Thompson Lake, Maine

When I moved to Maine, I wanted to start pursuing lake trout. Even though I grew up in Northern Ontario, lake trout were a fish I never took any interest in. I didn't have a boat, they were considered difficult to catch without the right equipment, and lakes that contained them were few and far between. Sebago Lake is right in my backyard and it's considered one of the top lakes in New England for lake trout, However, it's a pretty big at 30,500 acres in size and the mean depth is over 100 feet deep. If I had a boat, I would probably spend every weekend on it. But, a kayak can only get you so far as I didn't want to spend hours trying to covering a lot of water. I wanted to start off small and work my way up. After doing some research, I read that Thompson Lake has a great lake trout fishery and it was the perfect size.

Thompson Lake is located about 35 minutes north of Windham. It's about 12 miles long and averages about 2 miles wide. It has a maximum depth of 120 feet. It's shallow at the north and south ends and deepest in the middle. The lake is also considered one of the cleanest in the state as it's fed by the Poland spring aquifer. Thompson Lake supports a wide variety of game fish such as largemouth and smallmouth bass and lake trout and Atlantic salmon. The current state record smallmouth bass was caught in this lake back in 1970. Thompson is only 45 minutes from Portland and 30 minutes from Lewiston-Auburn, two of Maine's most populated cites. Because of its close proximity to large urban areas, the shoreline is fairly developed on both sides. There's three boat launches on the lake and two are marinas and the other is a public one located right off of highway 112. I choose the public launch as it's located at the middle of the lake. It's very close to the road and there's no ramp, just a sandy beach.

I'm out on the water very early this morning. The sun has risen over the trees and it's a blazing ball of red. That's the result of Canadian wildfire smoke and we've been dealing with it through out the summer where smoke has made the air quality terrible. As I head out, the surface of the lake is like glass and it's so quiet I could hear some people talking from their cabins. With any new body of water, I usually like to go for a cruise and watch the fish finder for any structure. But, today I was going to focus on lake trout. In Maine, lake trout are referred to as togue. The name is thought to be derived from a native American word. Game fish often have local names depending where you live in the U.S or Canada. Where I grew up in Northern Ontario we always referred to walleye as pickerel and brook trout as speckled trout. But if you went to Northwestern Ontario, pike were called jackfish and if you ventured into Quebec, walleye were called dore. But, I thought the name togue was amusing as it sounds like some grotesque creature that lives on the bottom hidden in the mud. 

I was able to get cell phone reception and I pulled up the depth chart map. I looked to the south and there's  a very small island. Accoording to the map, the lake gets really deep just east of the island. As I'm pedaling, I see a boat in the distance chugging along out in the middle and from their speed, they were most likely fishing for lake trout or salmon. I finally make it out the middle and I'm directly over 105' of water. I make some adjustments on the fish finder such as cranking the gain up to 90% as that helps me see the jig and the thermocline. As the screen moves, I start seeing the band of where the thermocline starts and it's at 30'. I knew that lake trout often like to hang under it or near the bottom. I could have used my ultralight rod as lake trout in Thompson rarely get over a couple of pounds. But, I was using a 1/2 ozs jig and a 4' white gulp minnow and a beefier rod was needed. I let the jig drop all the way 80' and I patiently wait for a fish to appear. For about 20 minutes, I see nothing. Because there wasn't any wind, I barely moved. I move farther down and I drop the jig and repeated the process.

This time by sheer luck, a lake trout must of have been close by and taken the jig during the drop. Because when I closed the bail, I immediately felt some resistance and then the rod bent over. The fish fought pretty hard as I brought up to the surface. I finally caught glimpse of it and it wasn't big when I got it to side of the kayak. It was small enough that I grabbed the jig head and hauled it out the water. I was looking at my very first lake trout. It was probably about 24" and the first thing I noticed was the size of the fish's eyes as they were disproportionately larger for the size of its head to the point of being cartoon like. This adaptation is most likely the result of foraging in deeper water where light levels are low. Its body was long and sleek and very dark in color. I take a quick picture before releasing it. 

I continue to work this section and I dropped the jig down to 70' of water. I could see the zig zag pattern of my jig on the screen. For about 30 minutes, I didn't see anything. I thought to myself I wished I had a livescope sonar as I would be able to see fish in real time and at a wider distance. Unfortunately, they're very expensive as I remember the hardcore walleye anglers I knew back in Ohio who didn't flinch when they shelled out $3000 for a livescope set-up. The closest I had to real time sonar was my A-scope and it was nothng more than a flasher that showed a pallette of colors on a narrow band. If there was a band of red that usually meant there was a fish inside the diameter of the cone. On my Garmin fish finder there's a number under the A-scope and it was reading 200' and according to Garmin you simply divide that number by two and you'll have the cone diameter around your vessel. So my diameter was roughly 100'. 

