Category Archives: Salmon and Trout

Fishing for brook trout and brown trout on the Pleasant River in Windham, Cumberland County, Maine (June 1, 2024)

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The first brookie of the afternoon.

 

The Pleasant River is a relatively short stream which originates in Gray and merges with the Presumpscot River near South Windham. The stretch I am targeting this afternoon flows upstream from the bridge on Windham Center Road in Windham (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 D2). Other good fishing areas flow between Windham Center Road and the Pope Road bridge (behind the Windham high school), and the stretch downstream from Pope Road. It and I are ancient friends as I have been visiting these waters on and off for over 25 years. It is remarkable how few people have discovered this place, given its central location close to several large population centers in southern Maine. I do not remember ever bumping into more than 3 or 4 people during any one outing. In fact, I see no one else during today’s trip even though it is a gorgeous Saturday afternoon in late spring, which is prime time for trout fishing!

 

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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon and brook trout in Pierce Pond, Pierce Pond Township, Somerset County, Maine (May 27 and 28, 2024)

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Six of us are on our annual extended Memorial Day weekend fishing pilgrimage to Pierce Pond, located at the end of a long dirt road off the grid in Somerset County, just east of Flagstaff Lake (see the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 30 A2). We are staying for four days in one of the cozy cabins at Cobb’s Camps located across from Lindsey Cove. I love staying at Cobb’s because of the camaraderie among the guests who have been gathering at this place for decades, the honest home-cooked food, the super-friendly staff, and the authentic “sports camp” atmosphere from a bygone era. Also, the lack of electronic connection to the outside world forces everyone to unplug, slow down, and focus entirely on the business at hand, which is to catch salmonids.

 

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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon on Panther Pond in Raymond, Cumberland County, Maine (May 19, 2024)

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The boat launch by the dam at Mill Street is unimproved and parking by the road is limited

 

Panther Pond is a 1,439-acre body of water located in Raymond, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 B2). This lake can be reached by boat via two public access points: one is located at the dam by the outlet on Mill Street; the second is represented by the public launch on Crescent Lake but requires navigating for about 15-20 minutes through the shallow and meandering Tenney River. I choose the former this morning. Keep in mind that the Mill Street access point will be closed between June 1 and September 2024 due to dam renovation work. Also, that boat launch is unimproved and offers only limited parking space for vehicle with trailers along the shoulder of Mill Street.

 

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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon on Pocumcus Lake in Sakom Township, Washington County, Maine (April 28, 2024)

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Click here for the previous day’s fishing story.

 

 

Wakey-wakey! It is time to go fish hunting!

 

Salvy and I crawl out of our cozy sleeping bags at 4:45 am, dress up warmly, and get ready to troll the Golden Hour to try to emulate the angling success from yesterday morning. Over the next three hours, we fish the Narrows (i.e., the deep channel that connects West Grand Lake to Junior Bay), the deeper eastern half of Junior Bay, and Pocumcus Lake. We come up woefully short, with only one hit to show for all our early-morning efforts…

 

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Fishing for lake trout and landlocked Atlantic salmon on Pocumcus Lake in Sakom Township, Washington County, Maine (April 26 and 27, 2024)

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Sitting by the boat launch on Bottle Lake and studying the map to find our way to the camp site on Junior Bay

 

Pocumcus Lake is a 2,201-acre body of water located in Sakom Township, Washington County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 35 B2). It is part of the enormous hydraulically interconnected system that includes West Grand Lake, Scraggly Lake, Junior Lake, Junior Bay, and Sysladobsis Lake. We access this waterway via the public boat launch on Bottle Lake in Lakeville (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 35 A1), which links to Junior Lake via Bottle Lake Stream. For the record, Bottle Lake Road, which connects Route 6 in Springfield with the boat launch, is paved all the way and is therefore readily accessible even during mud season in late April. My son Joel, nephew Salvy, and I reach Bottle Lake in mid-morning. We overload our boats with all our camping and fishing gear and slowly navigate for one hour and 45 minutes to an unmarked camp site located at the tip of the peninsula that separates Junior Bay from Junior Stream. That will be our base camp for the next four day. We are here to experience the tremendous landlocked salmon and lake trout fishery that is awakening from its long winter slumber following ice out. One nice perk of camping in late April is the total lack of the dreaded hordes of mosquitos and blackflies. On the other hand, early spring can still be quite chilly in these parts of Maine.

 

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Lead core line: a highly-efficient way to troll!

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My blog readers know that I spend a LOT of time trolling in the winter, spring, summer, and fall. This technique can be a bit boring but is a great way to target salmonids (click here and here for examples) and non-salmonids (click here and here for examples) by probing large areas of their habitat using multiple lures. I deploy two distinct sets of “tools” to support my trolling habits: lead core line and a portable downrigger. This blog discusses the former, and more specifically the setup that I have used for years, and which has worked well for me. For the record, I also troll for smallmouth bass using floating Rapalas, but that approach is fundamentally different from placing lures at depth and is therefore not discussed further.

 

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The portable downrigger: an efficient way to troll

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My blog readers know that I spend a LOT of time trolling in the winter, spring, summer, and fall. This technique can be a bit boring but is a highly-efficient way to target salmonids (click here and here for examples) and non-salmonids (click here and here for examples) by probing large areas of their habitat using multiple lures. I deploy two different sets of “tools” to support my trolling addiction: lead core line and a portable downrigger. This blog discusses the latter, and more specifically the setup that I have used for years, and which has worked well for me. For the record, I also troll using floating Rapalas, but that approach is fundamentally different from placing lures at depth and is therefore not discussed further.

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Fishing for landlocked Atlantic salmon on Pleasant Lake, Casco, Cumberland County, Maine (March 19, 2024)

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View of Pleasant Lake from the boat launch

 

Pleasant Lake is a 1,332-acre body of water found in Casco, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A1). Access is super easy: drive through the center of Casco on Route 121 and turn unto Mayberry Hill Road. The hard-top public boat launch is located a few hundred feet down that road on your left at the very southern tip of the lake. A large dirt parking area is situated right across from the launch.

 

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Ice fishing for splake on Mount Blue Pond in Avon, Franklin County, Maine (February 25, 2024)

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Mount Blue Pond is a 134-acre body of water located in Avon, Franklin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 19 B3). From Route 4 (Rangeley Road), turn on Mount Blue Pond Road and drive for 2.3 miles all the way to the public access point. The first half of this road is paved, whereas the remainder is a high-quality dirt road. From the looks of it, it appears that the entire road is plowed during the winter months up to the public access point, but no further. Plenty of parking space is available along the road shoulder by the access.

 

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Ice fishing for brook trout and lake trout on Porter Lake in Strong, Franklin County, Maine (February 4, 2024)

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Porter Lake is a 527-acre body of water located in Strong, Franklin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 20 B1). From Norton Hill Road (Route 234), turn on Pond Road and drive for 1.1 miles before turning right on Beanies Beach Road by the blue public access sign. Stay on this gravel road for 0.5 miles all the way to the end by the boat launch which is also known as Bean’s Beach (note: do not turn right on West Shore Lane at the split). The public access is spacious and offers parking for up to two dozen vehicles.

 

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