The access point can only accommodate hand-carried craft. The rock jutting out in the pond is a great place to fish from shore!
Lower Hadlock Pond covers 39 acres and is located in Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island (MDI) in Hancock County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 16 C3). Access is a couple of 100 ft. down Hadlock Pond Road off busy Route 3/198. Be aware that you will need a pass to legally park your vehicle anywhere inside the Park, including here. The pass can be purchased on-line or at the visitor center on MDI, among other places. The launch site can only accommodate hand-carried crafts, such as a canoe or kayak. Parking is along the road shoulder or a nearby small Park-managed gravel parking lot.
Lower Hadlock Pond is a pretty water body that sits in the shadow of Norumbega Mountain. The whole area is deeply forested and crisscrossed by hiking trails. The only development along the shoreline consists of two nearby houses painted in garish pink(!). A low, discrete granite dam by the outlet holds back the water that serves as the municipal drinking source for the nearby town of Northeast Harbor. Beware that swimming by humans or their pets is not allowed. Shore fishing is possible in various spots along the entire shoreline early in the season before the aquatic vegetation emerges and the water gets too warm for trout. The shoreline is accessible via a trail that loops around the entire pond. The easy access to the water and the surrounding trail network ensure that the area is quite active with hikers, anglers, and boaters.
Small, but at least it’s a brookie!
Lower Hadlock Pond is stocked each fall with about 700 brook trout, yielding a respectable 18 fish per acre. Those fish that escape the ice-fishing season are available for catching in the spring. The remaining survivors can then continue growing because the water column stratifies in the summer, allowing the trout to seek refuge in the deeper and colder central portion of the pond. As a result, this pond can produce larger brookies. The spring fishing regulations fall under the general fishing laws applicable to the South Region, except that motorboats over 10 HP are prohibited on the water. Click here for a depth map and additional fisheries details.
I arrive at the access point for Lower Hadlock Pond by 11 am and quickly ready myself to paddle off in my canoe. The weather is nice, with a partly cloudy sky and air temperatures in the mid 50’s. A steady breeze is blowing out of the southeast, but not strong enough to make angling life too miserable… I start trolling using lead-core line teamed up with an eight-weight fly fishing rod and reel placed between my crossed legs. I put two lures (2″ ACME Phoebe spoons, with one tied to the hook of the other by a 2-ft. section of monofilament) one color down, which places them about 5-6 ft. below the surface. I focus my trolling efforts along the rocky shoreline in water 10 ft. deep. I go around the entire pond twice but have nothing to show for my efforts after well over one hour of paddling. This approach is not working out…
I wish that you had a bit more heft…
I stop trolling upon reaching a pretty, wind-protected cove by the pond’s only inlet, and instead use my ultralight spinning rod and reel to see if I can scare anything up with my trusted #2 Mepps spinner. That approach works a bit better and yields two small brookies and two other missed fish over the next 30 minutes. I enjoy the quiet setting and would like to stay longer, but I have to move on to the next destination on my itinerary. The only disappointment this morning is that I did not connect with any of the larger trout that reside in Lower Hadlock Pond.
The results: I landed two 8″ brook trout in two hours of 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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