Garland Pond is a 28-acre body of water located in Sebec and Dover Foxcroft, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 32 B2). To reach this pond, drive on Milo Road (Routes 6 and 16), turn on Parsons Landing Road towards Sebec Lake, and look for Garland Pond Road on the right. That road provides access to the southern shore of the pond but is private. Instead, the public access point (which is not shown on The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer) is found at the end of an unnamed dirt road that begins just 15 ft. passed Garland Pond Road and goes towards the western end of the pond. Plenty of parking is available by the launch.
View of Garland Pond from the public access point. Note that motor boats are not allowed on this water body.
Garland Pond is a well-developed body of water with about two dozen camps and houses strung along its wooded shoreline. The pond provides no particular 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. The available temperature and oxygen data for this pond published by Lakes of Maine for early August show that the thermocline is found 12 to 15 ft. deep, which is extremely shallow. A severe oxygen deficiency occurs in water deeper than 16 ft., which forces all the local trout to reside within the thermocline during the summer months where the temperature is in the high 50’s and oxygen levels are adequate. Several additional features attract me to this place. Fishing occurs under the North Zone rules, except that the pond is closed to ice fishing, and boats with internal combustion engines are prohibited. In addition, the pond is stocked each spring with 630 10-inch brookies (for a density of about 23 brookies per acre; i.e., 630 fish/28 acres) and each fall with 100 7-inch splake (for a density of about 4 splake per acre). These stocking densities are quite attractive, and the lack of ice fishing ensures that some of these fish will live longer and can grow year-over-year. Also, this pond has got to be the smallest one containing splake that I have ever fished… The pond has a mean and maximum depth of 11 ft. and 38 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and additional (dated) fisheries information. I printed out the map, and drew a line representing the 25+ ft. depth contour which represents the minimum depth I need to stay over when fishing this evening. This simple trick avoids getting the lures stuck on the bottom and wasting time looking for the correct depth. It goes without saying that this kind of depth-sensitive fishing requires the use of a depth finder.
The resident loon couple comes by for a look-see.
I reach the public access point to Garland Pond at 5:15 pm. It’s hot and humid this evening, with a partially cloudy sky. The sun is setting at around 7:45 pm, which gives me 2.5 to 3 hours of fishing time to make something happen. I only use lead core line since I am trolling from my canoe and need both hands to paddle. I use three small trout spoons attached back-to-back and lower them two and a half colors (about 12 to 14 ft. below the surface) down. I place the fly rod between my legs and start paddling. I am excited about the catch possibilities given what I know about this pond. But, of course, the fish down below have their own ideas… Because of its diminutive size, paddling around the pond over 25+ ft. of water takes less than 10 minutes. I go around multiple times but elicit no interest. I get a tentative hit after paddling for close to one hour. Finally, but this is not really working out for me. I swap out the three small trout lures for three other small ones. I cannot stress enough the need to change lures if the current set fails to do its job.
This little brookie is all that I was able to coax out of Garland Pond this evening…
I have been paddling for less than 5 minutes with the new lures when I get a hard hit and a hook up. Wow, that was quick! This trout is substantial and gives a hard fight. I get the fish close to the boat, but it dives back down, ripping much line off my reel. Nice going! I bring the trout back to the surface, where it makes two rolls, unhooks, and disappears. You have GOT to be freakin’ kidding me!! I am dejected because that was a nice fish. One would think that other trout down there are lining up to be caught on those same lures but that is not the way it works. I paddle around for another hour without seeing any action. Fortunately, the local fish gods look kindly on all my efforts because I finally hook and catch a little brookie. I am hoping for more action as the sun sets behind the trees, but will have to be content with that one fish. I have been paddling around and around and around for close to 3 hours. My butt hurts and it is time to call it good. Garland Pond did not produce as I had hoped, but at least I did not get skunked.
The results: I caught one brook trout (11 inches) in 3 hours of slooow fishing.
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Tight Lines, y’all.
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