Fishing Mud Pond in Hancock County, Maine

• Overview

  Set in Hancock County, Maine, this is Mud Pond. The water sits 446 feet up. About 11 acres of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Our Hancock County list holds plenty of bigger water. Dedham sits 3.7 miles from the bank. The big place round here is Sherbrooke, 168 miles distant. The county line runs close by, so rules can change within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Mud Pond

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Survey and observation records for Hancock County include Atlantic salmon, brown trout, alewife, rainbow smelt and blueback herring. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. On Mud Pond that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 68°F for July and 18°F for January. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. The lid usually goes in early April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Break-up sits around early April on average, with the water closing again about mid December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Time your trip to Mud Pond by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. The nearest mapped parking is half a mile away, so the last stretch is on foot. There is a pier recorded roughly half a mile away. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Second Pond, 0.6 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Rules at Mud Pond are worth checking on the day.