Then I see the A-scope flashing red at about 80' and the fish hits the jig hard and I immediately set the hook. This fish felt a little bigger and a few times I had to loosen the drag. I see it come to the surface and it's a little bigger then the one I previously caught. I quickly pop the jig out and I wanted to take a picture but my arm can only go out so far. Instead I place it back in the water and watch it slowly head back into the depths. Lake trout don't generally school, but they will congregate where there's baitfish. I started fishing in grids as I would pedal a certain distance and then drop the jig. The three previous fish I caught all came in water about 90' deep and they were about 10' off the bottom. The week before I read an article about the Maine inlands fishery department doing a fish survey on Thompson back in 2018 and according to their sampling, there were 5 lake trout per acre. That number sounded about right, considering lake trout inhabit lakes that are poor in nutrients. Other interesting information they found was that the lake trout in Thompson were more likely to mature earlier, tend to be more pelagic, and their diet was less reliant on forage fish such as smelt. I moved farther down the lake and I caught a couple more in that 90 to 100 feet of water. Both of these fish were similair in size in that 23" to 25" range. From what I gathered this morning is that lake trout don't nibble. They crushed the jig really hard. The other was having to move from spot to spot just to intercept fish. I'm sure over time I'll get a better idea where these fish prefer to hang out. 

By now the wind started to pick up and the lake is getting choppy. The boat traffic also starts getting heavy and that's my cue to head closer to shore. I tied on a drop shot rig and headed over to a point. I was a 10 minute ride over and I could see a lot of rocks in the water. Since there was a decent push from the wind, I knew this would be a great place to drift fish. I cast and watch the line go slack. I lifted the rod tip high and let the wind move me along. I would start feeling taps and when I tried to set the hook there was nothing. This continued and I started to get annoyed as I knew the culprit was probably young bass. Eventually I managed to set the hook and I felt something small pull the line. It turned out be a sunfish, which as surprising as I'm using a fairly large hook and a 4" worm. It turned out to be a war of attrition as I hooked into one sunfish after another. In all the years I fishing, I don't think I ever caught a sunfish drop shotting. I did manage to catch some smallmouth bass, but nothing big. But, it was getting close to noon and that's usually when I call it a day. 

On the way back to the boat launch, I could see in the distance a person seating in a beach chair reading a book and he was wearing a yellow vest. I chuckled and thought to myself, there's three certainties in Maine - death, taxes, and running into a courtesy boat inspector. This would be the fifth time I've ran into an inspector. He was a younger guy and he didn't get up from his chair. He just glanced over and asked how the fishing was. I figured since I had a kayak there would be no reason to check it out. I went over to get my car and I quickly got the kayak and strapped it down. The inspector was just content reading and working on his tan. 

I thought my first outing on Thompson Lake was a success as I caught six lake trout. They weren't big, but it was another feather in the cap as earlier in the season, I caught my first chain pickerel. Thompson is a great lake for the angler targeting lake trout. It's an easy lake to get around as it took me about 20 minutes to get from the boat launch to deeper water. You'll definitely need to exercise patience and work hard for them.

Kezar Lake, Maine

Its twilight and the road and surrounding woods are cloaked in fog as I'm driving on highway 35 just north of Windham, Maine. I'm still groggy as I probably got four hours of sleep. I have my travel mug filled to the brim with steaming hot coffee. As I drink it starts to perk me up as does my enthusiasm for fishing a new lake. I travel along the entire length of Long Lake and then I pass a couple small ponds as I head northwest and drive through the sleepy villages of East Waterford and Stoneham. Then I finally reach my destination when I see Kezar Lake.

I immediately park and race to the port-a-potty to relieve myself as I drank the entire contents of my mug. When I get out, I see an elderly gentleman sitting a car. He steps out and introduces himself as the Maine courtesy boat inspector. His job is to make sure that invasive water plants don't make their way into Maine's lakes. He's the third person I've seen this summer as I ran into inspectors at Peabody and Hancock ponds. He asks what body of water I fished previously and I told him, I fished Trickey Pond last Sunday. He writes it on his clipboard and wished me good luck. He doesn't bother to give my kayak the look over. Probably because my kayak doesn't have a motor or any place for weeds to stick to. He goes back into his car and starts reading his book. I've always wondered how much these inspectors get paid, because they arrive at the crack of dawn and probably sit in their cars for hours and they might only see a couple of people. I couldn't imagine sitting there all day especially when it's hot and humid out. 

