That is about as big as a boat launch gets!!
The Kennebec River flowing through Sidney towards Augusta is the target of my angling ambitions this morning (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 13 A1). To reach the public access point, look for the blue boat launch sign on Route 104 in Sidney, drive down Recreation Lane, and drive past the baseball fields all the way to the water. The launch is improved and spacious and offers plenty of parking.
Copyright protected by DigiproveSilver Lake (a.k.a. Figure Eight Pond) is a 29-acre two-lobed body of water located in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 B5). Click here for directions on how to reach this location. I note for the record that both Baxter Drive and Community Drive have a panel nailed to a tree along the side of the road stating “dead end”. Just pass those signs and keep on going until you reach the pond.
View of the rough boat launch with the southern lobe in the background
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The boat launch is unimproved, steep, and gravelly…
Silver Lake (a.k.a. Figure Eight Pond) is a 29-acre body of water located in Sidney and Manchester, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 B5). To reach this location, drive on Route 27 north (towards Belgrade), turn left on Summerhaven Road, go for about 0.6 miles before turning left on Baxter Drive, drive for about 0.2 miles and turn right on Community Drive. The southern lobe of the pond will soon appear on your right. The public boat launch consists of loose gravel and is otherwise unimproved, but can accommodate small trailered boats. However, keep in mind that the launch is fairly steep; I had to use four-wheel drive to pull my boat up the wet and gravelly incline on my way out. In addition, the water by the launch is rather shallow, which requires backing into the lake a fair bit before the boat will float off. I also had to put on my hip boots to manually guide my boat back on the trailer on account of the shallow depth by the launch. Parking space is limited on Community Drive and occurs along the side of the road next to the launch.
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In this blog, I describe how I really enjoyed chasing smallmouth bass in the stretch of the Kennebec River flowing for about 1 mile upstream of the boat launch in Sidney, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 13 A1). So, I decided to get some more of that action by further exploring the river that flows downstream from the launch. In preparation for this trip, and because the river is an unknown to me, I go on Google Maps the evening before and “fly” over my future fishing grounds looking for potential target areas. And I’m not disappointed! Two sets of structures immediately stand out. The first one are about two dozen small log-driving islands located around one mile downstream of the public access point along the left shoreline of the river. Each island measures about 10 ft by 10 ft and consists of a wooden cribwork filled with large boulders. They were built in the olden days when the Kennebec River was used for driving logs down to the sawmills during the spring snowmelt. Nowadays, they serve as smallmouth bass magnets! The second structure consists of “Seven-Mile Island” located further downstream of the log-driving islands. Both are the focus of our attention this morning.
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The Kennebec River is gorgeous and I have it all to myself this afternoon!
The Kennebec River is an environmental jewel which flows out of Moosehead Lake, winds its way through central Maine and reaches the Atlantic Ocean by Popham Beach. The focus of my attention this afternoon is the 6-mile stretch between Sidney and Waterville. The last time I fished these waters was way back before the removal of Edwards Dam in Augusta in 1999. So, it’s about high time that I return to this gorgeous river and check it out!! An excellent hard-top public boat launch is located at the end of Recreation Drive off West River Road (Route 104) in Sidney (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 13 A1). Plenty of parking is available for vehicles with trailers.
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