Fishing Burden Pond in Piscataquis County, Maine

• Overview

  Piscataquis County, Maine, is where Burden Pond sits. Height above sea level is 636 feet. At about 202 acres, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Roughly 2.6 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. On our Piscataquis County list it sits near the top for size. For a base, Brownville sits 11 miles out. For a city, Sherbrooke is 129 miles off. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Burden Pond

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. 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. Fish documented in Piscataquis County include Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout, brown trout and Arctic charr. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. Take Burden Pond a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 66°F for July and 12°F for January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and early December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. On Burden Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Duck Pond sits 0.9 miles off and takes the overflow. Check the position on Burden Pond before loading the car.