I pull the kayak down to the edge of the lake and there isn't a ramp, just a gravel beach. The night before I downloaded a depth chart, but there's isn't any cell phone reception as I see zero bars. That's not surprising as Maine ranks behind Alaska for the worst cell phone coverage in the country. My girlfriend knows I'm out fishing, but she has no idea where I am. Hopefully, I can get some service so I can tell her where I am. 

Kezar Lake is about 9 miles long and has a maximum depth of 155 feet and mean depth of 35 feet. It's deeper at the north end and gradually gets shallow as you head south. It supports coldwater and warmwater species such as Atlantic salmon, lake trout, smallmouth and largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, and chain pickerel. The lake is noted for a self sustaining population of landlocked Atlantic salmon, as they spawn in 2 streams that run into the lake. But they have to compete with non native lake trout that were stocked in the 70s by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The state agency now acknowledges that stocking lake trout was a mistake as they compete heavily for the salmon's primary food source, rainbow smelt. Lake trout haven't been stocked in Kezar since 2001 and any angler is allowed to keep 6 fish to help keep the trout population in check. Sebago Lake has the same issue with lake trout eating too many smelt and negatively affecting the native salmon population. During the annual ice fishing derby on Sebago, it's common to see lake trout scattered on the ice as some anglers treat them like they're garbage and the bald eagles and ravens are more than happy to clean up the waste.

Today, I'm going to attempt to catch my first lake trout or togues as that's what Mainers call them. The upper section of Kezar has some spots over 100' deep, but for now I'm going to scout the lake and I cast out my trusty silver shad rap and start the journey. The water clarity is pretty good almost as good as Trickey Pond as I can easily see sunken trees and rocks. When I fish a new body of water, I always troll as I can cover a lot of water in a shorter period of time. The other reason is I can make a map of the areas I'm fishing with my fish finder has that GPS capability. That's why I bought the Garmin Fish Striker 4CV as it's perfect for the kayak angler as it's small and has a lot of useful features. 

As I'm trolling the north end of the lake and I start picking off small bass and couple of yellow perch. I mark few fish here and there, but I get no takers. On this section of the lake called the Upper Bay is sparsely populated as cottages are scattered along the shoreline. The cloud cover is still low so I can't see the mountains in the distance and I heard Kezar is beautiful in the fall when the trees turn color. 

I work my way around both Birch and Sheep islands. On the west side of them, the lake is shallow with an average depth of 10' and plenty of weeds and on the east side is primarily steep dropoffs going as deep as 50' in some spots. I stick the east side because it's deeper, I'm probably about 20' from shore as I'm trolling. This section is better for drop shotting, but it would take up a lot of time as I tend to fish slowly using this method. So far the tally is 10 largemouth, 5 smallmouth, and 3 yellow perch. All of the fish I caught came from 20' of water close to structure. I cut across to Rattlesnake island and follow the shoreline. Here the water is even more deep as I'm in 35 feet of water. I'm not sure how deep my crankbait is running, but I get no hits as I go around the point of the island. As I round the point, I see a lot of rocks near shore, so I stand up and start casting. I pick off a couple of smallmouth and farther down I see a cliff that hangs over the lake. I reel in and head over to investigate. I stand up and I can see a lot of large boulders and this time I grab the other rod as I already have it setup for drop shotting. I throw on oxblood roboworm and lob it out near the rocks. I immediately close the bail and I watch the line as it starts to sink to the bottom. Sometimes I've had bass hit it as it's dropping. I see the line go slack and I slowly retrieve it. I really don't jig, but I walk the sinker over the bottom, letting the worm move to entice a hit. I start the process of working the cliff and then I feel subtle hit and I set the hook. I feel the rod throb and I see a smallmouth leap from the water. I try to corral it in and I grab the fish. I'm relieved that I didn't lose my worm, because half of the time I lose them because jumping fish often fling them off the hook and they don't float. When it comes to plastic worms, I swear that roboworms are the best. The problem is I can't find them anywhere in Maine and I'll have a make another online order in the future. I picked off some more fish and I thought to myself maybe it's time for some lakers.

For drop shotting I was using my 7' Dobyns Sierra series medium fast rod and Shimano Miravel 2500 reel spooled with 10lbs braid with a 8lbs fluorocarbon leader. I tie on a 1ozs tungsten jig as lead jigs are illegal to use in Maine and I put on a 4" white gulp minnow. I start to move to farther out and I quickly get into deep water, even though I'm probably less than a 100 yards from the shore. I stop when I get to a 100' of water, but I don't see any fish on the screen. All I see are long green lines as I'm still on the learning curve trying to decipher what the images are. I don't see the typical arcs that represent fish and I see no bait. The upper section of the lake is big so I might be in a spot that doesn't hold a lot of fish. I adjust the gain manually to 95% so I can better see my jig. The wind starts picking up and I'm concerned that I won't be able to effectively jig. I drop the jig and it quickly descends into the depths. I can see it on the screen and I stop it at 50' as I'm in 70' of water. I slowly start jigging and I can see on the screen the zig zag marks. I look at the a-scope and I see no bright colors as that represents fish. I go on the menu of my fish striker and select the fish symbols. On the screen I see these cartoon images of fish with their respective depth, but I can't see my jig. I have no idea if the fish finder even knows they're fish so I switch it back to the orginal images. As I drift I start getting into more shallow water and I turn around and head a little further out into deeper water and start the process again. Since I'm limited in time, I give myself an hour and with the gusty winds, I abandon my attempt at lakers as I didn't mark a single fish. 

