Follow this sign on Main Street to reach the boat launch.

My target today is the stretch of the Kennebec River flowing through Fairfield in Somerset County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 76 A3). This location is new to me, so I do not know what to expect. I “flew” over the area using Google Maps in preparation for this trip. The section below the boat launch seems to consist largely of a reservoir created by the dam located two miles further downstream. My initial interest is to fish below that dam because such a location typically provide good bass-holding habitat (click here, here, and here for examples) but neither the Gazetteer nor Google Maps show a way to put a boat in at or near that spot. Instead, viewed from above on Google Maps, I find what looks like promising fishing grounds between the Bridge Street bridge just above the Fairfield boat launch and the railroad bridge about a quarter mile further upstream. Access to this portion of the river is via a large hard-top boat launch located off Mill Street/Water Street in downtown Fairfield, across from the police station. The launch is part of a municipal park. It offers dozens of parking spaces, but – for some strange reason – not for vehicles with trailers (fundamental design flow!).

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