View of the sandy boat launch. The picture does not do justice to the wind howling down the length of the pond.
Biscay Pond is a 377-acre body of water located in Bremen, Lincoln County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 7 A4). To reach this location, drive on Route 1 into downtown Damariscotta, turn onto Biscay Road (by the McDonald’s restaurant), and drive down that road for about 2.5 miles. The pond will appear on your right. The boat launch is sandy and unimproved, but can accommodate large trailered boats. The biggest challenge with this launch is its shallowness, which requires backing your vehicle quite a way into the water before the boat will float. I’m very glad I brought my Jeep and hip boots! Ample parking is available along Biscay Road.
The put-in is located in a quiet side channel. Note the surrounding “sand dunes” created by erosion.
I want to try my luck this morning fishing for smallmouth bass on the Saco River in front of the hydroelectric station located by the Hiram Falls dam in Hiram, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 C3). To access this location, drive into downtown Hiram on Routes 5/1134/117 (Pequawket Trail) and cross the bridge over the river. Make an immediate left on River Road and drive down that road for 2.3 miles (note: the power station will be visible to your left after 2.0 miles). Look for an unnamed dirt road on the left that leads to a spacious dirt parking area. The river is about 400 ft down a path through the woods on the right. Only hand-carried craft can be launched from this location.
View of the boat launch on the Kennebec River in downtown Waterville with the Lockwood Dam turbine house in the background.
My goal this morning is to catch smallmouth bass on the Kennebec River in the shadow of Lockwood Dam in downtown Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 76 C2). This long but low dam is located about 0.5 miles above the confluence with the Sebasticook River and is the most downstream hydroelectric structure on the Kennebec River. It is also an area I tried, but failed, to reach with my motor boat earlier this summer. To access this spot, drive to 10 Water Street in Waterville (look for the white “Hathaway Creative Center” sign). Turn into the large paved parking lot, drive all the way to the back, and look for the boat launch sign on the right. Beware that only canoes and kayaks can be launched from this location because the access point is blocked by large boulders.
The blue boat launch sign in front of Shawmut dam. The open yellow gate is visible in the background to the right.
I want to check out the smallmouth bass fishing on the Kennebec River in the shadow of the Shawmut Dam located in Fairfield, Somerset County, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 21 D3). To reach this spot, drive north out of Fairfield on Route 201 (Skowhegan Road) and turn right on Kennebec Street in Shawmut. Drive all the way down towards the dam and power station located across the railroad tracks. A blue boat-launch sign will direct you to the right through an open yellow gate towards the water. Only canoes and kayaks can be launched from this location due to the shallow water and strong current.
View of the edge of the mowed field with the Sebasticook River flowing below in the background.
As I continue searching for spots to catch river smallmouth bass this summer, I identify a promising target just below the Benton Falls hydroelectric dam on the Sebasticook River next to Route 100A (Clinton Avenue) in Benton, located about five miles upstream of the Waterville/Winslow metro area (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 21 E3). The dam, which is visible from Route 100A, is located about 1,000 ft downstream of the Sebasticook Bridge Road (Route 139) which crosses the river at that point. My target location for this morning cannot be accessed from the dam itself because that whole area is fenced and posted as “Private Property” and “No Trespassing”.
The entrance to the municipal park on Front Street is clearly marked.
My goal today is to check out the smallmouth bass fishing on the Kennebec River at the dam located upstream of the Ticonic Falls Dam in Waterville, Kennebec County, Maine (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 76 [Waterville/Winslow] B2). This spot can only be accessed by putting in a hand-carried craft at the foot of the “Two-Cent Footbridge” (also known as the Ticonic Footbridge) located at the Head of Falls municipal park on Front Street in downtown Waterville. The dam I want to check out is about three quarters of a mile further upstream.
The public boat launch on the Kennebec River downstream of Skowhegan is located off Route 2 right next to the Kennebec Banks Rest Area
I continue my investigation of the smallmouth bass fishery on the Kennebec River (click here, here, here, and here for other locations) by targeting the area below the two hydroelectric power dams that girdle the island located in the middle of the river in downtown Skowhegan, Somerset County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 80 B1 [Skowhegan]). An overview of the general area via Google Maps prior to my departure indicates that the river between these two dams and the Great Eddy located about 1 mile further downstream has several swift sections which look to be too shallow for use with a motor boat. So, I’ll bring my canoe instead. A more focused look via Google Maps of the river flowing right below the two dams shows what appear to be flat rocky ledges along both shorelines, some of which look accessible from the river-facing section of Water Street (i.e., Patten Court).
View of the Route 137 bridge over the Kennebec River from the “little gold mine”…
For today’s smallmouth bass fishing trip, I target the most downstream of the many hydropower dams on the Kennebec River based on the pattern I developed in previous years on the Androscoggin River (click here, here, and here for examples). This dam is located at the Ticonic Falls in downtown Waterville, just upstream of the confluence with the Sebasticook River (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 76 [Waterville/Winslow] C2). As an important aside, I use two independent sources to pinpoint these types of fishing spots: (a) the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer which shows, among a multitude of different kinds of information, the location of all the public boat launches in the state and (b) Google Maps which allows me to “fly” over the landscape and identify dams or other interesting features well before I set foot on my boat.
The water in the raceway flowing out of the power station on the left is quite powerful. Note that no water overflows the dam present in the background.
I have a couple of hours this afternoon to put my nephew Christian on smallmouth bass. He’s visiting from “away” and hasn’t touched a fishing rod for over two years. I decide to hit the Androscoggin River in front of the Otis hydropower station in Livermore, Androscoggin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 A5). I’ve had luck at this location in the past. Click here and here for earlier blogs on this spot and for directions on how to reach it. Keep in mind that you’ll need a canoe or kayak because a hard-top public boat launch is not available on this section of the river.
The railroad tracks (upper left) run on top of the embankment which plunges into the Saco River.
I spend the long July the 4th weekend camping with family members at the Glen Ellis Family Campground located right off Route 302 in Glen, NH (see the New Hampshire Atlas and Gazetteer map 45 G9). This well-maintained and well-organized campground sits at the confluence of the Ellis River with the much larger Saco River. I brought my ultralight spinning rod and my flyfishing rod in the hope of catching some trout, although I still have to figure out a good fishing spot close to camp. That location becomes obvious when we rent tubes from the campground to float the Saco River from our camp site all the way to North Conway (the trip takes up to 5 hours, covers about 8 miles, and requires a “return” car). The Conway Scenic Railroad tracks run right along the river bank just downstream of where the Ellis River flows into the Saco River. I suspect, as I look down into the water column when floating by on my tube, that the river along that bank holds trout because it is quite deep (I’m guessing 8+ ft in some spots) and filled with large boulders. The best part is that this choicy spot is an easy 10-minute walk from the campground. From the fresh, but not too cold, feel of the water during our tubing adventure, I’m guessing that the water temperature is in the high 60’s. I note for the record that the Conway Scenic Railroad is a local tourist attraction. Hence, the train only operates during the day and moves at a snail’s pace. It is therefore safe to fish from that embankment.
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