I find brookies about 150 ft to the left of the boat launch

Keoka Lake is a 467-acre body of water located in Waterford, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 D4). A cement boat launch is located on Route 35 on the western side of the lake. Parking is available on the road shoulder by the launch. One alternative is to park your vehicle in front of the Waterford Historical Society building located next to the boat launch. I see no signs forbidding this practice, but do not know if it is frowned upon.

I move close to shore when fighting a fish to prevent spooking any other trout in the vicinity

Keoka Lake is lightly developed, with most of the houses and seasonal camps found along the western shoreline. The surrounding countryside is deeply forested, with Mount Tire’m just to the west overlooking the pretty scenery. The lake supports a salmonid fishery composed of two species, namely landlocked Atlantic salmon and brook trout. The State stocked 600 13-inch brook trout earlier this fall. Those fish are the focus of my attention this morning. Fall fishing on Keoka Lake occurs under the general fishing laws applicable to the South Zone, except that the lake is open to fishing from October 1 to December 31 using artificial lures only and with the stipulation that all salmonids must be released alive at once. This body of water has an average and maximum depth of 25 ft. and 42 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.

And they keep on coming!

I arrive at the Keoka Lake boat launch at 8 am. I am greeted by a friendly municipal worker who apologizes for the noises that his colleague and him will be making while pulling out the dock. I am in my waders, fully dressed up against the cold water. The weather is totally to my liking: mostly overcast, with an air temperature of 47°F and essentially wind still. I enter the water and am pleasantly surprised by the substrate conditions: the sediment is sandy and firm without any obstructions or vegetation, and gently slopes down into deeper water. These are ideal wading conditions, equivalent to what I have encountered on Burnt Meadow Pond and Keewaydin Lake. I fish with my usual setup: a short ultralight spinning rod with a small spinning reel spooled with 6-pound test monofilament line, and a #2 copper-colored Mepps spinner. That combination allows me to cast the lure way out and have a fun fight, even with smaller fish. I removed one of the three hooks from the treble and flattened the barb on one of the two remaining hooks to minimize harm to the fish.

The boat launch is hiding behind the leaves shown on the right of this picture

I spend 10 minutes casting about in front of Keoke Lake‘s boat launch but do not get a single hit. I am pondering my next move when I see a splashy rise about well to my left. Ahah, fish are hiding over there. I carefully wade my way to that area and start casting my spinner. I let the lure sink towards the bottom (one thousand one, one thousand two, …), quickly get the blade turning, and then slowly retrieve the spinner while constantly twitching the tip of the rod in order to cause the blade to flicker. I get a hit and a hook up on the second cast. Houston, we have connected! I am careful to wade back to shore to fight the fish and avoid spooking other trout that may be present in the vicinity. I land another five brookies over the next 20 minutes. This is just so much fun: I located my target species, the fish are hungry and biting, and I have not scared them off. Unfortunately, my time at Keoka Lake is up because I have to get back home to start my working day. I will end by saying that fall is the absolute best time to fish for trout in southern and central Maine. And yet, I am always surprised by how few people are out there enjoying the bounty. That suits me just fine

The colors are a great bonus when wader fishing in the fall!

The results: I caught six 12- to 14-inch brookies in 30 minutes of fast and furious fishing.

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