Walk down next to the old railroad tracks until you reach this sign. Enter Otter Pond #2 right behind it.
Otter Pond #2 is a 12-acre body of water located in Standish, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 D1). To reach this location, drive down Route 35 (Chadborne Road) towards the southern tip of Sebago Lake. The parking area for the Otter Ponds is located just to the north of the Route 35 bridge that crosses over the unused railroad tracks. On the other side of that bridge is the even larger parking lot for the Johnson Field athletic grounds. After you park in the ponds parking lot, do not forget to fill out the short form provided at the little wooden kiosk, and leave a copy on your vehicle’s dashboard. It takes less than a minute to complete the requested information and provides a way for the Sebago Lake Land Preserve to keep track of day usage on their property. From the parking lot, make your way down towards the old railroad tracks, turn left, and walk for less than 10 minutes next to those tracks. Your target pond will be the last one on your right.
The first 100 ft or so along the shoreline to the right of this picture is where all the action is concentrated this morning.
Otter Pond #2 is a very old friend of mine. I have fished it for brook trout during fall and winter on and off for 20+ years. The surrounding land is wooded and undeveloped except for a picnic area and a few small cabins used as a summer camp. All the ponds on that property represent old gravel pits that were excavated eons ago and are filled up with crystal-clear groundwater. The place becomes a circus during the early ice-fishing season but is essentially abandoned by anglers each fall when the trout fishing is at its best! Otter Pond #2 was stocked earlier this fall with 600 9-inch brookies and 125 13-inch brookies, and then again with 15 20-inch brood stock brook trout. That represents an impressive 62 trout per acre! Fall fishing at this location occurs under the general fishing laws for the South Zone, except that the pond is open to angling between October 1 and November 30 using artificial lures only and with the stipulation that all brook trout must be immediately released back to the water. The pond has a mean and maximum depth of 11 ft. and 39 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
Yes!! The trout are at their post!
My purpose today is to check out a hunch I have had for several years about spawning brook trout in Otter Pond #2… During past ice fishing trips to this pond, I noticed that the northwestern corner by the railroad tracks rarely freezes over, even in the coldest of winters. That can only mean one thing, i.e., the water over there is kept relatively warmer by one or more active groundwater seeps, which would also attract the interest of spawning trout. I caught a ton of trout at this very location during a fishing trip in the fall of 2019. I want to see if that experience was just a fluke or indicative of a pattern.
It just never gets old to figure out the brookies in the fall and catch them “on demand”.
I arrive at the western shoreline of Otter Pond #2 at 9:15 am. I am the only one out and about. The weather is perfectly miserable: overcast and breezy with non-stop rain and an air temperature of 47°F. I am armed with my usual weapon of choice when fall fishing for trout in waders: an ultralight spinning rod, with a small spinning reel spooled with 6-pound monofilament, and a bronze #2 Mepps spinner. Light, efficient, and deadly… I also cut off the third hook of the treble and flatten the barb on one of the two remaining hooks to facilitate lure removal and minimize damage to the fish. I enter the water, wade along the shoreline for about 50 to 75 ft. and start casting my lure out. I let it sink all the way to the bottom, get the blade turning, and slowly retrieve the spinner while constantly twitching the tip of my rod to impart a fluttering action to the lure. I hook and land my first brookie by the fourth cast. I will be damned!! That fall 2019 experience at this spot was not a fluke. I am stoked and continue fan casting out into the pond. I catch another three trout over the next 30 minutes. The fish aren’t suicidal but they are definitely down there. Just to prove my theory, I move further along the shoreline constantly casting my lure out. The bite quickly stops but starts back up as soon as I return to that sweet spot. This is such a neat pattern. By the end of my time, I have landed seven brookies, missed several more, and had many hits. This trip was a real success and shows that some of the brookies in Otter Pond #2 can be specifically targeted in the fall based on a precise plan!
The trout stop biting if I move 50 ft. further down this shoreline. All the brook trout are concentrated at one specific spot. It’s quite uncanny!
The results: I caught seven brookies (largest = 14 inches) in 1.5 hours of fun 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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