Fishing Molasses Pond in Hancock County, Maine

• Overview

  Molasses Pond is a Hancock County water, in Maine. The setting is lake country bush. About 1,280 acres, so local knowledge or a boat saves a lot of walking. The shoreline runs about 8.5 miles, so it pays to pick a stretch and stay with it. Size puts it in the front rank of our Hancock County list. Nearest town is Franklin, 6.2 miles off. The nearest city of size is Sherbrooke, 186 miles away. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Molasses Pond

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Hancock County, recorded fish include Atlantic salmon, brown trout, alewife, rainbow smelt and blueback herring. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Anyone new to Molasses Pond should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 67°F in July and bottom out at 17°F in January. Hard water is a season in its own right here. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid April. The water is typically free of ice between mid April and mid December. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Molasses Pond runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Failing this one, try Scammon Pond, 1.2 miles away. Nothing here settles the position at Molasses Pond for certain.