Backside Pond Fishing near Spaniard's Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador

• Overview

  Out in Whiteway, Newfoundland and Labrador, sits Backside Pond. The setting is lake country bush on every side. It measures some 1.15 sq km, and wind has room to build across it. The bank runs about 4.9 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Few waters listed in Whiteway are bigger. You are 17 km from Spaniard's Bay. Beyond it, Bay Roberts at 19 km and Harbour Grace at 20 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Backside Pond

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Work the tide here — moving water feeds, slack water rests. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Whiteway list Atlantic cod and American eel. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Treat Backside Pond as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -5°C in February and 16°C in August. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late December. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. It holds true on Backside Pond more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Backside Pond Provincial Park covers this ground, which means extra rules to check. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. If the gate is shut, Scotch Pond at 3.7 km is the nearest alternative. Confirm before you fish Backside Pond.