Fishing Puncheon Pond in Gambo, Newfoundland and Labrador

• Overview

  Puncheon Pond falls in Gambo, part of Newfoundland and Labrador. The bank is 34 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 21 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge runs 2.9 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. You are 6.6 km from Gambo. The big place round here is St. John's, 182 km distant. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Puncheon Pond

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Fish documented in Gambo include Atlantic salmon, brook trout, Arctic charr, American eel and rainbow smelt. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Puncheon Pond the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, February about -8°C. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. The season between ice runs from about late April to early December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. That is the shape of the year on Puncheon Pond.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. The map shows no ramp or car park nearby, so this is a walk-in water. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Little Butts Pond sits 1.1 km off and takes the overflow. For Puncheon Pond, the notice at the access point is the final word.