A gorgeous view of Minnehonk Lake during the Golden Hour!
Minnehonk Lake is an 85-acre body of water located in Mount Vernon, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 A3). The boat launch, which is not shown in my 2019 edition of the Gazetteer, is located at the northern tip of the lake, off North Road and across from the fire station. The launch is narrow and sandy but can accommodate trailered boats. Parking is limited to a few vehicles along the road shoulder.
The public access point is obstructed by cement blocks. Only hand-carried craft can be launched from this location.
Worthley Pond is a 42-acre body of water located in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A3). The public access point is located at the northern tip of the pond. From route 122, turn on Worthley Pond Road and hang a right at the Y. After that split, the road has two deep dips that fill up with water after a rainstorm. They look daunting when full and when approached in a smaller vehicle but are safe to drive through because the substrate at the bottoms of these dips is solid. Note that the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer shows a trailerable boat launch. That information is inaccurate. The access point has been obstructed for years with large cement blocks which only allow passage to hand-carried craft. Plenty of parking is available by the launch area.
I am determined to fish the Golden Hour this morning!
Upper Range Pond is a 391-acre body of water located in Poland, Androscoggin County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 A3). The public boat ramp is located next to Range Hill Road at the northern tip of the pond by the causeway bridge. The cement launch can accommodate large boats. Plenty of parking for vehicles with trailers is available next to the ramp or along the road shoulder.
The launch at Piper Pond can accommodate large boats. The public beach is right next to it.
Piper Pond is a 420-acre body of water located in Abbot, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 31 B3). The access point is found next to the public beach at the northern end of the pond, right off Pond Road. The launch is solid, has a dock and a porter-potty in the summer, and can accommodate large, trailered boats. Plenty of parking is available by the beach area.
A gorgeous view of First Davis Pond from the boat launch. And, oh, that is another reason for calling it the Golden Hour!
First Davis Pond is a 128-acre body of water located in Guilford, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 31 B5). To reach this pond from Guilford, drive north on Route 150 (Blaine Avenue) and turn right on Davis Pond Road. Drive for 0.3 miles until you reach the public boat launch located on the western side of the pond. The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer does not show this access point. The cement launch can accommodate trailered boats, but is sandwiched between two properties. Parking is very limited to two – maybe three – vehicles with trailers. It is not possible to turn a vehicle with a trailer in that limited space without entering one or the other adjacent private properties. The alternative is to back up several hundred feet to where the short road to the launch splits off from Davis Pond Road and turn over there. Keep those limitations in mind when planning a fishing trip at this location. Fortunately, that is not my problem this morning because I am fishing from my canoe.
Garland Pond is a 28-acre body of water located in Sebec and Dover Foxcroft, Piscataquis County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 32 B2). To reach this pond, drive on Milo Road (Routes 6 and 16), turn on Parsons Landing Road towards Sebec Lake, and look for Garland Pond Road on the right. That road provides access to the southern shore of the pond but is private. Instead, the public access point (which is not shown on The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer) is found at the end of an unnamed dirt road that begins just 15 ft. passed Garland Pond Road and goes towards the western end of the pond. Plenty of parking is available by the launch.
The official boat launch requires navigating through Round Pond before reaching South Pond.
South Pond is a 284-acre body of water located in Greenwood, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 10 B4). This pond is part of a cluster of lakes bunched together in this area and which I have fished for salmonids in the past (click here, here, here, and here). The public boat ramp, called the Mike Giunta memorial boat launch, is located by Howe Hill Road off Route 26 (Main Street) in Greenwood. I have to look for the place because it is not clearly indicated, either on Route 26 or Howe Hill Road. The hard-topped ramp is narrow, steep, and next to deep water. Plenty of parking is available. I found it challenging to retrieve my boat at the end of today’s trip because I had to place the trailer mostly out of the deep water and on the steep launch. It took a lot of arm juice to manually crank my boat up unto its trailer… Access to South Pond from this location is tricky. With the ramp in your back, navigate to the upper right-hand corner of the (unnamed) water body and pass underneath the railroad tracks. From there, navigate to the left through Round Pond until you enter South Pond through a wide but shallow passage. I was disoriented and got lost while motoring through Round Pond and its multiple islands and shallow weedy areas. I used the GPS on my phone to get me out of the maze… It takes about 15 minutes of no-wake boating to reach my destination from the boat ramp. While trolling, I noticed a small beach at the southwestern end of South Pond next to Greenwood Road. I checked it out at the end of this trip and found a small, dirt boat launch next to the beach. This launch is not shown on The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer. A large sign states that the beach is for use by local residents only. I do not know if this restriction also applies to the launch next to it… Plenty of parking is available across the road from this launch.
View of the boat launch. This picture does not do justice to the steepness of the short boat ramp!
Parker Pond covers1,524 acres and is located in Fayette, Kennebec County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 12 A2). The public access point, which is not shown in the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, is located in the far northeastern corner of the lake, off Tower Road. This launch is horrible: narrow, short, very steep, and consisting of half asphalt-half flat boulders. It is clear from the numerous scratches in the asphalt that lots of trailers have been scraped going down and coming up the ramp. The water by the launch is also shallow, requiring to back up a little ways into the lake before the boat can float off the trailer. I would be cautious launching at this location without a four-wheel drive vehicle because it may be difficult to pull the boat out of the water and up the steep incline without the extra assist. Fortunately, Tower Road is only lightly traveled, which allows one to maneuver properly to get the boat in and out.
The boat launch is spacious, and plenty of parking is available nearby.
Pennesseewassee Lake covers 922 acres and is located in Norway, Oxford County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 11 D1). Access is through a high-quality public boat launch off Route 118. Coming in from Harrison, drive north on Route 117 all the way to the lake. Turn left at the stop sign on Route 118, go for 0.3 miles, and then turn right at the blue boat launch sign. The launch itself is spacious, and the nearby parking area can accommodate many vehicles.
Look for the Kinsley Pines Camp sign next to Coughlan Cove Road. The foot path up to Nubble Pond starts on the other side of Plains Road.
Nubble Pond covers 23 acres and is located in Raymond, Cumberland County, Maine (see The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer map 5 B2). To reach this destination, drive down Meadow Road (Route 121), turn onto Plains Road, and drive for 1.0 mile to the red-and-white Kingsley Pines Camp sign next to Coughlan Cove Road. The wide foot trail to the pond starts by large blocking boulders on the opposite side of the road from that sign and runs parallel to the pond’s outlet. It takes about 5 minutes walking (one-way) to reach the put-in at the southern tip of the pond. Only hand-carried craft can be launched from this location. Plenty of parking is available along the shoulder on Plains Road.
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