View of Pleasant Lake from the boat launch
Pleasant Lake is a 1,332-acre body of water found in Casco, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A1). Access is super easy: drive through the center of Casco on Route 121 and turn unto Mayberry Hill Road. The hard-top public boat launch is located a few hundred feet down that road on your left at the very southern tip of the lake. A large dirt parking area is situated right across from the launch.
The portable downrigger is simple and efficient!
Pleasant Lake is a well-developed and pretty body of water located north of Sebago Lake. It is stocked each spring with 400 juvenile (7 to 8-inch) landlocked Atlantic salmon, yielding about 1 fish per 3 acres. That is a sparse number but represents the average stocking density for this species. Salmon are the focus of all my efforts this morning. Open-water fishing takes place under the general fishing laws applicable to the south zone, except that a) the daily bag limit on landlocked salmon is one fish, b) the minimum keeper size for this species is 16 inches between January 1 and March 31, and c) it is prohibited to use live baitfish not obtained from Pleasant Lake. The lake has a maximum and mean depth of 62 ft. and 29 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
The first salmon of the morning only measures 12 inches. It is not much of a fish but represents my target species.
The winter of 2023-2024 in southern Maine was a sick joke. The last few months have been so unusually warm and rainy that what little ice was available on Pleasant Lake went out in a hurry on March 17. That early ice-out must be close to a record considering that winter is not even over yet… But it does mean that the lake is now open for trolling. If you cannot catch them through the ice, pursue them over open water! I arrive at the boat launch by 6:45 am. The conditions are perfect for trolling: air temperature in the low 30’s, overcast, and a light northwest breeze. But make no mistake: it feels COLD, particularly since trolling does not require any of the physical exertions so typically associated with ice fishing, such as pulling a sled, auguring holes, or running to tend flags. So, I am dressed as if I were going ice fishing, including the boots, thermal underwear, multiple layers, winter coat, and hand warmers! The water temperature is also a frigid 37°F. It takes a couple of minutes for the engine to warm up but I soon put-put away eager to get going on my first open-water expedition of the year. I fish using my usual trolling set-up. The first is an eight-weight fly fishing rod teamed up with a fly fishing reel spooled with lead core line with 20 ft of 10-lb monofilament line connected at the end to which are attached three small, single-hook smelt-imitating Blue and Grey Ghost streamer flies tied one after the other with short stretched of monofilament. The second is a spinning rod and spinning reel spooled with 10-lb monofilament to which are attached three DB Smelt spoons tied one after the other; these spoons perfectly imitate the profile of a smelt, which are plentiful in this lake. I hold the fly rod in my hand and constantly “rip” the line so the flies below pulsate and move erratically to attract attention from potential customer. The line from the spinning rod is clipped to the 4-lb weight of my portable downrigger to place the DB Smelt 18 ft. below the surface. I also let out two colors of lead core line to place the flies about 12 ft. or so below the surface.
The cousin of the first salmon measures 14 inches. That’s a smidge bigger but still short…
I stay over water 40+ ft. deep (note: trolling with a downrigger requires a depth finder to prevent the ball weight from getting stuck on the bottom) and slowly proceed along the eastern shoreline. I get no action on either set of lures for the first hour. That is disappointing but not necessarily unusual when fishing for salmon. Remember that sparse stocking density mentioned earlier…. But I nonetheless decide to switch sides and therefore traverse the lake diagonally towards the opposite shoreline, just to try something else. On the way there, while passing over the deepest part of Pleasant Lake, I notice two subtle hits on the spinning rod. Mmm, that is encouraging. While trolling along the western shoreline, I finally get a hit and a hookup on the lead core. None too soon. But the resistance is rather weak and it feels like I caught a white perch. And yet, it turns out to be a short 12-inch salmon. I am underwhelmed but nonetheless glad to have captured my target species. I continue on my way. The spinning rod connected to the down rigger shakes gently 15 minutes later. I quickly unclip the line from the ball weight and fight a slightly bigger (14 inch) salmon. Like the previous fish, this one does not perform any aerial acrobatics as is so typical with this species later in the spring (click here and here for examples). 37°F is simply too cold to allow for high-energy gymnastics… I decide to turn around and retroll this section of water in the hope of hooking more fish. But it is in vain. My phone alarm goes off; it is 8:30 am and time to head back home to start my work day.
Finally, I do not know if it is common to catch short salmon in Pleasant Lake. Leave a reply if you have had different experiences fishing this water body.
The results: I landed two landlocked salmon (largest = 14 inches) in 2.5 hours of trolling.
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