I went back to the dropshot rig and put on another worm. I cast towards the shore and I let the rig drop to the bottom. I slowly work the shoreline and I start snagging bottom. I get in closer and I see a large tree in the water. I'm able to retrieve my rig and I try to stay away from the shoreline.  I cast out and immediatley close the bail. I watch the line sink and then it goes slack. I slowly pull the rig across the bottom. As I pull up, I feel some resistance and then a slight tug. I set the hook and at first I think I'm snagged. But the snag moves and my first thought is I snagged a branch. Then I feel the rod throb and I know it's a fish. Then it starts to fight hard and the rod doubles over and the drag starts going. It must be a big bass and I stand up and it's big largemouth bass. It's a hefty specimen and I take a quick picture. With the wind coming from the south, I start drifting along the island in about 25' of water. On the fish finder I start seeing some large fish hanging off humps and sure enough I feel a hit and set the hook. I see a large smallmouth leap from the water. I pull it along the kayak and it's probably close to 5 pounds. I start mixing it up as I use flatworms and gulp minnows, but the preferred bait is still the worms. 

The wind is gusting from the south and the lake is starting to get choppy. I seek refuge along the north side of the island. By now I see some people in boats fishing along the shoreline. The clouds gradually gave way and I see the mountains. To the north is the Caribou-Speckled Mountain wilderness which is over 11,000 acres in size and is very popular with hikers. To the west are the White mountains as Kezar is close to the New Hampshire border. From a higher elevation, you can easily see Mount Washington. Both me and my girlfriend have recreational kayaks and we've talked about coming out in October to see the fall foliage. 

I look at the time and it's almost noon and with the choppy conditions I call it a day. Kezar Lake is the biggest body of water I've fished to date here in Maine. It can be fished in kayak but give yourself plenty of time as the upper section of the lake is large and wide. If you prefer to fish in a more confined area there is another boat ramp at the south end of the lake and that is more suited for warmwater fish. Also cell phone reception is very poor so you might want to let people know before heading out. My entire time out, I only saw two other boats and there was hardly any boat traffic. 

Trickey Pond, Maine

Another weekend and another pond to check out. This time I headed over to Trickey Pond near Naples, Maine. Trickey Pond is a unique body of water that is located between Sebago and Long Lakes. It's considered small by Maine standards about 310 acres in size and has a maximum depth of 59ft. From what I've read the pond is primarily fed by springs and because the water is filtered through the ground, it has exceptional water clarity as summer secchi disc readings are typically close to forty feet. It's considered one of the cleanest bodies of water in the state.

Trickey Pond supports both coldwater and warmwater fish species. According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries, the pond is annually stocked with landlocked Atlantic salmon and brook trout because the pond has limited spawning habitat for these species. The pond use to have a population of lake trout but it collapsed and stocking was discontinued in the early 90s, because of the bass predation and in its place splake are stocked. Of course, the most numerous game fish in the pond is bass. 

As I usually do before heading to a new body of water, I'll download a depth map and look for any fishing reports. I found several past fishing reports and those anglers have referred to Trickey as a place where you have to really work for the fish. The qaulity is fish is high, but the quantity is low as the pond can only support so many fish. But, since I'm targeting bass, I don't think I'll have a problem getting into fish this morning.

As expected this weekend, we had more rain and this makes it 16 of 17 weekends of it. I volunteered to work Saturday as it rained most of the day and I was more than happy to get overtime as I would have probably been a fixture on the couch that day. I hit the road a little after five in the morning and the sky is overcast and gloomy. The drive is about 35 minutes north on highway 114 and I turn off to the public boat ramp which is located on the southside of the pond. Unlike Peabody and Hancock, the boat ramp is new and there's ample parking. There's also a cleaning station and even the use of free lifejackets. 

There's already one truck parked and I unload and assemble the kayak, but I forgot my paddle so I hope my pedal drive doesn't malfunction, because it's not going to be fun having to paddle with my hands. I push off the ramp and I immediately notice how clear the water is. The clarity is remarkable as I can easily see rocks, branches and leaves scattered on the bottom without the aid of polarized glasses. I pedal out and I see a small boat with 2 guys slowly trolling out in the deeper water, there most likely going for salmon or trout and me on the other hand, I'm in full bass mode. 

