Tag Archives: brook trout

TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Sagadahoc County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Sagadahoc 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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Penobscot County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Penobscot 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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Franklin County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Franklin County are highlighted below (in alphabetical order).  Only a few ponds are listed because most of the smaller bodies of water 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 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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Cumberland County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 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 (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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Waldo County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Waldo County are highlighted below.  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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Androscoggin County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 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 (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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

Continue reading →

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TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 ice fishing season in Aroostook County, Maine

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The TOP brook trout ponds for the 2015 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 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 a real opportunity for hot early-season action for those of us (myself included!) who just can’t wait to catch brookies through the ice.

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Native brook trout fishing off Five Ponds Trail in Baxter State Park, Maine

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This blog describes an easy, five-day hiking, camping, and native brook trout fishing adventure in the remote northeastern wilderness of Baxter State Park (BSP) in Maine. The trip is organized around the Five Ponds Trail which encircles the 1,767 ft-high Trout Brook Mountain. This picturesque trail, which meanders through a mixed hardwood forest and results in minimal elevation gain, gets its name from its location alongside five ponds, namely: Billfish Pond, Long Pond, High Pond, Littlefield Pond, and Round Pond.

 

The first three ponds support robust native brook trout populations. Neither Littlefield Pond nor Round Pond provide access to a canoe, which greatly limits their fishing potential (see below for details). Hence, those two ponds are not further discussed in this blog. Instead, I included Lower Fowler Pond and Middle Fowler Pond which are found in the immediate vicinity of the Five Pond Trail and also have strong native brook trout populations. Continue reading →

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Native brook trout fishing in Baxter State Park: Day 5 (September 30, 2014)

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This blog is a continuation of this blog.

 

DAY 5: From Russell Pond to the Roaring Brook camp ground

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Deep Pond in the early morning fog and mist

Today is unfortunately the last of our memorable five-day Baxter State Park through-hike and native brook trout fishing trip. It is also the last day of the 2014 fishing season in the park. After spending a warm and dry night in the bunk house at the Russell Pond camp site, I get up once more at the crack of down to fish Deep Pond. This water body covers 8 acres and is located an easy 15-20 minute hike from Russell Pond (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 51 B1). It has a maximum and mean depth of 19 ft and 9 ft, respectively, and is home to an abundant, but stunted, native brook trout population. The water is clear and the shoreline is completely forested. The pond develops an oxygen deficiency in the summer at depths of 12 ft or more which forces the trout to reside in the upper half of the water column during the warm season. Deep Pond could actually be fished comfortably from shore by kids using bobbers and worms.  An enormous flat rock sits at the water’s edge by the canoe launch and can easily accommodate several people. Good casting would place the bait, or a lure, close to the center of the pond. The daily bag limit on trout is five fish with a minimum length limit of 6”. Use or possession of life baitfish is prohibited, but dead fish, salmon eggs, and worms are allowed as bait. Click here for more information on the fishing regulations. Click here for a depth map and more information on the pond and its fisheries.

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Native brook trout fishing in Baxter State Park: Day 4 (September 29, 2014)

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This blog is a continuation of this blog.

 

DAY 4: Upper South Branch Pond to Russell Pond

 

This native brookie for my "psychedelic" spoon

This fat native brookie fell for my “psychedelic” spoon

The cold front, which announced itself yesterday evening, definitely arrived overnight. The wind is blowing hard from the northwest and the sky is completely overcast with a low cloud deck shrouding the nearby Traveler Mountains. But that doesn’t stop me from crawling out of my tent at the crack of dawn for a morning troll on Upper South Branch Pond using lead core line. I’d like to repeat the experience from last evening by catching another brookie. I do hesitate for a moment about fishing alone when I get to the lake shore: paddling the canoe by myself into the stiff wind will be quite a chore. But what the heck: how often do I get to fish this gorgeous pond? I’m richly rewarded in three ways for my tenacity. I land a healthy 13” native brook trout after about 30 minutes trolling with two spoons fished in tandem one color down (just like yesterday evening). I also experience a unique sound effect: the resident loon calls out twice in a row as I pass it by; its haunting song echoes off the surrounding rock cliffs! I stop paddling to soak in this precious moment… Finally, I see a dark shape ambling in the shallow water along the southern (downwind) shoreline of the lake as I troll back towards my starting point. It’s a young bull moose grazing on the aquatic vegetation! Wow, that’s really awesome except that the wind is pushing me straight in the direction of the animal. The canoe acts like a sail whenever I try to turn it sideways… Then one of my lures decides to hang up on the bottom. F*ck!!  I paddle backwards like a madman to retrieve my lures and then turn the canoe sideways and paddle like a maniac to stay away from the moose but parallel to the shoreline. Fortunately, the beast gives me a long dumb look, completely ignores my grunts and paddling shenanigans, and slowly moves on. It’s now 6:50 am and I don’t have the strength left in my arms to battle upwind for another round. I call it good, glad to have caught two nice brook trout in less than 1.5 hours of trolling between yesterday evening and this morning.

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