Fishing for brook trout and brown trout on Little Pennessewassee Pond in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (August 1, 2026)

 

A beautiful early morning on Little Pennesseewassee Pond.

 

Little Pennessewassee Pond (a.k.a. Hobbs Pond) is a 96-acre body of water located in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D5). To access this pond, drive west on Route 118 (Waterford Road) from Norway. This road eventually runs parallel to the entire southern shore of the pond. The public access point is by a picnic pergola, about halfway along that shore. Plenty of parking space is available. Note that only hand-carried craft can be put in the water because the pond lacks a trailerable launch. In addition, the shore by the access point has a 2-foot vertical drop and is located next to deep water. These conditions make it nearly impossible to safely enter into a canoe or kayak from this location. Instead, I carried my canoe to a shallow spot along the shoreline, passed the pergola and down a short, wooded trail.

 

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Fishing for brown trout on Bradley Pond in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (July 23, 2026)

 

It is a perfect evening for a Hex hatch: setting sun, wind still, and warm.

 

Bradley Pond is a 34-acre body of water located in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D2). To access this pond, go down Route 5 (Main Street) in Lovell, turn on Bradley Pond Road, and drive down this high-quality gravel road for 1.0 mile (turn right at the small “launch” sign). The public access point is on the left, at the northern end of the pond. The launch is unimproved, and can only accommodate canoes or kayaks. Also, motorboats are prohibited on the pond. The launch has enough space to park 2-3 vehicles.

 

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Fishing for brown trout on Bradley Pond in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (July 22, 2026)

 

The access point on Bradley pond can only accommodate canoes and kayaks. Motorized crafts are forbidden on this pond.

 

Bradley Pond is a 34-acre body of water located in Lovell, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D2). To access this pond, go down Route 5 (Main Street) in Lovell, turn on Bradley Pond Road, and drive down this high-quality gravel road for 1.0 mile (turn right at the small “launch” sign). The public access point is on the left, at the northern end of the pond. The launch is unimproved, and can only accommodate canoes or kayaks. Also, motorboats are prohibited on the pond. The launch has enough space to park 2-3 vehicles.

 

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Fishing for rainbow trout on Forest Pond in Canton, Oxford County, Maine (June 30, 2026)

 

Park at the turn-off on Meadowview Road to catch the trail to Forest Pond.

 

Forest Pond is a 45-acre body of water located in Canton, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 A4). To access this pond, drive north on Jewett Hill Road in Canton, and turn left on Meadowview Road. This road is paved but quickly turns into a well-maintained and drivable gravelly trail. Stay on it for 1.6 miles (passed the small cemetery) until you reach a turnoff on the right side where a few cars can be parked. The pond is a 10-minute walk up the trail from the parking area. Beware that this trail is NOT drivable, even with a 4X4. The surrounding area is also full of mosquitoes and other stinging and biting critters due to the presence of swamps around the parking area. The access point to the pond is unimproved, and can only accommodate muscle-powered craft.

 

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Fishing for brook trout on Crocker Pond in Albany Township, Oxford County, Maine (June 11, 2026)

 

The White Mountain National Forest kiosk at the large parking lot next to the access point to Crocker Pond.

 

Crocker Pond covers 10 acres and is located in Albany Township, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 C3). From Route 5 (a.k.a. Songo Pond Road), turn into Patte Brook Road. Drive for 2.9 miles before turning left – through the open US National Forest gate – into Crocker Pond Road. Stay on this well-maintained dirt road for 1.4 miles until you reach the Crocker Pond back-country camp ground maintained by the US Forest Service. Plenty of parking is available passed the entrance to the camp ground. Only hand-carried craft can be launched into the pond since it lacks a boat ramp.

 

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Fishing for brook trout on Songo Pond in Albany, Oxford County, Maine (October 22, 2025)

 

Songo Pond is a 224-acre body of water located in Albany, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 B3). The unmarked public access point is found right next to Route 5/35 (Songo Pond Road) a couple of hundred feet north of house number 754. It consists of a rough, bouldery launch for hand-carried craft and a small dirt parking area next to the road that can accommodate a few vehicles.

 

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Fishing for brook trout on Kingsbury Pond, Kingsbury, Piscataquis County, Maine (October 9, 2025)

 

Kingsbury Pond is a 390-acre body of water located in Kingsbury, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 31 C2). The public access point is next to Route 16 at the dirt boat launch by the dam and its outlet at the eastern end of the lake. The launch provides plenty of parking.

 

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Fishing for brook trout on North Pond in Sumner, Oxford County, Maine (October 7, 2025)

 

View of North Pond from the dam by the outlet

 

North Pond is a 164-acre of water located in Sumner, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 C3). The access point is located next to a small dam by the outlet at the southern tip of the pond. Reaching that dam is a bit tricky. From North Buckfield Road, look for an unnamed dirt road sandwiched between house numbers 377 and 387. This 0.9-mile dirt road – which is really more of a wide ATV trail – is rough in places and requires a vehicle with high clearance. Four-wheel drive is useful but not a necessity. It can be confusing to stay on this road because it has several turn-offs along the way in. I used the GPS function on my phone to make sure that my truck always pointed in the correct (i.e., north) direction. The launch is sandy and unimproved. The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows a gate a couple of 100 ft before the outlet. This gate, which I think is owned by the Buckfield Village Corporation (Water District), was open when I reached it, but smashed by a fallen tree. So, it will remain “open” until fixed.

 

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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon on South Pond in Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine (August 6, 2025)

 

The official boat launch requires navigating through Round Pond before reaching South Pond.

 

South Pond is a 284-acre body of water located in Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 B4). This pond is part of a cluster of lakes bunched together in this area and which I have fished for salmonids in the past (click here, here, here, and here). The public boat ramp, called the Mike Giunta memorial boat launch, is located by Howe Hill Road off Route 26 (Main Street) in Greenwood. I have to look for the place because it is not clearly indicated, either on Route 26 or Howe Hill Road. The hard-topped ramp is narrow, steep, and next to deep water. Plenty of parking is available. I found it challenging to retrieve my boat at the end of today’s trip because I had to place the trailer mostly out of the deep water and on the steep launch. It took a lot of arm juice to manually crank my boat up unto its trailer… Access to South Pond from this location is tricky. With the ramp in your back, navigate to the upper right-hand corner of the (unnamed) water body and pass  underneath the railroad tracks. From there, navigate to the left through Round Pond until you enter South Pond through a wide but shallow passage. I was disoriented and got lost while motoring through Round Pond and its multiple islands and shallow weedy areas. I used the GPS on my phone to get me out of the maze… It takes about 15 minutes of no-wake boating to reach my destination from the boat ramp. While trolling, I noticed a small beach at the southwestern end of South Pond next to Greenwood Road. I checked it out at the end of this trip and found a small, dirt boat launch next to the beach. This launch is not shown on The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer. A large sign states that the beach is for use by local residents only. I do not know if this restriction also applies to the launch next to it… Plenty of parking is available across the road from this launch.

 

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Fishing for rainbow trout on Pennesseewassee Lake in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (July 15, 2025)

 

The boat launch is spacious, and plenty of parking is available nearby.

 

Pennesseewassee Lake covers 922 acres and is located in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 D1). Access is through a high-quality public boat launch off Route 118. Coming in from Harrison, drive north on Route 117 all the way to the lake. Turn left at the stop sign on Route 118, go for 0.3 miles, and then turn right at the blue boat launch sign. The launch itself is spacious, and the nearby parking area can accommodate many vehicles.

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