View of the boat launch. This picture does not do justice to the steepness of the short boat ramp!
Parker Pond covers1,524 acres and is located in Fayette, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 A2). The public access point, which is not shown in the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, is located in the far northeastern corner of the lake, off Tower Road. This launch is horrible: narrow, short, very steep, and consisting of half asphalt-half flat boulders. It is clear from the numerous scratches in the asphalt that lots of trailers have been scraped going down and coming up the ramp. The water by the launch is also shallow, requiring to back up a little ways into the lake before the boat can float off the trailer. I would be cautious launching at this location without a four-wheel drive vehicle because it may be difficult to pull the boat out of the water and up the steep incline without the extra assist. Fortunately, Tower Road is only lightly traveled, which allows one to maneuver properly to get the boat in and out.
It is wind still this morning but the sky is filled with smokey haze.
Parker Pond is moderately developed and is surrounded by multiple forested, low-elevation hills. This water body is graced by a dozen and a half wooded islands and a bouldery shoreline. I like the whole vibe! The pond looks roughly like an inverted “Y”, with a shorter leg on the right side, and a much longer leg on the left side. I used my special approach to identify this place as a target for catching landlocked salmon in the summer. A key parameter is to identify the depth of the thermocline and determine its oxygen status. The multi-year temperature and oxygen data published by Lakes of Maine show that the thermocline in this lake occurs 25 to 30 ft. deep in late July-early August. The temperature at the bottom of the thermocline is in the mid-to high 50’s, with oxygen levels at or above 7 parts per million (ppm). These conditions are perfect for salmon. The oxygen levels below the thermocline fall below 7 ppm and are more stressful to this species. I will therefore place my lures 27 to 30 ft. down. I specifically look for this particular summer feature, i.e., depressed oxygen levels below the thermocline, because it “concentrates” the salmonid in a relatively narrow band of cool water which makes it easier to target them this time of year. Keep in mind that this trolling depth can decrease as the summer progresses and the oxygen deficiency works its way up the water column. Hence, the lures may have to be placed higher in the water column in two-three-four weeks from now to remain in oxygenated (but potentially warmer) water. The only way to find out for sure is to review the water quality data from Lakes of Maine. The lake is stocked each fall with 250 to 300 young salmon, which results in a sparse stocking density of about one fish every 5 acres. It also gets 300 to 500 brookies annually, but those fish are not my target this morning. Angling in the summer falls under the general fishing laws applicable to the South Zone. The lake has a mean and maximum depth of 31 ft. and 76 ft., respectively, making it relatively deep. Click here for a depth map. I require water 40+ ft. deep for trolling. I identify several deep bowls in the upper half of the lake, interspersed by shallower (< 30 ft. deep) areas, and one large, contiguous deep bowl located in the longer leg of the lake. These are my two target areas for this morning.
The first hit is from a smallmouth bass feeding 30 ft. deep!
I stumble out of bed ridiculously early with the goal of reaching Parker Pond at 5:30 am to fish the early-morning “golden hour” before the sun floods the water with its harsh light. I am behind schedule and start fishing around 6 am. The air temperature is a relatively cool 55°F and the temperature of the water at the surface is 75°F. It is essentially wind-still. The atmosphere is noticeably hazy due to excessive smoke from on-going forest fires in next-door Quebec. In fact, all morning long the sky remains a dull grey, even though the sun is blazing and there isn’t a cloud to be seen. I apply my usual summer technique for salmonids when fishing from a motorboat: lead core line on a 9-weight fly fishing rod with three Parsons Tom one-hook smelt-imitating streamer flies tied back to back, and a portable downrigger with a spinning rod fishing with three differently-colored DB Smelt spoons tied back-to-back. The fish can choose from six lures! I start fishing the deep areas in the upper half of the lake and get a ferocious hit on the lead core within less than 10 minutes. Wow, that’s great! Unfortunately, the fish announces itself as a smallmouth bass when it breaches the surface within 10 seconds (note: salmon seldom jump out of the water in the summer, unlike their well-known aerial acrobatics in the spring and fall, because the surface water is too warm). The bass gives a splendid fight, but it is not the reason I am here this morning. Regardless, this fish confirms that the water 30 ft. down is well oxygenated, which is always a concern when trolling that deep in the summer. I also struggle with the irregular bottom and the presence of the submerged mounds in this general area of the lake. The depth goes from 50 ft. to 20 ft. over short distances, causing me to scramble to bring up the downrigger weight to prevent it from getting stuck on the bottom. I loose my three DB Smelt spoons to the bottom at some point and decide to eliminate the downrigger. It is easier to handle the uneven bottom just with the lead core line. But I am still constantly in water 25 ft. deep or less, which is not where I need to be to catch salmon.
It took a lot of effort to catch this little salmon, but I am glad not to go home skunked.
I give up on this area after 2 hours of frustrating fishing and instead motor down to the one large, contiguous deep bowl located in the longer leg of Parker Pond. This area is much more to my liking because it is uniformly deep and lacks the annoying mounds that come up off the bottom. I keep the Parsons Tom flies but swap out the spoons two different times because they are not working for me this morning… I finally get a hit and a hookup on one of the streamer flies around 9:15 am and this time the fish fights low and hard without breaking the surface. Ahah, that is a salmon! I bring up the fish quickly and net it fast to limit its exposure to the warm water. It gets photographed and released to fight another day. I am reinvigorated and hope for more where that came from. But, alas, that is the one and only hit in two hours of non-stop trolling in that area of the lake. I call it good at 10 am, glad that my cross-verification method has fulfilled its promise, but frustrated that the bite was so slow. This type of technical fishing requires more attention to details but yields results if properly executed.
The results: I caught one landlocked salmon and one smallmouth bass in 4 hours of slow fishing.
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Tight Lines, y’all.
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