Category Archives: Ice Fishing

TOP brook trout ponds for the 2016 ice fishing season in Aroostook County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2016 ice fishing season in Aroostook County are highlighted below (in alphabetical order).  A pond is considered “top” based on its stocking density. Simply put, the more trout are packed per acre, the higher the chances of catching them through the ice!

 

For the purpose of this blog, I’ll define a brook trout pond as a body of water with a surface area of less than 100 acres (with some notable exceptions…) which is stocked in the fall with hatchery-reared brook trout to support ice fishing.  These ponds tend to freeze over early in the season and are typically safe to fish well before the bigger lakes become accessible. This provides early-action opportunities for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to get the hard-water fishing season going. Click here for tips to increase your chances of catching more brookies through the ice.

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2016 ice fishing season in Androscoggin County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2016 ice fishing season in Androscoggin County are highlighted below (in alphabetical order).  A pond is considered “top” based on its stocking density. Simply put, the more trout are packed per acre, the higher the chances of catching them through the ice!

 

For the purpose of this blog, I’ll define a brook trout pond as a body of water with a surface area of less than 100 acres which is stocked in the fall with hatchery-reared brook trout to support ice fishing.  These ponds tend to freeze over early in the season and are typically safe to fish well before the bigger lakes become accessible.  This provides early-action opportunities for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to get the hard-water fishing season going. Click here for tips to increase your chances of catching more brookies through the ice.

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Best ice fishing ponds for catching rainbow trout in Maine (winter of 2016)

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This blog describes a select group of ponds in Maine that provide the best potential for catching rainbow trout through the ice during the winter of 2016. Around 20 ponds, most of them located in southern Maine counties, are managed as rainbow trout fisheries. Many of these ponds are open to ice fishing and are stocked with bows each spring and/or fall.

 

I only present ponds that were stocked in 2015 with a minimum of 1 rainbow trout per acre. As a rough yardstick, the average stocking density for landlocked salmon in Maine ponds and lakes is about 0.3 to 0.5 salmon per acre, which equals 1 salmon every two to three acres.

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Best ice fishing ponds for catching lunker trout in Maine (winter of 2016)

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The state releases part of its trout brood stock every fall to create some real and unexpected excitement on the ice. In most cases, though, too few of these huge fish are present such that catching one of them falls into the category of plain-old luck. In a few select ponds, however, enough of these fish were released in the fall of 2015 that it would make sense to target them specifically. For this blog, I define a “lunker trout” as measuring between 18” and 21”. Such a fish would weigh between 3.0 and 5.0 lbs depending on its size, which would make anyone’s ice fishing day! I also defined the minimum stocking density where it becomes worthwhile to target these hogs as around 0.3 fish per acre of pond. This value represents the average stocking density for landlocked salmon throughout Maine.

The following ponds (presented in alphabetical order) met the two criteria outlined above (i.e., fish size range and minimum stocking density).

No other ponds in the State of Maine offer better odds of catching the fish of a lifetime during the 2016 ice fishing season than those listed below. It is recommended to consult the latest law book (click here for details) about special ice fishing rules that may apply on these ponds.

I did my utmost best to verify that a particular pond is indeed open for ice fishing, but I make no guarantees whatsoever that my interpretation of the convoluted Maine fishing rules is accurate or correct. It is up to each reader of this blog to ensure that a pond listed below can be fished through the ice by checking the latest regulations.

Note also that the list below excludes “kids only” ponds which have their own stocking regime and special fishing rules.

 

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Ice fishing for splake and smallmouth bass on Trickey Pond in Naples, Maine (March 29, 2015)

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Trickey Pond is a 311 acre pristine body of water located next to Route 114 in Naples, Cumberland County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B5). I have fished this pond numerous times in the past (for recent examples, click here and here) and have invariably found it … trickey and unpredictable! The fishing can be really slow but also rewarding for those who are willing to put in the time and learn its secrets. Today is my last day of the 2015 hard water season. The past winter was long, cold, brutal, and snowy. We experienced what folks around here call a good ole Maine winta! I’m fishing this morning for a couple of hours but have also organized a picnic for later on today on this pond with about 25 friends and family members. The purpose of our get-together is to shake off “cabin fever”, celebrate the end of the cold season and welcome in the start of spring.

