Cunliffe Lake in Aroostook County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Aroostook County end of Maine holds Cunliffe Lake. Country round the bank runs to pine and birch. With some 123 acres of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The full circuit measures close to 1.9 miles on foot. Some 24 miles away sits Saint-Pamphile, the nearest settlement. Further out sit Sainte-Perpétue (34 miles) and St-Jean-Port-Joli (52 miles). One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Cunliffe Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Aroostook County, recorded fish include Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt and brook trout. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Cunliffe Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 64°F at the top of summer and 8°F at the bottom of winter. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. In an average year the thaw lands around late April and the freeze near late November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Cunliffe Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Grey Pond is 2.7 miles distant. What applies at Cunliffe Lake may have changed since it was mapped.