Monthly Archives: August 2012

Largemouth bass fishing on Wards Pond, Limington, ME (August 18, 2012)

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View of Wards Pond

August 10, 2015 UPDATE: One of my blog readers (thanks, Tom) reported that the unnamed forest road into Wards Pond off Route 11 (Sokokis Avenue) was recently posted as “PRIVATE PROPERTY” and is therefore no longer accessible to the public. Feel free to let us know if you can find another way into this pond by car so that I can share it with everyone.
Wards Pond is located off Route 11 in North Limington (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 D5). Access to the pond is as follows: drive west on Route 25 (Ossipee Trail), turn right on Route 11 (Sokokis Avenue), drive on Route 11 for 0.7 miles before turning right on an unnamed forest road (right across from Helmlock Lane). This trail, which is rough but passable with a car, reaches the north-western end of the pond after about 0.2 miles. A sandy launch allows access for small trailered boats, as well as hand-carried craft. Beware that the sand is soft and that it is a real challenge to pull a boat up the slope of the launch using a front wheel drive car (I know from experience; see below).

 

 

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Largemouth bass fishing on Milliken Mills Pond, Old Orchard Beach, Maine (July 21, 2012)

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Access point to Milliken Mills Pond viewed from Milliken Mills Road

Milliken Mills Pond is an impoundment of Mill Brook (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 3 B3) in Old Orchard Beach. Access to the pond is on Milliken Mills Road, right by the dam on Portland Avenue. The launch is rough and can only handle hand-carried craft because a thick cable is stretched across the entrance way and half-a-dozen large granite blocks bar the way further down. The distance between the road and the water is no more than 150 ft. Parking is on the road shoulder and is limited to two or three cars. Even though the pond is small (10 acres), it gives the impression of being much larger because it is quite narrow (< 130 ft), and hence very long (over 0.5 mile!). The pond has little aquatic vegetation but a multitude of overhanging branches and fallen trees. The water is also crystal-clear. This small water body, located no more than 12 miles south of Portland, provides a remarkable feeling of “remoteness”. Both banks are densely wooded and devoid of houses or camps. Further upstream, the heavy canopy on both banks provides a cocoon-like feeling. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.

 

 

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Largemouth bass fishing on Bartlett Pond, Waterboro, ME (August 12, 2012)

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View of the lower reach of Bartlett Brook flowing through the marsh

Bartlett Pond sits in the middle of a triangle formed by Route 5, Deering Ridge Road, and Bennett Hill Road in Waterboro (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 B5). The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows a trailerable boat launch at the southern end of the pond. Note that this launch is NOT trailerable. It is also located on a private forest road and is therefore not accessible to the public. One way onto the pond is to launch a canoe on Bartlett Brook which flows through a culvert underneath Bennett Hill road 0.9 miles north of Route 5. The stream is narrow and confining at first but quickly opens up into a wide passageway through an enormous marsh. It takes about 20 minutes to reach the pond by that scenic route.

 

 

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Largemouth bass fishing on Deer Pond, Hollis, Maine (August 11, 2012)

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Deer Pond is located right off busy Route 117 in Hollis (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 A5). Access to the pond is via a small public gravel ramp from Route 117 at the southern end of the pond. The ramp is squeezed between two private properties (look for a long, brown fence). This launch can accommodate small trailered boats, but parking is limited to one or two cars. The shoulder on Route 117 is available for more parking.

 

 

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Largemouth bass fishing on Moose Pond, Acton, Maine (August 11, 2012)

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View of the access point to Moose Pond from H Road

Moose Pond is located right off H Road in Acton (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 A1). Access to the pond is via a rough boat launch visible from H Road. The launch, which is located by the outlet, could accommodate small trailered boats. A small wooden plaque affixed to a nearby tree states that motorboats are not allowed on the pond. However, a review of the ME Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fishing rule book does not state that engines are forbidden. Hence, it appears that the plaque may reflect the views of local homeowners. Moose pond is a real beauty! It covers 27 acres and has a maximum depth of 20 ft. The substrate consists of coarse sand, rubble, and boulders. The water column is crystal clear and stays oxygenated throughout the summer. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.

