King Pond covers 16 acres and is located in Bowtown Township in Somerset County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 30 A2). Five of us are spending four fabulous days during the long Memorial Day weekend fishing Pierce Pond for landlocked Atlantic salmon and brook trout, as well as some of the smaller water bodies in the surrounding watershed for brook trout. We are staying “in style” at one of the cozy cabins at Cobb’s Pierce Pond Sporting Camps located on the shore of the lower basin of Pierce Pond. A critical benefit of staying at Cobb’s Camp is access to their locked canoes that are strategically stored at various local ponds, plus detailed directions on the locations of the trailheads that connect Pierce Pond to those water bodies. King Pond is publicly accessible from land, although I have not attempted to reach it via the old logging roads and trails shown on map 30 A2.
The trail to King Pond moves through a nice forested area, which is also filled with hungry mosquitos this time of year…
King Pond is completely undeveloped and is nestled on the lower flank of Otter Pond Mountain. This shallow water body has an average depth of 5 ft. and a maximum depth of 15 ft. The bottom consists mostly of soft organic muck and the water is slightly colored. The water quality is marginal for brook trout, but good enough to allow for year-over-year survival and growth. The pond lacks spawning habitat, and the state provides an annual fall stocking of 450 seven-inch brookies (about 28 trout per acre) to maintain the fishery. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. General fishing law applies at this location, except that (a) the pond is closed to ice fishing, (b) only artificial lures can be used (i.e., no live or dead bait allowed at any time), (c) the daily bag limit on brook trout is two fish, and (d) the pond is open to fishing between October 1 and November 30 using artificial lures only and with the stipulation that all trout must be released alive at once.
King Pond is utterly remote and undeveloped. What a treat to the soul and the eyes!
Bill and I easily find the trailhead located at the upper end of Middle Pierce Pond, and walk the 30 minutes or so to King Pond. Much of that trail is the same one we used this morning to reach Split Rock Pond. The hike is easy and the trail weaves through a nice forested area. The only real problem are the hordes of blood-sucking mosquitoes that continuously pester us all the way in…We reach the pond by 2 pm. The afternoon is partly sunny but quite breezy, with the air temperature in the mid 70’s and the surface water temperature at 68°F. We take a moment to observe the surface of the pond and see no rises. Mmm, that is never a good sign on smaller trout ponds such as this one. We unlock the canoe, quietly paddle out towards the deepest part of the pond, and gently lower our two anchors. The game plan is to cast out our dry flies and take the time to observe the surrounding water for any surface activity. Twenty-five minutes later, the breeze has not let up and the fish are not feeding on top. We debate whether to look for trout using emergers or by trolling, and opt for the latter.
This pretty brookie fell for the tiny Thunderbolt spoon. I suspect that larger fish reside in these waters…
Bill ties on a dark-green Wooly Bugger and I attach my proven and trusted trout-slayer lure, i.e., a bronze-colored 1¼-inch (1/10 ounce) ACME Thunderbolt spoon. We both use the floating line of our fly rods to keep the bugger and the little spoon close to the surface since we will be trolling all around the pond in shallow (mostly < 6 ft.) water. I get a hit and a hook-up within one minute after we start trolling. Wow, I wish it would always happen that fast! I tussle with a hard-fighting 12-inch brookie, which gets netted, photographed, and released. I get another hit, and then a third one, but no hook-ups, within the next 10 minutes. OMG, this is crazy! However, the fast early action stops as we keep on paddling. Over the next hour and a half, I get one more hit but no additional fish, and Bill gets three hits and one 11-inch brookie on his bugger. At no time did we observe sustained rises, nor did the breeze relent to any significant extent. Regardless, we enjoy the views, the gentle paddling, and the easy chitchatting. It is now 4 pm and time to head back out to meet up with our other teammates. We both enjoyed King Pond and resolve to return to it in the future.
The results: We each landed one brook trout (largest was 12 inches) in 2 hours of fishing.
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