I start on the western side of the pond and I noticed how shallow it is. On the fish finder, I notice there's really no structure on the bottom. I cast out my trusty silver crankbait and start trolling. I pedal and soak in the scenery. The surrounding hills are cloaked in mist and the pines and hemlock have a beautiful green hue against the grey sky. I pass a summer camp and I'm sure the kids are still sleeping and itching to get in a swim in as yesterday was a crummy day. 

I'm not marking any fish so I go in close to shore. I stand up and I can see the bottom as there's sunken trees scattered about. I can also see several bass beds, but no bass as the eggs probably hatched last month. I cast near any available structure and I can easily see my crankbait flutter in the water. I scan and I see no fish not even a minnow or sunfish. I can't imagine what the clarity is like when the sun is out, because I'm still stunned how clear it is. I throughly work the shoreline and get no hits.

I ditch fishing close to shore and resume trolling in water about 20' deep and I mark a fish here and there. I round a point and I see a bunch of pontoon boats at a dock. Then I see a lot of campers parked in the woods. It's now a little after six in the morning and so far I have a skunk drapped on my neck. The pond is also shallow here as I pass over 12' of water and all I see is a flat featureless bottom. I decide to cross over and see what's on the other side. I look over at the 2 islands, but the depth map I have shows it's only 10' deep around so I don't even bother trying. 

There's plenty of cottages on the eastside and all of them have docks so I know there will be bass hanging around. I troll along the shore and noticed it's deep right off the shoreline. I'm maybe 20' off the shore when my rod gets slammed. The fight is brief as the line goes slack and I reel in my lure. I position myself about 50ft off the docks and I cast as close as I can to them. I feel a hit and set the hook and pull in a small largemouth bass. I continue to cast near docks and boats and I'm picking off fish, but nothing really big. I also noticed there's more structure as can see large boulders scattered about. 

I finally make my way to the south end of the pond and I see the two guys in the boat that were trolling for salmon. They were anchored and I could see a couple bobbers in the water and they were eating breakfast and chilling. We started chatting and the first thing I noticed was a fly rod in the rod holder. In this part of the country, it's common to see some anglers use leadcore line on a fly reel when fishing smaller lakes for either salmon and trout. Curious I asked the guy about his set up. He told me it was a 9 weight rod and he used 3 smelt streamers in tandem and would fish them higher in the water column. He went to say that he often pulled the line to get any fish nearby their attention. In my head, I thinking it's basically a teaser set up. They also had a small downrigger and fished deeper around 35 feet deep and they were running spoons. I asked if they had any success and they said no. 

I've thought of the idea of getting a leadcore setup instead of using a downrigger. It would make sense, if I'm fishing smaller bodies of water where I don't have to fish really deep water. I have a couple crankbaits that can get down to 30 feet deep, but I haven't really bother to try it because I don't have a rod holder yet and I know my wrist will pay dearly if I decide to troll with them. I tend to prefer to jig if I start marking fish or I'll just wait until fall when the ponds start to get colder and the salmon and trout move into shallow water. 

I wish them luck and I turn around and head north along the eastern side of the pond. I begin trolling once again trying to stay in that 15 to 20 foot range and I rod gets hit really hard. This fish feels really big and I hear a splash behind me, but I can't see what it is. I stop and stand up and I see a huge bass fighting hard to reach the bottom. A few time the drag starts going and I tighten it. I finally get a glimpse and it's a largemouth. I finally get it along the kayak and pull it out of the water. It has a huge belly and I estimate it to be around 5 pounds. Catching a largemouth is a rare feat for me as we didn't have any where I grew up in Ontario as we were too far north. In Ohio there were plenty of lakes and ponds that had them, but I was never a summer angler there. It was a beautiful specimen none the less and I gently released it and slowly swam into the depths. 

As the morning progress the sun gradually came out and so did the people at the summer camp. I hear the engines of boats firing up at the camp and the counselors took several kids out and raced up and down the pond. I knew that meant it was time for me to head back. A small pond and boat traffic don't mix very well. When I arrived at the boat ramp, I could see several people in scuba gear enter the water. I can't imagine what it must look like diving in a lake that rivals the waters of the Caribbean. I joked to them that they could see all of the fish I didn't catch. I haul out and I noticed a couple of trucks with trailers waiting. I quickly grab my kayak cart and head back down. I place the kayak on top the cart and start pulling it up the ramp. The people in the truck commented that the cart was ingenious. As I strapping the kayak on the car roof, I noticed more people are coming in and there's no parking spots. A guy asked if I'm leaving and said yes. He instructs his friend to get out and hold the spot as he unloads the trailer. We talk about the fishing and I told him I did well on the east side of the pond. With the kayak secured, I wished him good luck. That's one of the reasons why I get up so early to go fish. I've often told my girlfriend that getting out early means there's hardly anybody out and the fishing is best in the early morning hours, plus I won't get brunt to a crisp fishing in the sun. 

