Porter Lake is a 527-acre body of water located in Strong, Franklin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 20 B1). From Norton Hill Road (Route 234), turn on Pond Road and drive for 1.1 miles before turning right on Beanies Beach Road by the blue public access sign. Stay on this gravel road for 0.5 miles all the way to the end by the boat launch which is also known as Bean’s Beach (note: do not turn right on West Shore Lane at the split). The public access is spacious and offers parking for up to two dozen vehicles.
The parking lot at the boat launch is large and spacious.
Porter Lake is a pretty but heavily developed body of water. The four peaks that make up the New Vineyard Mountains nicely frame the eastern horizon. The lake supports a year-round, three-species salmonid fishery consisting of brook trout, landlocked salmon, and lake trout. The first two species are maintained by annual stocking, whereas the latter is self-sustaining but overpopulated and stunted. In spring and fall of 2023, the lake received a total allotment of 3,175 brook trout, all measuring between 9 and 12 inches, with 75 20-inch brookies added to spice up the pot. That stocking density yields a low but do-able 6 brook trout per acre, which makes it worth my effort trying to catch them, although I do not expect super-fast action (click here and here for other examples). Angling in the winter occurs under the following rules applicable to the North Zone: a) open to ice fishing and open water fishing from January 1 to April 30, b) up to five lines per person, c) the use and possession of live bait is allowed, d) the daily bag limit on brook trout is two fish, e) the daily bag limit on landlocks is 1 fish, and f) the daily bag limit on lake trout is three fish, with a minimum length of 14 inches, and only one may exceed 18 inches. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information.
I love caching the bigger brookies.
I have never ice fished Porter Lake before and therefore know nothing about its layout. Prior to my trip, I “fly” over the pond in Google Maps to identify potential fishing spots for brookies along the shoreline. My eyes are immediately drawn to the western shoreline where several small peninsulas jut out into the lake. Two are close to each other and form a small shallow bay. That is my target! This location is also within an easy 10-15 minutes’ walk (assuming the snow on top of the ice is reasonable…) from the parking lot. I arrive at the boat launch at 7:20 am and am surprised by all the activity. A dozen vehicles are already parked and people are buzzing around in snow mobiles. The lake is also peppered with ice fishing shacks. OMG, this place is a beehive! The temperature is 16°F, the wind is calm, and the sky is overcast but the forecast calls for full sunshine and a sharp breeze later this morning. I dress warmly, pack my gear in the sled, and walk to my destination. I am glad to see that the snow is only a few inches deep. I use the auger to drill my first hole along the shoreline in the small bay and find 13 inches of solid ice but less than 2 ft. of water. That’s too shallow. I go to the center of the small bay, drill a second hole, and find no more than 2 ft. of water. Damn, this spot is not going to work. I pack up my belongings and walk back out into the lake and turn left to try my luck in the larger bay next door.
The last brookie of the morning is also a 14 incher.
I prepare four traps baited with small shiners placed half-way down the water column in water 3 to 7 ft deep. I add a red salmon egg to the hook before attaching the baitfish to provide extra olfactory and visual stimulation. I get my first flag as I am baiting the fourth trap. Great, that is a positive sign! Unfortunately, the spool does not turn and the bait is stolen. I send down the Power Bait Power Nymph and jig head combo to see if I can catch the bait stealer, but nothing happens. I rebait the trap and start drilling a dozen jigging holes all around the shallow bay when the flag on that same trap goes off again. I will be damned! But same deal as before: stolen bait and no one interested in the jig. But it is a signal. I move one of my further-out traps close to the active hole to stack the odds in my favor. These two traps plus the one next to them, plus the fourth one I moved in closer to this cluster later on in the morning, produce 9 flags over the next 2 hours, yielding a small pickerel and three brookies, one of which measure a desirable 14 inches. I am pleased because that is more fish than I was expecting. However, there has been a lot of bait stealing, and jigging has not produced, not even a nibble, including in the holes that had flags with stolen bait. This pattern is just so odd…
But this skinny 20-inch lake trout is the cherry on top. I was NOT expecting it.
The wind has picked up and my hands are feeling it. I am glad to have two toasty disposable hand warmers tucked in my coat pockets to curl my cold fingers around! I swap out the Power Nymph which has not performed this morning and change it for a tiny 1-inch Rapala Jigging Rap lure enhanced with a salmon egg. I have been probing the jigging hole closest to my honey hole (5 flags!) for only a couple of minutes with this new lure when I get a monster hit and a hookup. Wow, this is no small fish! I can see that it is not a bass or pickerel but instead looks like one of the 20-inch brood stock brookies. What are the odds of that! I carefully play the fish, giving it line when needed. I plunge my left hand in the ice-cold water when the fish’s head pokes through the hole and pull the creature on the ice. That’s when I realize that I caught a 20-inch… lake trout. Whaaat? In 6 ft of water next to the shoreline? No matter, it counts! I am about ready to call it good when I get one last flag and a fourth brookie measuring 14 inches. I am fully satisfied with the results. I like Porter Lake and already plan on a return visit in the spring to troll for landlocks and lakers. Watch out!
The results: I landed 4 brook trout (largest was 14″) and one skinny lake trout (20”) in 3.5 hours of active ice fishing.
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