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View of Levenseller Pond from one of the plowed pull-outs along Route 173. One can stay warm in the car while keeping an eye on the tip-ups.

Levenseller Pond covers 35 acres and is located on the boundary between Lincolnville and Searsmont in Waldo County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 14 C3). The pond is situated right next to Route 173 (Lincolnville Avenue), which has three separate plowed pull-out areas where one can park a vehicle and observe the tip-ups from inside a warm car. The forecast calls for brutally-cold temperatures this morning, so I want to have the option of hiding in my vehicle, if necessary. My goal today is to catch a few of the 200 one-pound brook trout that were stocked last fall. I’m also secretly hoping to ice one of the 30 four-pound brood stock brookies that were also released last fall. That would really make my day! The pond provides a typical winter “put-and-take” trout fishery. It has a mean and maximum depth of only 6 ft and 10 ft, respectively (click here for a depth map and more fishery information). Hence, any trout that survive the winter and spring fishing onslaught are sure to succumb during the warm summer months. I also suspect that the catch rate quickly drops over time as more and more trout are harvested through the ice. So, hit this pond early in the hard water season! Finally, the ice fishing rules fall under the general regulation laws.

I reach Levenseller Pond by 8:30 am, almost an hour behind schedule because of the slippery road conditions, both on the highway (speed limit reduced to 45 MPH due to black ice) and on the secondary roads (black ice and lots of snowy patches). That sucks because I’ve essentially missed the early-morning bite. On my drive in, I notice a temperature reading of -17°F at a local gas station. Holy cow, that’s really cold! I park my car at one of the pull-outs that face the pond along Route 173, load up my sled, and walk on the ice. My first hole shows 10” of solid ice. That’s impressive considering that winter started only seven days ago! It’s also a sign of just how frigid it’s been over the last couple of weeks. I drill four holes in 2 ft to 7 ft of water, and deploy four tip-ups baited with 2” minnows placed halfway down the water column. I also drill several jigging holes.

The eight brook trout I caught today were all about this size.

I get no flags during the 30 minutes set-up process, which is never a good sign when ice fishing for brook trout. I decide that the tip-up placed over 2 ft of water is just too shallow to be effective and therefore retrieve it to place it in 4 ft of water. The bait fish at the end of the hook of that trap looks lifeless. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the poor thing has been completely scaled! I’ll be dammed: a fish munched on it and then failed to swallow it. I get my jigging rod and lower a 2” Swedish pimple through the hole where it immediately hits bottom due to the shallow water. I gently twitch the rod to keep the lure at the correct depth and get a hit, and then another hit, before I hook and land a small 8” brookie. OK, it looks like the warm car is going to have to wait for a while…

The Swedish Pimple earned its reputation as a great brook trout jigging lure this morning. Remember to always add “meat” to the hook in order to attract more fish.

I get three flags over the next 2.5 hours, which yield only one small brookie. I jig during that entire period and ice six more small brook trout. It’s freakin’ cold and my hands are not happy… In fact, to my surprise, the jig bite never really stops, even though the flag action is sporadic at best. If the jigging bite slows in this hole, I simply drill another hole nearby and continue the process. Overall, the pattern this morning re-affirms the truth behind tip #8: jig, and jig a lot, because it can make all the difference between catching trout or not! Also, don’t forget to always add a piece of bait fish to your jig hook. That meat provides flavor and aroma to the water and greatly enhances the attractiveness of your lure. The one real disappointment this morning is that all the brookies I caught measure less than 10”. I hooked but missed a one-pounder but never encountered a four-pounder. L’espoir fait vivre… That’s why we fish!

The results: I landed eight brook trout measuring < 10” in 2.5 hours of ice cold fishing.

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