Island Pond Fishing Guide, Holyrood, Newfoundland and Labrador

• Overview

  Newfoundland and Labrador holds Island Pond, in Holyrood. The shore lies 18 km out. With some 58 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. With 6.8 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Start from Holyrood, 16 km down the road. Beyond it, Harbour Main-Chapel's Cove-Lakeview at 17 km and Whitbourne at 24 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Island Pond

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Holyrood include brook trout, American eel, Atlantic salmon, bull-rout and longhorn sculpin. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Island Pond the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -5°C. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about late December. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. On Island Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Father Duffy's Well Provincial Park covers this ground, which means extra rules to check. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Hawcos Pond, 2.2 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Island Pond carry more weight than any list.