View of Bennett Pond from the outlet.
Bennett Pond is a 36-acre body of water located in Parkman, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 31 C4). To reach this location from Parkman, drive south on Route 150, turn left on Crow Hill Road and drive on it for 0.3 miles, then turn right on Bennett Pond Road. The pond will appear on the left after 0.9 miles. The public access point is by the outlet next to the road. Only hand-carried craft can be launched from this location. Several vehicles can be parked by the launch site.
It took some work to find you!
Bennett Pond is a small, well-developed body of water. Yet, none of the houses and cabins strung along its shoreline are visible from the water because they are hidden by a largely intact riparian buffer zone. This is unusual and provides a nice feeling of remoteness, except for the presence of multiple docks. The pond provides no specific vistas or views of the surrounding region. I used my special approach to identify this place as a target for catching trout in the summer. A key parameter is to identify the depth of the thermocline and to determine its oxygen status. Unfortunately, the Lakes of Maine website provides no historic water quality data for this pond. The only available information to gauge how deep to place my lures is provided in the lake survey information for this pond which states “There is an oxygen deficiency below 20 feet, but the area of cold water above the 20-foot level is quite sufficient to maintain a good trout population”. This information is encouraging, except that it comes from a survey performed in 1957, i.e., almost seven decades ago… It also remains silent about the depth of the thermocline itself. But that will have to do since it is all I have to go by. The pond is stocked each spring with about ten small brook trout per acre. Fishing occurs under the North Zone rules, except that the pond is closed to ice fishing, which means that the stocked trout have a better chance to survive year-over-year and grow to a larger size. Also, the daily bag limit for brook trout at this location is two fish, which limits the “take” by each angler. Click here for additional rules applicable to this location. The pond has a mean and maximum depth of 17 ft. and 44 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and additional (dated) fisheries information. I printed out the map before leaving home, and drew a line representing the 30+ ft. depth contour which is the minimum depth I need to stay over when fishing this evening. This simple trick avoids getting the lures stuck on the bottom or wasting time looking for the correct depth once on the water. It goes without saying that this kind of depth-sensitive fishing requires using a depth finder.
Its smaller sibling was caught a short time later.
I reach Bennett Pond at 5:45 pm. I will be fishing the last two evening hours before it gets dark around 8:15 pm. The air is hot and humid, and the sky is cloudless. Fortunately, an occasional light breeze cools things down a bit. I am fishing only with lead core line since I am trolling from my canoe and need both hands to paddle. I use three diminutive, smelt-imitating Mooselook Wobbler spoons tied to each other back-to-back. Rainbow smelt are not reported to be present in this pond, but neither are any other bait fish species, so I have nothing to lose. I paddle out to my target depth on the other end of the pond, lower the lures three colors (about 15-17 ft. below the surface) down, and place the fly rod between my legs. I stay over water 30+ ft. deep and slowly lower the lures down to 20 ft. deep looking for a strike around the thermocline. I have paddled around and around for an hour but have absolutely nothing to show for all my efforts.
This diminutive trout lure was the winner this evening and has worked well for me on brookies in the past.
I need to change my approach if I do not want to leave skunked… I replace the wobblers with three other small trout spoons. I place the new lures 15-17 ft. down but stay over water only about 25 ft. deep, i.e., more on the outside edges of the deeper hole, just to try something different. I get a hit and hookup less than 15 minutes later. Yes, Virginia, there is life down there after all! It shows the importance of swapping out lures when the ones that were successful before are not working now. I fight a feisty fish which turns out to be a 13-inch brookie. So, the change in tactic bore fruit. I continue trolling with the same spoons and over the same depth and get another hit and hookup 10 minutes later. Great! This brookie is a smaller version of the previous one. The sun has set, and darkness begins to engulf Bennett Pond. I continue paddling for another 30 minutes, hoping for a third brookie. But none appears. My fishing trip comes to an end, but I am pleased to have caught two target fish. I note for the record that the shoreline contains dozens of fallen trees partially submerged in the water that would provide great hiding places for brook trout in the spring when they feed in shallow and cooler water.
The results: I caught two brook trout (largest is 13 inches) in 2 hours of peaceful paddling.
Was the information in this blog useful? I invite you to share your thoughts and opinions. Also, feel free to discuss your fishing experiences at this location.
Tight Lines, y’all.
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