The conditions are perfect this morning: temps in the 40’s, overcast, and a couple of inches of snow on top of 18 inches of ice.
Raymond Pond is a 346-acre body of water located in Raymond, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 B2). This pond does not have a recognized public access. I reach the ice this morning through the shoreline property of a friend. An unimproved and unmarked boat ramp exists off Raymond Hill Road on Swans Road as it crosses over towards a large island on the eastern shore. But the several prominent “no trespassing” and “private road” signs by the entrance of Swans Road indicate that this road is closed to the general public.
The first bass of the morning tells us we are fishing in the right general area. The large island is in the background.
Raymond Pond has a well-developed shoreline but is also pretty and quite scenic with several wooded islands framed by the surrounding hills. Its outlet flows into Crescent Lake which connects to Panther Pond via the Tenney River, which then connects to Sebago Lake via Panther Run. The state used to stock Raymond Pond annually with brown trout but stopped that activity in the 1980’s due to a lack of public access. The pond is open to ice fishing under the general fishing laws applicable to the South Zone. The main fishery consists of largemouth and smallmouth bass, but also includes white perch, yellow perch, and pickerel. The two bass species have robust populations with fish that reach desirable sizes due to the light fishing pressure. The pond has an average and maximum depth of 14 ft. and 42 ft., respectively, and is therefore relatively shallow. Click here for a depth map and more (dated) fish information.
This big boy fell for a shiner right off the bottom.
Gene and I arrive along the shoreline of Raymond Pond at 7:30 am and buzz out on his snowmobile. The conditions are picture perfect: temps in the low 30’s expected to rise into the 40’s later in the day, a low cloud cover that will hide the sun until later in the morning, and a light breeze. The ice is a respectable 18” thick with 4 to 6 inches of snow on top. We observe only one other fishing party all morning and a single ice fishing shack, confirming that the pond is only lightly fished. We set up shop along a submerged ridge that runs from the large island along the eastern shore to the opposite end of the pond. The top of the ridge is 14 ft. below the surface, with the depth gradually increasing on either side down to 20+ ft. Gene places his four traps right on top of the ridge whereas I straddle it to target different depths, ranging from 14 ft. down to 23 ft. We’ll see which of these two strategies works best. We both use live bait fish placed 2 ft. off the bottom. I get the first flag of the morning on the 18 ft. deep trap, but it only yields a stolen bait fish. I rebait, walk away and the flag goes up again. This time, the spool is turning, which is always a splendid sight to behold. I set the hook and land an 18-inch largemouth bass. Great, the fish are at their post. I am hopeful that my approach of spreading out the traps will bear fruit.
It took three adult men to wrestle this hog out of the water!
But it proves otherwise… We drill a dozen jigging holes after all our traps are deployed. Over the next two hours, the flag and jigging action is mainly concentrated on top of the ridge. In fact, it is clear where the fish are gathered and I therefore slowly move all my traps over the shallower water. Gene and I get a dozen flags, only three of which result in landed fish. There is much bait stealing and nibbling going on down below this morning! The action associated with one fish in particular is worth recounting. Gene is jigging using a dead minnow right off the bottom when he hooks into something really big. Eric, a friend of his, has stopped by for a chat. The fish puts up a fierce resistance and continuously rips line off the spinning reel. At one point in the fight, the line spool falls off the reel and Gene is fighting the brute by holding on to the monofilament while Eric attempts to put the spool back on. After several anxious minutes, the fish finally pokes its head through the hole, and I quickly grab it by the mouth and pull it out on the ice. We all laugh that it took three grown men to deal with this largemouth bass, which measures 21 inches and weighs a respectable 4.5 pounds. As expected, the action slows down markedly by 9:30 am and stops altogether by 11 am when we decide to call it good. We are delighted with the fishing on Raymond Pond this morning. The bass were actively feeding all over the submerged ridge. Besides, it is so pleasant to ice fish when the temperature is in the 40’s!!
The last fish of the morning. The sun has appeared and the bite is largely over.
The results: I caught two largemouth bass (largest = 19 inches) and Gene caught two smallmouth bass (largest = 17 inches) and two largemouth bass (largest = 21 inches and 4.5 lbs.) in 3.5 hours of fun fishing.
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Tight Lines, y’all.
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