert? Thinking I would spend a lot of time exploring here and want to make sure my vehicle is out of the way.
Thank you!!
Hi there. There’s space to park a car on the shoulder of Bennett Hill Road without a problem. This gravel road is relatively lightly travelled anyway. Enjoy Bartlett Pond because she’s quite a beauty!
Will be fishing here tomorrow morning around 6 with my brother. We love to fish topwater with hollow bodied frogs. Will also use senkos and Mepps. I’ll try to remember to come back and post our results.
Finally got to fish Bartlett Pond yesterday during my vacation.It has become very difficult to navigate the brook leading to the pond due to at least two beaver dams.I had to get out of my kayak to physically drag my kayak over each dam whilst carefully balancing on part of the dam itself.What made this more difficult was that the dams were in the narrower parts of the brook.I persevered however,and finally made it to the pond.I made my way around the whole pond catching approx 15 small bass using a combination of a paddle tail swimbait,and senko.I’ll agree that the pond setting is spectacular,but unless physically able the access would prove to be quite challenging!
Hi Tom, thanks for the update! Those beaver dams didn’t exist when I visited this pond about 5 years ago. It’s good to know that the access is now more of a challenge. Although, I presume that it’ll keep more people out… Stan (www.amazingfishametric.com)
Hi Stan,yes it does appear that not many people are using that access point as it also seems quite overgrown too!