View of Cold Rain Pond from the public access point
Cold Rain Pond is located in Naples (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 4 B5). Access to this pond is as follows: hang a left onto Kimball Corner Road when driving north on Route 114/11 in North Sebago. Turn left on Tiger Hill Road after just over 3 miles. This road is located across from Lake House Road (look for the sculptures of three black bears). The access point to the pond, which is on the left after about 0.5 mile, consists of an unimproved launch which cannot accommodate trailered boats. Be aware that Tiger Hill Road is rough, rutted, and bouldery, and may require a 4X4 vehicle.
Cold Rain Pond is a pretty, completely isolated body of water less than 15 minutes from downtown Naples. Only one small camp is located on its shoreline, which is entirely forested. The pond covers 38 acres with a maximum depth of 36 ft and an average depth of 11 ft. The water is crystal clear. Surprisingly, given its small size, this pond also supports a rainbow smelt population. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife stocks brook trout each spring and fall. Click here for a depth map and more fisheries information. Joel and I arrive at the pond at 7:30 am. Our goal is to troll for and catch some of the trout that were stocked earlier this fall. We know from past experience that we’ll have to fight our way through the over-abundant pickerel population first… The sky is blue and the sun is out but it is blustery cold, with temperatures well below freezing. We lower the canoe from the car, load up our gear, and motor into the pond. The surface water temperature is 39°F. We troll with various spoons (Jake’s Trout Spin-a-Lure, DB Smelt, Mooselooks, generic spoons) for 3 hours in 10-15 ft of water and succeed only in catching five pickerel (size range: 13” to 20”), but no trout. These fish are a nuisance because that’s not what we’re here for! We also lose three lures when larger pickerel cut off our lines with their sharp teeth. I should have remembered to bring steel leaders…
A gorgeous 21.5″ (5.0 lbs.) smallmouth bass caught in Cold Rain Pond
Joel suddenly hooks into something very big. The fish quickly fights its way to the surface and makes several rolls far away from the boat, which is unusual. It also doesn’t behave like either a trout or a pickerel. Joel declares it to be a bass which I tell him cannot be because Cold Rain Pond does not have bass in it. Besides, bass are way too lethargic to go after a lure trolled 4 ft below the surface in 15 ft of 39°F water! But it is a bass, and a huge one at that. Joel fights and lands a very cold 21.5” (5.0 pounds) monster smallmouth bass!! We’re both ecstatic: it’s the biggest smallmouth he has ever hooked and he caught it where it is not supposed to live using a technique that is not supposed to catch it! A one-in-a-million fish … Life is fantastic.
The results: I caught 3 pickerel (largest = 20”) and Joel caught 2 pickerel (largest = 18”) and one monster smallmouth bass (5.0 lbs).
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