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.
View of the woods along the northern shoreline of Bartlett Pond
Bartlett Pond covers 30 acres and reaches a maximum depth of 18 ft. The pond is the remnant of a much larger body of water which has been slowly filling in over the ages by a quaking bog. The setting is quite beautiful, tranquil, and serene. The southern and eastern shorelines are completely wooded and undisturbed. The edge of the marsh defines the northern and western shorelines, with the forest delineated in the background. The surface water is darkly colored. The bottom of the pond experiences a dissolved oxygen deficiency in the summer, which limits the fishing to the upper reaches of the water column. Patchy floating and emergent aquatic vegetation grows in the shallows around the rim of the pond.
View of the edge of the marsh lined with sparse aquatic vegetation in Bartlett Pond
I reach Bartlett Pond at 4 pm via the inlet and paddle across to fish the vegetation in the shadows along the forested shoreline using a “Texas-rigged” soft stickbait. I catch my first largemouth bass (13”) along a sunken tree trunk. I continue fishing the shoreline with my stickbait and a spinnerbait and catch two more largemouths (10” and 11”). I also miss half a dozen hits. The bass are small but the pond is a winner because of its sense of “remoteness” and its beauty. I will return at a later date to find the “big boys”!
The results: Three largemouth bass (largest = 13”) in one and a quarter hour of fishing.
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