Hicks Pond in Somerset County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Hicks Pond lies within the bounds of Somerset County, Maine. It sits in pine and birch country. At 20 acres it is the sort of place you fish for an evening rather than a day. Palmyra lies 1.8 miles from the water. The big place round here is Sherbrooke, 130 miles distant. Being near a boundary, it pays to know which side you are fishing.

• Where to Fish on Hicks Pond

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for Somerset County list Atlantic salmon, brown trout, smallmouth bass and rainbow smelt. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Work Hicks Pond in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 67°F and January reads 15°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Look for the thaw near mid April; the fishing lifts straight after. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid April and starts locking again about early December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Hicks Pond runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Whites Pond at 1.3 miles is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Hicks Pond in what we hold.