Fishing Ragged Lake in Piscataquis County, Maine

• Overview

  Piscataquis County, Maine, is where Ragged Lake sits. Height above sea level is 1,122 feet. Surface area runs to some 4.1 sq miles, so a boat and a plan are both worth having. The perimeter is close to 24 miles, and wind can be flat in one arm and rough in the next. It ranks high for size among our Piscataquis County listings. Greenville is the closest place, 25 miles off. For a city, Lévis is 111 miles off. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Ragged Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Standing timber shows when the level drops, and fish sit against it. Rip-rap along the wall holds fish that the open bank never does. Records held for Piscataquis County cover Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout, brown trout and Arctic charr. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Ragged Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about 10°F in January to roughly 64°F in July. Winter shuts the surface down for months. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly late November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Ragged Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Little Berry Pond is 1.1 miles distant. Rules at Ragged Lake are worth checking on the day.