Fishing at Lower Elbow Pond, Aroostook County, Maine

• Overview

  The Aroostook County end of Maine holds Lower Elbow Pond. Height above sea level is 1,112 feet. Roughly 27 acres: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Saint-Pamphile is the closest place, 46 miles off. After that come Patten at 46 miles and Presque Isle at 50 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Lower Elbow Pond

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Aroostook County records list Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout and lake whitefish among the fish reported. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Fish Lower Elbow Pond to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 64°F and January about 7°F. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about late November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. On Lower Elbow Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Middle Elbow Pond, 1.1 miles away. Treat access at Lower Elbow Pond as something to verify.