Bartlett Pond Fishing Guide, Aroostook County, Maine

• Overview

  In Maine, Bartlett Pond falls inside Aroostook County. The setting is mixed forest on every side. The water covers some 75 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Shoreline comes to about 1.4 miles, small enough to learn in a day. The closest town, Presque Isle, is 42 miles distant. Patten follows at 44 miles, then Caribou at 46 miles. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Bartlett Pond

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Aroostook County names Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout, lake whitefish and Arctic charr. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. At Bartlett Pond the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 64°F and January near 7°F. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Bartlett Pond.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Leonard Pond is 1.6 miles off. Treat Bartlett Pond as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.