Long Pond covers 897 acres and is located in Acadia National Park, just north of Southwest Harbor, on Mount Desert Island (MDI) in Hancock County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 16 C2). This body of water is surrounded by Acadia National Park on its entire western side, and along the lower third on its eastern side. I access the pond via the public boat launch at the end of Long Pond Road at the southern tip of the pond. Even though this launch falls within the boundary of the Park, I do not see any signs which explicitly state that vehicles require a Park-issued pass to enter or to park a vehicle. I’m not worried because I have the pass. However, it might be prudent to first inquire with the Park authorities, just to make sure. The pass can be purchased on-line or at the Park’s visitor center on MDI, if needed. I also note that a second public boat launch is located at the northern tip of this pond right off Route 102 (Pretty Marsh Road; see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 16 B2) which falls outside of the Park boundaries and therefore would not require a pass.
Sunset view of Long Pond from the boat launch at the southern tip of the lake.
The view of this glacial lake from the southern end is simply gorgeous because it extends unimpeded for four long and straight miles in a northwestern direction. It gives the false impression that Long Pond is immense which it really isn’t because the southern half of the lake is actually quite narrow. That area is also spectacularly framed by towering Bernard Mountain, Mansell Mountain, and Western Mountain along the western shoreline, and Beech Mountain along the eastern shoreline. As at Jordan Pond on MDI, the water depth in this scenic section of the lake plunges precipitously to 50+ feet within spitting distance of either shore. The boat launch is sandy, unimproved, and rather shallow. Because I don’t have a four-wheel drive vehicle (and I don’t want to get stuck!!), I can only put my trailer so far into the water and have to pull my boat off the trailer manually. Good thing I brought my hip boots! Plenty of parking space is available by the launch. General fishing law applies on this waterbody except for the following: (a) no size or bag limit on bass, (b) all landlocked salmon measuring between 17” and 20” have to be released at once, and (c) the daily bag limit on landlocked salmon is 2 fish, only one of which may exceed 20”. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
I arrive at the southern end of Long Pond at 6 pm and have about 1.5 hours to make something happen this evening. My plan is to troll the narrow southern end of the lake for landlocked salmon using two rods. The first rod fishes “passively” right below the surface of the water using three spoons tied to each other in tandem, with the line weighed down using a couple of large splitshots. The second rod has lead core line to which are attached three of my all-time favorite salmon streamer flies, namely the Grey Ghost, the Governor Aiken, and the Winnipesaukee smelt imitator. I fish those flies “actively” two colors down by constantly ripping the line, causing the flies to move forward erratically. Over the years, I have learned that this method is quite effective at attracting salmonid strikes. I depart the boat launch and quickly notice that I’m fishing in a natural “wind tunnel”! The wind is blowing in hard from the southeast and is funneled straight down the lake by the surrounding mountains, which makes for a choppy ride. The surface water is a still chilly 50ºF.
This beauty was caught in 10 ft of water trolling with three streamer flies placed 5 ft below the surface
I troll along both shorelines of Long Pond for about one hour without eliciting a single strike. Mmm, I have to change my game plan and quick because I’m running out of time… I eliminate the rod with the surface spoons and move right into shore to troll using the streamer flies placed one color down in less than 10 ft of water. I have used this approach successfully before in order to catch brook trout which like to hide in bouldery shallows, particularly in the evening with a setting sun. And the tactic works! I get a fierce hit (note: all hits are always hard when “ripping” streamer flies on lead core line!) within 10 minutes which yields a beautiful 15” brook trout. It gets photographed and released. I’m all excited now but only have 20 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, that one is the only fish I’m catching this evening. But that’s quite alright by me because I’m not leaving skunked.
The results: I landed one 15” brook trout in 1.5 hours of trolling.
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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ><« ({(« º >