Antony proudly shows off his fish
December 15, 2018
Location and Acces to Chaffin Pond
Where is Chaffin Pond Located?
This pretty 13-acre water body is found in Windham, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 C2). Our goal today is catching brook trout while ice fishing on Chaffin Pond.
Access
Access is super-easy! Drive on Route 302 north in downtown Windham, pass the Home Depot sign (Franklin Drive) and take the next right on Chaffin Pond Reserve Drive (Donnabeth Lippman Park) just before the Sherman Williams store.
The pond is only a couple of 100 ft down this gravel road. Also, ample parking is available across from the playground.
This one is a jumpy little bugger!
Chaffin Pond Features, Stocking, Depth Profile, and Angling Rules
General Characteristics
Chaffin Pond was closed to ice fishing for many years but became accessible to the hard-water crowd for the first time in 2017. The whole area around the pond was managed by the Portland Water District to extract drinking water. As a result, the entire shoreline has remained undeveloped, except for a few abandoned pump houses.
Annual Stocking
The state richly stocked this small pond with brook trout this fall in anticipation of the winter season. If you add up all the numbers, the fall 2018 stocking effort amounted to 1101 trout, or 85 trout per acre!! And that does not count the 660 trout they put in there last spring! That is a ton of fish available to be caught through the ice!!
Depth Profile
A depth map is not available for Chaffin Pond.
Fishing Regulations
Chaffin Pond has become a highly popular early-season ice-fishing destination in the Sebago Lake region, similar to Otter Pond #2 and Otter Pond #4 in Standish. The reason is its small size, easy access, early freeze-up, and abundant trout population.
Your blog author is taking this guy home for the frying pan
Ice Fishing on Chaffin Pond
Arrival and Conditions
I arrive at the Chaffin Pond parking lot at 6:20 am. Sunrise is at 7:09 am this morning. It is essentially pitch-black but I am already joined by three other fishing parties! It looks like the place will be busy this morning…
My son Joel, his wife, and two kids will join me at 7:30 am. We made sure to get the boys out on the ice today because the temperature is forecast to climb into the balmy mid 40’s.
I load up my gear in the sled and make a beeline for the northeast corner of the pond because that area will remain in the shadows late into the morning. The ice is a respectable 7” thick (not bad for mid-December) and also completely glare.
Technique for Ice Fishing on Chaffin Pond
I drill a dozen-and-a-half holes and deploy four tip ups. The rest will be jigging holes. I get three flags and one trout during the set-up process, which is always a good sign. I call Joel to tell him that the fish are biting and that he needs to hurry up!
It’s not just about catching fish, but also family bonding and making memories!
Results of Ice Fishing on Chaffin Pond
They arrive by 8 am and we quickly deploy another 10 tip-ups baited with small shiners. The action is essentially non-stop for the next 2.5 hours. A flag pops up every 10 minutes (sometimes faster, sometimes slower). As a result, we are running ourselves ragged, with the boys yelling and screaming each time.
By the end of the trip, we have had a total of about two dozen flags, and 16 trout. Each one of us brings home their two-fish limit for the frying pan. I arrived with 40 baitfish and left with none!
Joel caught the winning fish this morning
Jigging and Crowds
Surprisingly, I jigged on and off for two hours but did not get a single hit… Clearly, the brookies entirely keyed in on the live bait and avoided the jig. The latter is unusual.
But then, fish can and do have a mind of their own.
The place also filled up quickly. I counted about 30 people spread all over the pond by the time we left at 10:30 am.
Finally, the action experienced today will slow down by mid-to-late January as anglers remove brookies, and the surviving fish become wearier of all the commotion on top.
So, hit this pond early in the season, and make sure to bring kids. 😊
The place is hoppen’ this morning!
The outcome of ice fishing on Chaffin Pond: We caught 16 brook trout in 3.5 hours of fun and non-stop family fishing.
Was the information in this blog useful? I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions. Also, feel free to discuss your fishing experiences at this location.
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