Category Archives: Ice Fishing

TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Oxford County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Oxford 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 about 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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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Knox County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Knox 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 about 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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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Kennebec County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Kennebec 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! Note that only a handful of ponds are listed below because most of the stocked water bodies in Kennebec County are quite large, resulting in low trout densities.

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 about 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.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Hancock County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Hancock 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 about 100 acres (with some 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.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Franklin County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Franklin County are highlighted below (in alphabetical order).  Only a few ponds are listed because most of the smaller water bodies in this county are closed to ice fishing.  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 smaller body of water 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.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Cumberland County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Cumberland 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.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Aroostook County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 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 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.

Continue reading →

TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 ice fishing season in Androscoggin County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2017 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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Ice fishing for brook trout on Sand Pond in Baldwin, Maine (February 27, 2016)

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Glare ice and unlimited sunshine on Sand Pond

Glare ice and unlimited sunshine on Sand Pond

Sand Pond is a 61-acre body of water located in the town of Baldwin, Cumberland County (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 D4). The access point, which contains a sturdy boat launch, is located by the town-owned beach at the southern end of the pond next to Sand Pond Road off Route 107 (Bridgton Road). I’m selecting this pond because it is relatively small and therefore contains safe ice even though we’ve had a warm “El Ninjo” winter, but also because it was stocked last fall with larger trout (click here for details). Sand Pond is typical of the many popular put-and-take lakes scattered around the region. Heavier trout are stocked each fall in these waters to support a winter and spring fishery with the understanding that these fish do not survive the summer because the ponds are too shallow and the water column gets too warm. Sand Pond has a mean and maximum depth of 9 ft and 20 ft, respectively. Click here for more details on the fishing rules that pertain to this pond. Click here for a depth map and additional fisheries information.

 

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Ice fishing for brook trout on Deer Pond in Hollis, Maine (February 7, 2016)

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Christian is jigging. Notice the ice shacks by the boat launch.

Christian is jigging. Notice the ice shacks by the boat launch and the sloppy slush on the ice.

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.

 

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