Trickey Pond is one of the most unique bodies of water I've ever fished. I can't remember ever fishing water that clear. It's the perfect pond for the kayak angler as it's small enough to cover it entirely in a couple of hours. 

Peabody Pond, Maine

Peabody Pond was the next fishing adventure on my list. This pond is just east of Hancock Pond and is similair in size roughly about 740 acres and it has a maximum depth is 69' and the mean depth is 32'. Peabody is well suited for both coldwater and warmwater fish. The abundant of rocky shoreline and coves provide excellent habitat for bass, yellow perch and chain pickerel. According to the Maine Environmental Association, Peabody has enough deep water to support a population of landlocked Atlantic salmon, brook trout and lake trout. But, when I researched online, I did find reports of landlocked salmon being caught, but nothing about brook or lake trout. 

Peabody is very similair to Hancock in regards to structure and depth. According to depth chart maps, there's a long deep chasm that runs along the westside of the pond and the average depth is over 50'. On the southern end, there are a couple of rocky outcrops with steep dropoffs. There's also a couple large boulders that can be seen farther out in the pond and there's plenty of rocks around them. The eastside has a lot of shallow water with very little structure and gradually gets deeper when you move offshore.  

I arrive around 5:30am at the public boat launch and the first thing I noticed there was a small shed for anglers to wash their boats as the state of Maine is very serious about limiting the spread of Eurasian milfoil, as it's present in Long Lake and the north end of Sebago Lake. But, since I wash my kayak prior to every outing, I didn't bother hosing it down. It's raining when I get out and last night I read that Maine has had 12 consecutive weekends with rain. Even the hardiest of Mainers are fed-up with this weather. Of course, I forgot my raincoat, but the weather report called for showers and then clearing later in the morning. A few drops of rain isn't going to stop me. 

I launch and pedal out of the small cove towards the expanse of the pond. To my left there was a line of cabins going all the way up the shoreline. On my right, there was only one cabin. Looking at my fish finder I was going over 15' of water and I started marking fish, hopefully that's a good sign of what's to come. 

On this trip, I brought along my new rod and reel. This one was a beefier rod for drop shotting and for bigger fish, like striped bass that I'm planning on fishing for next month. But, for this outing, I was content to use the ultralight. I pull out my tackle box full of crank baits, husky jerks, and countdown minnows. Eventhough I've amassed a collection of them, I don't have a wide variety colors as I don't fancy the over the top colors like Wonderbread, Glow Pink Squirrel, and Headspin to name a few. I go with the basics like silver, blue, and gold. Since I'm using the ultralight, I go with the silver Rapala 3/16oz shad rap. It's always been my go to lure for smallmouth ever since I was teenager.

I go around the point and I stop pedaling and get up to survey the water. I see a dock and large rocks and boulders scattered about and my fish finder tells me I'm over 15' of water. The water has a slight tannic tint to it and I can see probably at 6' deep without the aid of glasses. I start casting to my right and methodical start working the water, somewhere there's a bass or two lurking about. Since Maine doesn't have a close season on smallmouth, all I need is to get near a nest and a male smallmouth will surely hit. I'm about 100' from the shore and I'm casting between the rocks and then the crankbait gets slammed. I rod bends hard and I see the bass bulldogging under the surface and then it launches itself from the water. I sit down and let the fish exhaust itself, before I take it out of the water. It's a chunky fish and I place it next to my paddle that has a tagged measuring tape and the fish is about 16" long. I put it in the water and it quickly disappears. 

As I'm fishing, I hear several crows making a ruckus as I look up at the trees and there's a bald eagle trying to ignore the them. Despite their attempts to harass and getting the eagle to move along, he stands his ground. I wished I brought my camera as this would have been a great opportunity to take a picture of this interaction. Eventually, the eagle has finally had enough and takes off and the crows are in hot pursuit. When I was at Hancock last week, I found a eagle's nest high in a large white pine. So, I wondered if there was an eagle's nest on this pond. 

