The public access point can accommodate small trailered boats. Note the “bowl” in the background.
Symmes Pond is a 36-acre body of water located in Newfield, York County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 A2). The public access point is located by the outlet at the eastern tip of the pond. The launch, which is found right off Route 11 (a.k.a. Water Street), is unimproved and can accommodate small, trailered boats. Limited parking is available for a few vehicles. Keep in mind not to park in front of the fire truck water intake structure to avoid a ticket or an unexpected tow…
This first brookie tells me that I am fishing in the right location. The main body of Symmes Pond is in the background. The lily pads make it impossible to properly fish this shallow zone away from the “bowl”.
Symmes Pond has been a tough nut to crack for me in the past. I trolled it for brook trout in the fall and ice fished it in the winter but without any success. The pond is totally undeveloped and mostly surrounded by marshland and bogs. The water is also darkly-colored by tannins derived from decaying vegetation. The pond was stocked earlier this month with 100 13-inch brookies in preparation for the upcoming ice fishing season. The general fishing laws for the South Region apply, except that from October 1 to November 30, angling is only allowed using artificial lures and with the stipulation that all trout have the be released immediately. The pond as a mean and average depth of 14 ft. and 30 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
The bite is slow but the trout are there.
I arrive at Symmes Pond at 3 pm, in my waders and fully dressed up against the weather. It feels raw: the sky is overcast, the air temperature is 47°F, the low cloud deck spits out rain drops, and a cold breeze blows in from the west. I focus all my angling attention in the “bowl” located right by the access point. This small area is unobstructed by emergent aquatic vegetation, unlike to the left of it where the presence of lily pads makes it impossible to properly cast a lure. The bowl is 3 to 5 ft deep and carpeted with submerged aquatic plants which constantly foul up a lure. But it provides an obvious holding habitat where the brook trout can hang around.
The last fish of the afternoon. Note the little cement dam in the background.
I start the proceedings by entering the water in my waders by the launch area of Symmes Pond and cast out my #2 bronze-colored Mepps spinner towards the center. I removed one of the three hooks from the treble and flattened the barb on one of the two remaining hooks to minimize harm to the fish. I start the retrieve and get a hit within 5 seconds. Cool! The fish appear to be at their post. I catch the biter, a 13-inch male brookie in resplendent colors, two casts later. Beautiful. I just love it when the plan works. However, I get no more hits over the next 10 minutes. I slowly start wading to my right towards the little dam by the outlet while casting the spinner towards the center. The wading conditions are OK but I have to be mindful of the rapidly increasing depth away from the shoreline. To make a long story short, I catch another two brookies – and a little largemouth bass – over the next 45 minutes. The fishing is definitely on the slow side but it is comforting to know that the trout are congregated in the bowl. I am joined by a fly fisher who tries his luck but leaves 20 minutes later without getting a hit. I will end by saying that two spots lend themselves perfectly to fishing from shore (no waders needed!), i.e., the unimproved boat launch and the small cement dam by the outlet. The entire bowl can be covered with a spinner from these two locations.
The results: I caught three 13-inch brookies in 1 hour 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.
~ ~ ~ ~ ><« ({(« º >
