While driving on Loon Lake Road, turn left at this sign to reach the public access point.
Loon Lake is a 192-acre body of water located in Dallas Plantation, Franklin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 28 D5). To reach the public access point, drive on Routes 4 and 16 towards Rangeley, turn left on Loon Lake Road, and drive for 3.5 miles before turning left on the gravel road indicated by the blue public access sign. Note that this gravel road is gated (the gate was open). I suspect that the gate is closed during mud season in the spring. Drive on this well-maintained gravel road for 0.9 miles until you see the clearly marked foot path that gets you to the western end of the lake after an easy two-minute walk. Vehicles can be parked on the side of the road. Only hand-carried craft can be launched from this location.
The public access point to Loon Lake. Only unmotorized hand-carried craft are allowed on this water body.
Loon Lake is a beautiful destination! The eastern half is lightly developed, with the northern shoreline framed by Spotted Mountain. The whole region is deeply forested. To maintain the fishery, the state stocks the lake each fall with between 3000 and 3500 yearling brookies, and every second year with between 100 and 200 yearling landlocked Atlantic salmon. Angling at this location occurs under the general fishing laws applicable to the north zone, except that the lake is open to both open water fishing and ice fishing between January 1 and April 31, and is open to open water fishing between October 1 and November 30 using artificial lures only and with the stipulation that all salmonids caught must be released at once. Motorboats are not allowed on this water. A sign by the access point reminds anglers that the use of live fish as bait is prohibited, as is the case throughout much of the north zone. Click here for a depth map and more information on the fishery in this lake.
G is the winner with this 19-inch beauty!
My 14-year-old grandson Geovani (“G”) and I arrive at the Loon Lake public access point at 10:45 am and paddle off in my canoe about 30 minutes later. The surface water temperature is a cool 61°F and the air temperature is a pleasant 71°F. It is also essentially wind still. The atmosphere is choking with smoke from large forest fires raging in nearby Quebec. The haze is so thick that we are unable to discern any fall foliage on Spotted Mountain. What a pity… We decide to focus all our fishing efforts on brook trout and therefore stay in water less than 15-20 ft deep. We troll our way along the southern shoreline using two smelt-imitating one-hook streamer flies on a sinking tip (G) and two small 1- to 1.5-inch bronze spoons weighed down with three large split shots on my ultralight spinning rod (myself). We have not generated a single hit by the time we get to the eastern end of the lake. However, we have reached an area with good brook trout holding habitat, consisting of water 5 to 10 ft deep near the shore, large cobbles on the bottom, and with a dozen boulders poking their heads above the surface. I like the lay-out and tell G that we should let ourselves drift and fish this area using a bronze #2 Mepps spinner. Since we only have one ultralight spinning rod between the two of us, I let him start but with the understanding that the rod goes to the other person after 15 minutes, or when a fish is caught.
I come in second with this gorgeous creature. Notice the thick haze in the background.
G starts casting the spinner around. He declares 10 minutes later that he is stuck on the bottom. After about 5 seconds of trying to free up the lure by shaking the rod, he screams that he is not stuck but has hooked something big! The ultralight rod (with 6-pound test line) bends over violently. G is as excited as can be!! I tell him to loosen up the drag to let the fish run without snapping the line. He skillfully plays the creature which slowly emerges and circles the canoe. It is a huge brookie! A couple of anxious moments pass as I try to net the struggling fish while keeping the canoe stable. Wow, what a beast: it measures 19 inches and weighs a little over 3 pounds. It get’s photographed and released. G is in seventh heaven because this fish is the biggest brook trout he has ever caught. It is my time to get the ultralight and I start casting in the same general area. Within 10 minutes, I also hook a large fish, which turns out to be a brook trout measuring a very respectable 17.5 inches. The fish gives me a splendid fight. It too gets photographed and released. Holy smokes, this is unbelievable. We each catch another (smaller…) brook trout over the next 45 minutes drifting around the same general area and using the same spinner. I fly fish with dry flies when G spinner fishes, and vice versa, but the fish avoid the flies even though we see rises around us.
Sweet icing on the cake while trolling back towards the launch.
We are satisfied with the results and decide to troll back along the route we came in. The fish are cooperating because I catch two more brookies on the small spoons, with one of those fish measuring a respectable 15 inches. This fishing trip was very successful. Catching those two large trout definitely made our day! G remarks that he fished with me when he caught his first brook trout ever on a dry fly and now his largest brookie ever. And that is exactly the way granpee likes it!
The results: We caught six brook trout (largest = 19 inches) in 2.5 hours of fantastic 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.
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