 

 

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Largemouth bass fishing on Killick Pond, Hollis, Maine (August 8, 2012)

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Access point by the outlet of Killick Pond on Berube Lane

Killick Pond is located off Killick Pond Road or Sand Pond Road in Hollis (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 E4). The pond can be accessed with some difficulty from several directions, two of which are described below: (1) Take Route 35 (Bonny Eagle Road) south and turn right on Killick Pond Road. After about 1 mile, turn right on Berube Lane (an improved dirt road). Pass the Poland Spring plant on the left, the high-voltage lines, and the “Killick Pond Wildlife Management Area” panel. The road narrows and becomes rough as it enters the woods. The pond outlet is about 0.2 miles further down on the left. Only hand-carried crafts can be launched from this access point. Beware of the gate at the beginning of Berube Lane. It was open when I checked out the area in late afternoon but I do not know if it is closed at some point in the evening. (2) Take Route 35 (Bonny Eagle Road) south and turn right on Sand Pond Road just after crossing the Saco River. Drive on Sand Pond Road for about 2.3 miles before turning left on Old Stage Road (an improved dirt road).

 

 

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Brook trout fishing on Churchill Lake, Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine (May 16, 2012)

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Day 3: It rained non-stop from yesterday 4 pm until 4 am this morning. Everything is wet and damp. Joel and I are back on the Churchill Lake thoroughfare (called Heron Lake; see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 56 A1), at 6:15 am to try our luck one more time. We only have about 4 hours to fish before we need to start packing up at 10:30 am to drive back home. We discuss our options and decide to go after brook trout by the ledges near the camp site, instead of motoring up-lake for 30 minutes to fish for lake trout in the deep part of Churchill Lake.

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Brook trout fishing on Churchill Lake and Eagle Lake, Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine (May 15, 2012)

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Day 2: It’s amazing how much can change in 12 hours! Joel and I are back on the water at 6:30 am to catch the early morning bite on the two ledges we discovered yesterday in Heron Lake (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 56 A1). This “lake” is the thoroughfare between Churchill Lake and Churchill Dam. We only catch three smallish (12-14″) brookies after 3 hours of hard fishing. The trout have gone missing! It’s clear that the smelts, and their fishy predators, have moved elsewhere.

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Brook Trout fishing on Churchill Lake, Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Maine (May 14, 2012)

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Churchill Lake is a 3,720 acre impoundment (with a maximum depth of 62 ft) of the Allagash River on the Allagash Wilderness Waterway in northwestern Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 56 B1). The entire shoreline, which is owned by the State of Maine, is wooded, wild, and entirely undeveloped. Joel and I drove up to Churchill Dam yesterday from southern Maine (7 hours of driving, of which 3 hours on rutted logging roads…). We put our canoe in the water at the concrete boat launch by the dam and park our car further up the road at a large parking spot. We motor up to the “High Bank” camp site at the end of the thoroughfare, which is also called Heron Lake (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 56 A1).

 

We troll for native brook trout using smelt-imitating spoons (Mooselook and the like) between 7 am and 8 pm, for a total of 10.5 hrs. We’re fishing our spoons only 4-5 ft below the surface because the water temperature is a chilly 49F. We use our depth finders to locate two ledges in Heron Lake across from our camp site. The water depth rises from 26 ft up to 7 ft at the top of the ledge and plunges back down to 27 ft at the other end before it rises again to about 9 ft.

 

The trout are ambushing schools of smelt on both sides of the drop-offs. We quickly become aware of it when we start catching trout after trout which regurgitate smelts when we bring the fish to the boat. The trout are healthy, have distended stomachs, and fight hard. We catch a total of 18 trout, most between 14” and 16″, before the day is over. We keep two smaller brookies for the evening meal. This is definitely high-quality fishing!

 

The results: I caught 8 brook trout ranging in size from 14” to 16” in 10.5 hours of fishing.

 

Was the information in this blog useful? I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions by posting a comment. Also, feel free to tell us about your experiences fishing for brook trout on Churchill Lake.

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Landlocked salmon fishing on Peabody Pond, Sebago, Maine (April 15, 2012)

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Joel and I arrive at Peabody Pond (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B4) at 7:30 this morning to fish for landlocked Atlantic salmon. This 735-acre jewel of a lake (maximum depth = 64 ft) in the town of Sebago is located off Route 107 and is accessed via Peabody Pond Road. The launch ramp is concrete. Plenty of parking is available. Even though Peabody Pond is heavily developed on its western and northern shorelines, it gives the impression of a “remote” lake due to the looming presence of Bald Pate Mountain in the background. It is definitely a pretty setting. The lake is also known to produce high-quality landlocks because it supports a healthy population of rainbow smelt which allows the salmon to grow fast, big, and fat. The fact that the pond is closed to ice fishing also protects the salmon population from excessive fishing pressure in the winter. I landed a five pounder here in 2011 and know of a 6.5 pounder and a 8.0 pounder caught the year before… But I also know from experience that these fish require a lot of work to be caught!

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