Pierce Pond Mountain plunges into Dixon Pond.
Dixon Pond is a picturesque 17-acre body of water located within the Pierce Pond Township in Somerset County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 30 A1). It is sandwiched between Dixon Mountain and the eastern flank of mighty Pierce Pond Mountain. I access this pond via a poorly-marked 1-mile trail that starts at the water’s edge in the narrows separating lower from middle Pierce Pond. However, the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows that Dixon Pond can also be reached via a rough 2.5 to 3 mile logging road off Cobb’s Camp Road starting at Lindsey Cove in lower Pierce Pond. I haven’t used the latter and can’t tell how easy it would be to find the pond from that direction. What I can say is that the 1-mile trail I used on my expedition today was a total clusterf*ck on account of extensive clear-cutting in that part of the woods in the recent past, plus significant tree blow-downs during last winter’s storms. A half-hour stroll through the forest became a one hour ordeal of carefully working my way through mud pools, deep skitter gullies, fallen trees, root balls, and other obstacles, without getting lost along the way.
Dixon Pond was never stocked in the past and contains genetically-pure brookies!
Why bother? Well, Dixon Pond is unique in several ways. First and foremost, it is listed as a “State Heritage Fish Water”. This list identifies all the ponds and lakes throughout Maine which contain brook trout but were never stocked with this species in the past or were last stocked several decades ago. Dixon Pond falls into the former category and therefore contains a genetically-pure strain of squaretails, which is neat. Second, during high water in the fall, rainbow smelt migrate into this pond from Pierce Pond via Dixon Brook and provide forage for the native brookies to grow on. And third, rumor has it that some landlocked Atlantic salmon have also reached Dixon Pond, and gotten stuck up there, while chasing smelt in Dixon Brook. Smelt and landlocked salmon can survive in an 17-acre body of water because it has an impressive mean and maximum depth of 26 ft and 55 ft, respectively! Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. General fishing laws apply except that the pond is closed to ice fishing and only artificial lures can be used during the open-water season.
Small but real fiesty!
I reach Dixon Pond in late morning after a long and tortuous hike. The air temperature is in the low 60’s, the sky is mostly overcast, and the blackflies and mosquitoes are mercifully sparse. Since I’m staying at Cobb’s Pierce Pond Camp, I brought with me the key to unlock one of their canoes which are permanently stored along the shoreline. My strategy this afternoon is to use a one-hook smelt-imitating streamer fly trolled three colors down over the deep portion of the pond in the hope of catching one of the larger native trout or perhaps even a stranded salmon! My expectations are low since past experiences on this pond have shown me that the trout population, while abundant, is also stunted. And I’m also not expecting lots of salmon down there. To my surprise, in light of the remoteness of this location, I see two other anglers in a canoe casting spinners along the shoreline. I start my trolling efforts by going around and around and around. I hook and land four 10″-12” brookies over the next 1.5 hours, but do not see any evidence of bigger trout or of the rumored salmon. My butt is also starting to hurt from sitting for so long, so I decide to give trolling a rest and have some fun dry flying.
Those colors…
The brookies in Dixon Pond go nuts over brown caddisflies, and today is no exception to that rule. The fish are all stacked up against the western shoreline where Pierce Pond Mountain plunges deep into the water and lots of fallen trees and wood litter the shallows. The rises are on-going, splashy, and continuous, but are clearly associated with little guys. I hook and land eight fish measuring between 7” and 9” over the next hour or so. All are small, but spirited and colorful. I miss at least the same number of fish which hit the fly but don’t get hooked, or fight hard and unhook themselves. I would happily stay longer to keep playing with these little guys, but I need to turn around to rejoin my team mates. Dixon Pond gave results but I’ll return next year to try to catch its larger denizens which are hiding deep below in the profundal zone…
The results: I caught 12 wild and hard-fighting brook trout (size range: 7” to 12”) in 2.5 hours of fun fishing in a beautiful and serene setting.
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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ><« ({(« º >
