Fishing Crooked Pond in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador

• Overview

  Out in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, sits Crooked Pond. The surface lies 192 metres up. With some 13 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. Bank access stretches around 3.0 km in total. 9.6 km away sits Placentia, the nearest town. Whitbourne is 43 km and Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview 66 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Crooked Pond

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Public occurrence data for Placentia names American eel, Arctic charr, Atlantic sturgeon and brook trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Crooked Pond a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 15°C, the coldest about -6°C. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near mid December. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. On Crooked Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Failing this one, try Duck Pond, 1.3 km away. Where Crooked Pond is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.