Fishing a Maine pond

For reasons beyond my control, I find myself making summer vacation
arrangements far in advance of my usual last-minute planning system. One
advantage, I suppose, is that I get to think more about where I might find
any opportunity to escape the family & wet a line. Adding to the
anticipation is knowing I'll be staying on a fairly decent pond for wild
smallmouth (& stocked brookies).

I've probably asked this before; but I have a short memory, so I'll start
over. I'm okay at reading streams and moving water; but I suck at flat
water. Hell, that's probably the main reason I gave up bass fishing. I
don't have a clue about where to fish, when to fish, or how to fish a still
body of water.

So if I'm fishing for smallies in a northern Maine pond of about 400 acres
in July, what's a reasonable course of action? What are the clues? Yes, I
realize there's no magic bullet here and the right answer differs on any
given day or set of conditions; but given my overall cluelessness about
lakes and smallies, I'm looking for general discussion for what bottom
structure, water depths, shoreline conditions I should be looking for to
make good decisions once I get there. Do I fish deep, or shallow? Early or
late? Edges of weedbeds or around deep boulder fields?

I have six months to tie up flies too, so a few suggestions for locally
effective flies would be nice.

Joe F.

On 16-Jan-2008, "rb608" wrote:

I'll be staying on a fairly decent pond for wild
smallmouth (& stocked brookies).

I've probably asked this before; but I have a short memory, so I'll start
over. I'm okay at reading streams and moving water; but I suck at flat
water. Hell, that's probably the main reason I gave up bass fishing. I
don't have a clue about where to fish, when to fish, or how to fish a
still
body of water.

The first thing I always look for is a coool inlet if there is one
as July can be quite hot
Is there a creek opr stream feeding the pond?
Right there is where i wiould fish

Evenings dry flies

If it is very hot weather go deeper otherwise a streamer stripped correctly
is what I would do
and I wiould not fish w the sun out and bright wait for clouds or rain or
eves pr early mornings
Nothing bites at 100 degresss
My 2 cents

I have fished a LOT opf maine ponds

Fred

My .02......... As a Mainer I fished alot of ponds when I lived there
live in ct now.......Water temps do not get to hot in northern Maine
just jump in you will find out for yourself.........Was in Bangor area
2 years ago in August fished in a pond east of clifton smallies were
jumping out of the water I tried to get to them but the bull grass
( maybe wrong on that) was way to high and water to deep 3 feet
offshore 4 to 5 feet deep and muddy when back next day in a canoe
fished black wooly buggers and #12 march browns did alright a couple
in the 3-4lb range..........Smallies like rocks look for rock
structures submerged trees any structure under water with streamers
mimic yellowperch, white perch, minnows, baby brook trout....... lily-
pads rocks sticking out of water trees out of water for drys and
wets.......... Drys and wets will depend on location, bottom of water,
ie muddy, rocky, sandy........Adams is a good one as is a mouse
pattern........For drys finger strip moving a little at a time stop
the strip again making the fly walk acrost the
water..........Streamers if water temps are optimal strip at a decent
rate if warm strip slower bounce of the structure bass like falling
bait flies lures worms whatever comes there way.........Brookies will
proberly be in deeper cooler water................. Best of luck to ya
Joe
The Handy One

On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:42:40 GMT, "rb608"
wrote:

Adding to the
anticipation is knowing I'll be staying on a fairly decent pond for wild
smallmouth (& stocked brookies).

Don't know much about the bass, Joe, but when I fished *very* remote
ponds north of where you will be, I used a canoe and the brook trout
where close to shore under bushes that hung over the water. Drop a
dry fly (goddard cadis) close to the overhanging branches, and I got a
rise on almost every cast. But, that was on the remote ponds (had to
fly in to some of them) and the fish were wild. I'm betting the
brookies would be in similar water on the pond you will be fishing.

Dave

On Jan 16, 9:42*pm, "rb608" wrote:
So if I'm fishing for smallies in a northern Maine pond of about 400 acres
in July,

Thanks to all for the tips thus far. I'll add some info. I'll be in
the Moosehead Lake area specifically, Prong Pond. I'll have a stable
kayak at my disposal (Old Town 160T), and I'll be less than a 30
minute paddle from either end of the pond, so I can go anywhere.

I've been there before sans rod, and I know there are lots of
shallower marshy areas as well as deeper spots where glaciers have
dropped huge boulders on the bottom (those are reall cool looking in
the clear water of the pond where they rise up off the bottom to just
below the surface.)

Joe F.

On Jan 17, 7:10*am, Dave LaCourse wrote:
Drop a
dry fly (goddard cadis) close to the overhanging branches, and I got a
rise on almost every cast. *

Oh great. I tied a few dozen Goddard Caddis for a GFS one year. I
had deer hair clippings up my nose, in my hair, all the hell over the
place. I almost swore I'd never spin deer hair again. :-)

On the good side, I remember another ROFFian caught a trout in Alaska
with my swap fly, so that was vicariously cool.

Joe F.

On Jan 17, 3:12 pm, rb608 wrote:

Don´t know whether the advice is any good, but you might enjoy them
anyway;

http://www.openlibrary.org/details/f...nmai00stevrich

http://www.archive.org/details/brook...term00bradiala

http://www.archive.org/details/morea...ckba00hensrich

http://www.archive.org/details/booko...assc00hensrich

TL
MC

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TL
MC