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'. The pond 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.
Prior to heading out, I downloaded a depth chart of the pond and studied it. There's a long deep chasm that runs along the westside and the average depth is over 50'. On the eastside there are a couple of rocky outcrops and all along the shoreline there are steep dropoffs. On the south end, there's a small shallow cove. Peabody is very similair to Hancock in regards to structure and depth.
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 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. But, 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 left 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 the 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 plentiful 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 as of now. 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 get to 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 almost 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 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 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.
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