Little Lily Lake Fishing near Machias, Maine

• Overview

  Set in Washington County, Maine, this is Little Lily Lake. Salt water lies 4.8 miles off. Small at around 8 acres: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Our Washington County list holds plenty of bigger water. Machias is the closest place, 2.7 miles off. Dartmouth sits 191 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one county, one set of rules.

• Where to Fish on Little Lily Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Species logged across Washington County include alewife, Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brown trout and smallmouth bass. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. At Little Lily Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs 18°F to 66°F. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid April. The open-water window runs from around mid April to about mid December in an average year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Expect Little Lily Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. If the gate is shut, Hadley Lake at 1.9 miles is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for Little Lily Lake.