As I start the process of pedaling and standing up as I move along the shoreline. I noticed a couple of anglers in a boat slowly trolling farther out and they were most likely fishing for salmon. I've yet to try for an Atlantic salmon as they're in Sebago Lake, but these smaller ponds, they are most likely stocked and probably never get bigger than a few pounds. As of now, I have no real interest in fishing for salmon. I continue along the shoreline and I see on the fish finder that I'm starting to get into some shallow water. I see the large number of rocks just a couple feet under me and start to back pedal. I survey the water and it's a shallow rocky point. It's classic drop shotting water as I'm now over 20' of water. But I suspect the bass are still in shallow water as the surface water temp is 58F. I work the point and I start getting into fish some on the hefty side. I enter the GPS data into my fish finder so I know where the exact location of this spot. 

I fish around a couple of docks and noticed a number of the cabins are still vacant despite being  June. I look to the eastern side of the pond and notice there's hardly any cottages. I enter another cove and it's more shallow with a depth of 8' and less rocks. The first bass I catch is a little one that took on more than it can chew as it about 6" long. I start picking off really small fish and then nothing after that, as I noticed on the fish finder the bottom is flat. Then I see another rocky point and I get into position to start hitting the outer point. By now the wind has picked up and starts gusting. The pond starts to get choppy and that makes it a little difficult for me fish effectively as I can't stand up without the risk of falling in. If the wind wasn't an issue, I was going to head farther out as I noticed a large boulder sticking out of the water. Wanting to seek refuge from the wind I decided to head over to the westside of the pond. 

Since I've already know where the points are, I figure it's a good time to start trolling. As I troll along the outer edge of the rocky points, I start marking a lot of suspended fish. As I'm pedaling, I feel my rod yank and start reeling in. I feels like a small fish and once I get it in, it's a yellow perch. I end up getting another perch of similar size and couple decent size bass as I pass the other rocky point. I cross over a cove and the rod gets slammed. This feels like a bigger fish and once again I think it's a bass when it surfaces it's a chain pickerel, probably about 18" and to my excitement, my very first pickerel. It's a skinny fish as I remember back in Canada we use to call small pike hammer handles. It has a unique color pattern and I wondered if they'll start moving into the shallows when the pond warms up. 

I pedal across the pond and I'm impressed how well it takes on the waves. When I reach the western side, the first thing I notice is there's a lack of rocks. The fish finder also shows a flat featureless bottom. I figure I'll just troll my way up along the shoreline. Just like the other side of the pond, a large number of cabins are not occupied this weekend. I start marking some fish, but I don't get any takers. As I continue I notice the depth is getting more and shallower. I look down and see bottom. No weeds or any structure that would attract any fish. It's almost noon and with the wind getting worse and it's getting very hot, I decide it's a good time to call it a day. 

The funny thing is Peabody Pond is considered a classic smallmouth bass lake with its abundant of rocks and drop-offs, even though bass aren't native to Maine. That's probably why there isn't a closed season on them as I read in some watersheds like the Rapid River, the state encourages anglers to outright kill any smallmouth as they have negatively imapcted the native brook trout population. 

But, what I liked about Peabody Pond was it had minimal development as nearly over half of it was unspoiled. It was refreshing not having to hear the buzzing of jet skis or power boats. All I heard was the songs of birds and the sound of wind blowing through the pines. For the kayak angler this is a perfect place to fish. 

Hancock Pond, Maine

I knew when I moved to Maine, there was going to be changes. Gone was the steelhead fishing and that meant filling in the void during the winter would be ice fishing. For the record, I have no desire to do ice fishing as I find it boring, because I like to be on the move. I'm sure my girlfriend would find it comical watching me drill hole after hole in search of fish. I did a purchase a fly rod for the warmer months and just down the road was the Presumpscot River which is heavily stocked and fished within an inch of its life, because there's maybe less than a half a mile of fishable water before it widens into a huge stretch of frog water because of the dam downstream. It's one of the few rivers in the area that is opened all year as most rivers to the north are closed from October 1st to April 1st. I fished it in late March and anything that could hold fish was few and far between. I realized why some of the locals dubbed the Presumpscot as the "Aquarium" because it was so clear. The trip itself was more of a scouting expedition and I put it on the back burner for the reminder of the winter. But, prime brook trout and Atlantic salmon waters were a 2 to 3 hour drive from where I lived. There were plenty of lakes near by and I knew my best option was to get a watercraft. 

A couple weeks ago I purchased an Old Town fishing kayak with a PDL drive. The closest lake from home is Sebago Lake which happens to be a very large deep lake. It's doable in a kayak, but you have to be careful in regards to weather as waves can get large and then there's the boat traffic as I've been told can be heavy during the weekends. But there were plenty of smaller lakes to the north of me to choose from. I pulled out my Maine Atlas and Gazetteer to see what lakes were close by. I studied all of the lakes and there were Peabody and Trickey Ponds and Long Lake that all had access for watercraft. But, it was shape of Hancock Pond that intrigued me and I decided I would go there first. 

