Vehicles can be parked on both shoulders of Knights Pond Road. I estimated that about 60 people were fishing when I left this morning!
Knights Pond is a pretty 49-acre body of water located in South Berwick, York County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 2 E3). The pond is next to Knights Pond Road and the public access point is via an old railroad grade that runs along its eastern shore. Lots of parking space is available on both shoulders of the road in the vicinity of the public access. Although I do not know what the parking situation would be after a big snowstorm when the road plows are done with their work.
An old railroad grade provides the public access to Knights Pond. It’s difficult to see but a locked gate prevents anyone from driving down this trail to the pond.
Knights Pond represents a typical “put-and-take” brook trout fishery located in far southern Maine. The pond is incapable of sustaining a year-round trout population because it is too shallow, gets too warm in the summer, and is full of competing fish species. But the state stocks it with brook trout each fall to support a highly-popular hard-water fishery that attracts lots of anglers, myself included, from far and wide. What draws me here today are not the 825 9″ brookies stocked in November (i.e., 17 fish per acre), but the 200 13″ brookies (4 fish per acre), and the 20 16″ brookies (i.e., 0.4 fish per acre). Keep in mind that these kind of ponds are hammered hard early in the season and are pretty much cleaned out by late January. Ice fishing at this location occurs under the general fishing laws applicable to the South Zone. The pond has a maximum and mean depth of 18 ft. and 9 ft., respectively. Click here for a depth map and additional fisheries information.
I have lots of neighbors this morning!
I arrive at the access point for Knights Pond at 6:45 am and am surprised to see a dozen vehicles already parked along both shoulders of Knights Pond Road. Holy smokes, I am not going to be the only one fishing here today! I am placing all my gear in the sled when I realize that I forgot to grab my coat before leaving home this morning. Crap! Fortunately, it’s not too cold outside (24°F) and I brought other warm clothing with me, so I will survive. I walk straight across to the eastern shoreline upon reaching the pond, in order to stay in the shadow for as long as possible, particularly since today will be bright and sunny. I put on my cleats because the ice is glare and snow-free. I am also glad to see a solid 4″ of ice when I drill my first hole. I have set up my four tip-ups baited with small minnows in 2 to 8 ft of water, and have completed drilling half-a-dozen additional jigging holes by 7:15 am. I am happy to have claimed my spot early because more and more people are coming on the ice to fish.
I caught seven of these little guys this morning. Unfortunately, the bigger trout were nowhere to be seen.
I get three flags over the next 30 minutes, only one of which results in a small 9″ brookie. It is not much but at least the trout are active and feeding in my area this morning. But the jigging is where the real action resides. I use a trusted Powerbait Power Nymph and jig head combo enhanced with crawfish juice which has worked well for me in the past. Over the next hour or so, I catch six brookies (all 9 inchers), five of which come out of one hole during a crazy 15-minute period of activity! These fish are clearly swimming in a school around the hole. And then the bite abruptly stops around 8:15 am as the sun starts rising up in the sky. I get a few nibbles on the jig, miss two more small trout, and then it is done. Boy, have I seen that pattern before on the ice! I hang around for another hour and a half in the hope of renewed feeding but can clearly see the writing on the wall because none of the two dozen anglers around me are catching anything either. I call it good by 9:45 am. I talk to two separate groups of anglers (consisting of about a dozen people in total) on my way back to the car. One group has only caught a largemouth bass, whereas the other got a few flags but no fish. My seven small trout are holding up good! I will end by saying that I cannot over-emphasize the importance of jigging when ice fishing for trout. I caught a single brook trout using baitfish and four traps, but six trout on one jig. In other words, jig in order to catch more fish! It can be boring but pays off.
The results: I caught seven 9″ brook trout in 3 hours of fishing.
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