Fishing for rainbow trout on Pennesseewassee Lake, Norway, Oxford County, Maine (April 25, 2020)

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The public boat launch has ample parking space

 

Pennesseewassee Lake (a.k.a. Norway Lake) is a 922-acre body of water located in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 D1). Public access is through a high-quality boat launch off Waterford Road. Coming in from Harrison, drive north on Route 117 all the way to the lake. Turn left at the stop sign on Waterford Road, go for 0.3 miles, and then turn right at the boat launch sign. An aggressive annual stocking program has turned this pretty lake into an easily-accessible regional rainbow trout fishery powerhouse, with secondary fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon and brook trout. The lake is moderately developed and consists of a larger lower basin and a smaller upper basin, separated by several islands. During open-water fishing, most people tend to focus their efforts on the lower basin because of its closeness to the boat launch. One negative about this general area is that the constant traffic on Lake Road (i.e., Routes 117/118) is visible and audible from the water. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. Maine’s general fishing laws for the South Zone apply during spring open-water fishing.

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Fishing for splake on Trickey Pond, Naples, Maine (April 24, 2020)

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Trickey Pond has a nice hard-top boat launch

 

Trickey Pond is a 311-acre body of water located in Naples, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B5). Public access is through a high-quality boat launch located right off Route 114 at the southern end of the pond. Ample parking is available. The pond and I are old acquaintances. I have ice fished it multiple times over the last 25 years (click here and here for recent examples) on account of its high-quality salmon, splake, and smallmouth bass fishery. In fact, I have caught my largest landlocked salmon (5.5 pounds) and splake (4.5 pounds) through the ice out of this pond. However, beware that even though the quality of the fish is high, the quantity is extremely low… One definitely has to put in the time to decipher this little gem and earn the right to land a fish.

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Fishing for brown trout and brook trout on Middle Range Pond, Poland, Maine (April 23, 2020)

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The passageway underneath Range Hill Road. Middle Range Pond is visible in the background.

 

Middle Range Pond is a 366-acre body of water located in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A3). This pond is the second of the three interconnected Range Pond chain-of-lakes (i.e., upper, middle, and lower). The middle and upper ponds actually share a public boat launch which is located off Range Hill Road, at the downstream end of upper pond. A narrow passage underneath this road allows boats to access middle pond. Plenty of parking is available at the launch site. Note that the stretch of water between this passageway and Middle Range Pond extends for about a third of a mile, is really shallow (1-2 ft deep), and overgrown with aquatic vegetation later on in the season. It is actually a great spot for catching largemouth bass in May and June, but that is not why I’m here for today.

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Fishing for rainbow trout on Silver Lake in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (April 18, 2020)

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Silver Lake (a.k.a. Figure Eight Pond) is a 29-acre two-lobed body of water located in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 B5). Click here for directions on how to reach this location. I note for the record that both Baxter Drive and Community Drive have a panel nailed to a tree along the side of the road stating “dead end”. Just pass those signs and keep on going until you reach the pond.

 

View of the rough boat launch with the southern lobe in the background

 

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