 

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Ice fishing for largemouth bass on Island Pond in Waterford, Maine (March 14, 2015)

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Island Pond is a 166 acre body of water located in Waterford, Oxford County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 E5). The focus of my attention this morning is the long but narrow island found in the southern half of the pond. My aim is to put into practice some of the techniques discussed here in order to catch late-winter, pre-spawning largemouth bass. I’m particularly interested in the larger females which are heavy and bloated with eggs this time of the year. I surmise that the shoreline of the island, particularly the half facing west towards the deeper water, represents bass spawning habitat. If I’m correct, then the bass should be congregating along the drop-offs in front of those shallows like they typically do in late winter to prepare for the spring spawn. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. Note that the State has no size or bag limit for bass on this pond. I release all my bass but know from experience that this water body supports a serious largemouth bass population.

 

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Ice fishing for northern pike on Sabattus Pond in Sabattus, Maine (February 28, 2015)

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General view of Sabattus Pond looking north from Martin Point

General view of Sabattus Pond looking north from Martin Point

Sabattus Pond is a 1962-acre shallow body of water located in the town of Sabattus, Androscoggin County (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 E1). It is an epicenter for northern pike in this part of the state. This ravenous predator was illegally introduced many years ago. It has overrun the pond and spread upstream to Little Sabattus Pond (click here) and downstream into the Androscoggin River via the Sabattus River. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.

 

 

 

 

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Ice fishing for splake on Trickey Pond in Naples, Maine (February 21, 2015)

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Trickey Pond is a 311-acre body of water located in Naples, Cumberland County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B5). Access is via the public boat launch located at the southern tip of the lake off Route 114 (Sebago Road). Beware that this access road is unplowed in the winter, and steep. As described here, the pond offers a cornucopia of sport fish species to be caught through the ice, including landlocked salmon, splake, brook trout, and smallmouth bass. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. This blog identifies the pond as the go-to location in southern Maine for catching splake during the 2015 ice fishing season. That is our target species for today. Splake is a trout hybrid created by crossing a female lake trout with a male brook trout. The main advantage is that these fish are sterile. Hence, the metabolic energy that would be spent reproducing is channeled into growing fast and fat!

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Ice fishing for rainbow trout on Stanley Pond in Hiram, Maine (February 1, 2015)

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Drilling holes on a cold morning

Drilling holes on a cold morning

Stanley Pond is a three-lobed, 137-acre body of water located in Hiram, Oxford County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 C2). Public access is via the municipal boat launch located on the lower lobe by the outlet on Tripptown Road (off Route 160). I choose to fish this pond today for two reasons: (a) the blizzard from 4 days ago dumped over 2 ft of drifting snow which greatly limits how far I care to walk in knee-deep snow, and (b) Stanley Pond is a top 2015 winter destination for catching rainbow trout through the ice (click here for details). My son Joel and I ice fished this pond in March 2013 but ended up skunked. However, at that time, Joel obtained good intel from two guys who were catching rainbows nearby us (click here for details). We are now going to put that information to good use. Those two guys were fishing the point of land to the right (looking upgradient) of the outlet area. It is a sweet spot because it is real close to the boat launch, has current associated with the outlet, and has an interesting depth profile close to shore. Also, this area faces west, which means that it stays in the shadow of the rising sun to the east, at least for part of the morning.

 

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Ice fishing for brook trout on Round Pond, Livermore, Maine (January 24, 2015)

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Joel jigging for trout in deeper water, with the peninsula in the background

Joel jigging for trout in deeper water, with the peninsula in the background

Round Pond is a 161-acre body of water located in Livermore, Androscoggin County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 A5). Public access is via the boat launch off Route 4. I chose this pond based on information provided in this blog: Round Pond is a top 2015 ice fishing destination in Androscoggin County because it was richly stocked with 1-pound brook trout and brown trout in the fall of 2014. This pond also has healthy populations of smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and northern pike. I have not ice fished it before, so my first task is to identify a promising area to target trout. The ideal location sticks out on a depth map (click here) like a sore thumb: it consists of a rocky peninsula which juts out into the water right across from the boat launch. I study this feature on-line using Google Maps: the satellite photo shows that the point is strewn with large submerged boulders, which provide excellent trout habitat. The depth map also shows deeper water right off the point, which is a plus. This choice spot will be our base of operation this morning, assuming that no one else claims it first! My only reservation is that it faces due east in the direction of the rising sun. A check of the Weather Channel website on-line shows that the sky will be overcast because of an approaching snow storm. Excellent!

 

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