Hancock Pond is located in Oxford County just outside of Sabago. It's about 850 acres big and has minimal development around. The maximum depth is 59' and most of the deepest water is found at the narrows. The average depth of the lake is about 17'. The three primary species found in the lake are samllmouth and largemouth bass and brown trout. Hancock is one of the few lakes in Maine that is stocked with browns, probably because it's not the most ideal habitat for brook and lake trout. 

I get up around 4:00am to cook breakfast and have a cup of coffee. By the time I finish breakfast and open the garage door, it's first light. I load all my gear into the car and then hardest part is getting my kayak on the roof racks. It's a balancing act sliding a 10'6" kayak up that weights nearly a 100lbs onto the racks. Once I have the kayak set, I strap it down and hit the road. The trip itself is about 35 minutes as I take highway 35 west and then turn onto highway 114 north towards Sebago. I drive along the numerous cottages close to the shores of Sebago Lake. Then I turn on to Long Hill drive and it was another 15 minutes until I got to the boat ramp.

I arrive to the non descript pull off for the boat ramp. I see several signs plastered to trees warning anglers of about milfoil and not to bother the loons. I get out and I'm immediately greeted the swarms of black flies and mosquitoes. I try to get the kayak off as fast as possible and loaded onto the cart. The boat ramp has seen better days as it was heaving and crumbling. I struggled with my cart as the kayak would start sliding off of it when I tried to push it down the ramp. I end up having to pull up my pants over my knees and wade into the water. Even though the water was shallow, it was frigid. 

I get into the kayak and paddled out far enough that the flies weren't going to bother me. I placed the PDL drive into the water and fired up the fish finder. The water was clear enough that I could it was mostly see the bottom which was full of rocks scattered about. I looked at the fish finder screen and I see the surface water temperature was 55F. Most of the bass were probably on their beds caring for the eggs and that meant fishing shallow water. I already downloaded a depth chart of the lake and according to the chart, there was a long rocky point that jutted out into the lake just to the west of me. 

I used my 7' ultralight rod with small minnow lures and crankbaits and started working along the rocks. It was a sunny morning and the lake was very quiet as most of the cabins were still vacant and I figured most of the people were waiting for the Memorial weekend to open up their cabins. Since there wasn't any wind and the water was clear enough, I decided to stand up in the kayak. I could make out the rocks from a distance and the fish finder told me I was over 15' of water. Using a 3/16oz rapala countdown silver minnow, I basically casted out at the edge of the rocks and started to retrieve in an erratic fashion. I felt a hit and then another one and I set the hook. It turned out to be a 14" smallmouth. I started picking off mostly small bass as I continued towards the westside of the pond. 

With the colder water temperatures I was curious to see if any brown trout were lurking in the shallows. I continue to work around the rocks and my lure got tangled in the line. I tried jerking it when all of a sudden a fish struck it at the surface. I was able to hook it and from the shape it wasn't a bass. I reeled it in and it was indeed a brown trout. Nothing large, probably about 15", but it was my first brownie in long time as I've caught a couple in the Rocky past years when I was in Ohio. 

As I drifted along a series of docks, I could see several bass on their beds. Some of them were on the large size. As I drifted along, I noticed on the fish finder that this section dropped off quickly from 8' to 25' and I made a mental note that this would be a great place in the summer months to drop shot. I used the outing as a scouting trip as I continue to pedal along the shoreline. It was a variety of shallow featureless flats to rockpiles and steep drop-offs. I crossed over to the otherside of the narrows and there was the other large rocky point that had buoys placed out to warn boaters of the shallow water. Just like the other rocky point, I started picking off smaller bass around that 12" to 14" range. That was one of the reasons why I used the ultralight rod, because I knew most of the fish would be on the smaller size. 

A couple other anglers were out in their boats and they were trolling the deeper water probably for trout. I'm sure over the years, some of those small browns stocked have grown into a decent size as the lake has a heathly population of smelt and alewives to sustain the fishery. Maybe over time, as I start to trick out my kayak, I might get a downrigger. But for the time being, I just happy to fish for bass.

Hancock Pond reminded me of the small lakes I use to fish in my youth back in Northern Ontario. They were often found off old logging roads and the only way to get in was either putting a small boat in the back of a pickup truck or canoe. The fish in those lakes never got really big, but there were plenty of them as fishing pressure was next to nothing. Here in Maine, especially in the southern part of the state, these lakes get a lot more fishing pressure. 

Overall, it was pleasant outing as I only saw two boats and I soaked up the sun and a pair of loons swim close by me. The final tally was 20 bass and 2 trout, not bad for a first trip. If I was back in Ohio, my steelhead season would be winding down and I would take a hiatus from fishing for the summer. My how things have changed.