Round Pond is a 161-acre body of water located in Livermore, Androscoggin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 A5). The public access point is by the hard boat launch which is clearly indicated by a blue sign on Route 4. The launch is spacious and provides ample parking. It is also far enough from nearby busy Route 4 that the traffic noise does not intrude on the calm surroundings.
The brookies in Round Pond are at their post this morning!
Round Pond is moderately developed, with most of the houses and camps clustered around its southern shoreline. The western shoreline is framed by low, forested hills that are blazing in beautiful fall colors this morning. What a treat! The pond is stocked each spring and fall with brook trout and brown trout to maintain a popular salmonid fishery. It is open to angling year round under the general fishing laws applicable to South Zone waters, and without specific fall angling restrictions.
Fall foliage and brookie spawning colors go so well together.
I fished Round Pond twice in the past (click here and here) and did not do well either time. I want to change that sorry picture this morning… I arrive at the boat launch at 8:30 am and walk with my waders into the water soon after. I use an ultralight spinning rod, a small spinning reel spooled with 6 pound monofilament, and a #2 Mepps spinner. This combination allows me to cast the lure a country-mile away and also makes it feel like I am fighting a “big” fish even if it is only a 13 inch brookie. Note that I remove one hook from the treble and flatten the barb on one of the two remaining hooks to quickly release a fish without causing damage. The reason I like the Mepps spinner so much is its superb blade design which lets me greatly slow down the retrieve so the lure can linger for longer in the strike zone. I also let the spinner sink for several seconds after each cast (one thousand one, one thousand two,…) so that it stays closer to the bottom where the brookies are hiding. Finally, during the retrieve I constantly twitch by rod tip to cause the blade to flutter randomly and the lure to move more erratically to entice a hit.
I return to shore after catching a fish to avoid spooking the remaining trout and to safely take pictures.
The wading conditions are good to the right and left of the boat launch: the substrate is firm, mostly unobstructed by boulders or aquatic vegetation, and slowly gains depth, allowing me to move far into the water away from the shoreline and its overhanging trees and branches. I soon catch my first brookie in full spawning colors. I always wade back towards shore after hooking a fish, for two reasons: the struggling fish and the netting commotion may spook any nearby trout, and I do not want to drop my phone in the water while trying to take pictures of a wriggly trout! This whole approach is working out well for me this morning. I catch and release another seven brook trout over the next hour and a half. The fish are actively chasing bait down below and also occasionally rising to the surface. This is wader fishing at its best: great substrate, actively biting fish, fall colors, nice weather, and the place all to myself. I leave a happy angler with my batteries fully recharged!
Nice weather, beautiful fall colors, great wading conditions, and feeding brookies. What is there not to like this morning?
The results: I caught eight brook trout (largest = 15 inches) in 1.5 hour of fast and fun fishing.
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Tight Lines, y’all.
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