Ripogenus Pond in Piscataquis County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Ripogenus Pond is a Piscataquis County water, Maine side. The bank is 1,066 feet above sea level. It measures about 81 acres, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Around 1.4 miles of margin, front to back. Millinocket is the closest place, 35 miles off. Patten is 39 miles and Greenville 40 miles. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Ripogenus Pond

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Fish documented in Piscataquis County include Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout, brown trout and Arctic charr. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. Take Ripogenus Pond a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 65°F and January near 10°F. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about early December. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. It sets the rhythm of the year at Ripogenus Pond.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. 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. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Mud Pond, 2.2 miles out. Confirm before you fish Ripogenus Pond.