The trail into Foss & Knowlton Pond is pleasant and (mostly) smooth.
Foss & Knowlton Pond covers 41 acres and is located in southern-most Baxter State Park (BSP), Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 50 D4). This remote pond is accessed via a 2.3-mile forest trail that starts at the Daicey Pond parking lot. Given the notorious rough trail standards at BSP, this path is remarkably smooth and a real pleasure to walk on! Keep in mind that the only way to fish this pond is from a canoe. The ranger on duty at either Dacey Pond or Kidney Pond is available to provide keys each evening between 8 and 9 pm so anglers can unlock one of the BSP canoes stored at each of the surrounding ponds the next day. The cost of the rental is $1/hour, which is the best deal in town! Payment is based on the honor system, which I love. Bring lots of one dollar bills with you to pay for the rental. Just make sure to be at the ranger’s office at 8 pm on the dot to guarantee that you get the canoe for your target pond before it goes to someone else (the rangers radio each other as soon as they give out a key…). Also, do not forget to bring your swimming vest and paddle, or pick them up from the storage bins at Dacey or Kidney Ponds.
This first (tiny) brookie tells us that we are fishing in the right area of the pond.
Foss & Knowlton Pond is one of a dozen-and-a-half native (i.e., never stocked) brook trout ponds in this area of BSP, and is included on Maine’s Heritage Fish Waters list. It means that every brookie living in that habitat was born and raised there, instead of in a hatchery. I love catching those kinds of creatures! The shoreline is dotted with large boulders, the surrounding landscape is fully forested, and the views of Mount Katahdin from the water are spectacular. The fishing rules are strict to protect this precious resource, as follows: a) closed to ice fishing, b) fly fishing only (by definition, that rule excludes trolling), c) a daily bag limit of five trout, d) only one keeper trout may exceed 14 inches, and e) no fishing after September 30. The one-trout-over-14-inches rule shows that this fishery is managed to yield larger brookies. Click here for additional angling rules. The pond has a mean and maximum depth of 10 ft. and 22 ft., respectively, making it relatively shallow. Click here for a depth map and (dated) fisheries information.
Antony joins the action.
My 15-year-old grandson Antony and I reach the canoe stored by the shoreline of Foss & Knowlton Pond at 2:30 pm. The weather is nice: partly cloudy, air temp of 76°F, but very breezy. Our goal is to catch trout on the surface using dry flies. We set ourselves up to fish that way, but soon realize that this approach will not work this afternoon: we have nowhere to hide from the stiff northwest wind, no flies are hatching, we see no rises, and the surface water temperature is 74°F. The latter dooms our approach because that is just too warm for brookies to consistently feed on the surface. Dang, we need to do something else, or we will return skunked. Fortunately, we came prepared, just in case. We each brought a second fly rod with sinking tip so we can present wet flies at depth. I use a leech pattern, and Antony selects a greenish wooly bugger. The new approach is to anchor the canoe at the deepest spot in the middle of the pond (see the depth map), cast out our lines, count to 30 to let the tips and their wet flies sink 10-15 ft. down, and then slowly bring in the lines so our wet flies gradually swim up through the water column towards the canoe.
And the brookies keep on biting.
We have been casting and retrieving for over 30 minutes and neither one has gotten one nibble. Meanwhile, the strong wind has slowly pushed the anchored canoe towards the southeastern corner of Foss & Knowlton Pond. We are over about 15 ft. of water when I suddenly get a hit and a hookup. Finally! I fight a small brookie and Antony expertly nets the creature. It is nothing to brag about but at least we know now that the brookies are down there and doing their thing. We are on to something at this new location because 20 minutes later Antony gets a hit and hook up. We each get additional nibbles which keeps us motivated. Both of us have several more hits and bring an extra fish in the boat each. We have been casting for close to 3 hours now and the bite has slowed down. We need to return to shore to start our 1.5-hour hike back. This afternoon was fun because we found a pattern that worked, caught several native brookies (although none of the 14+ inch fish…), and enjoyed each other’s company and the great outdoors in a magnificent setting. Life is wonderful indeed!
These two wet flies made our afternoon: the wooly bugger and a leech imitator
The results: Each of us caught two small brook trout (largest = 13 inches) in 3 hours of fun fishing.
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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