Fishing Priestly Lake in Aroostook County, Maine

• Overview

  Priestly Lake sits within Aroostook County in Maine. It lies 1,135 feet above sea level. About 629 acres, so local knowledge or a boat saves a lot of walking. With 9.0 miles or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Size puts it in the front rank of our Aroostook County list. Saint-Pamphile lies 35 miles from the water. Sainte-Perpétue is 45 miles away, with Patten at 58 miles. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Priestly Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Survey and observation records for Aroostook County include Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout and lake whitefish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Read Priestly Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 64°F, with January the cold end at about 8°F. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. At Priestly Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Little Churchill Pond is 1.6 miles off. For Priestly Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.