Southwest Pond Fishing near Phillips, Maine

• Overview

  You will find Southwest Pond in Oxford County, Maine. The bank gives way to pine and birch. This is a pocket water of some 6 acres, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Our Oxford County list holds plenty of bigger water. The nearest place of any size is Phillips, 12 miles away. Sherbrooke sits 76 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits near the edge of the county, so check which rules apply.

• Where to Fish on Southwest Pond

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Oxford County names brown trout, Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Southwest Pond fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is 11°F to 63°F. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. 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 late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. On Southwest Pond the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Swift River Pond at 2.6 miles is the sensible second choice. Rules at Southwest Pond are worth checking on the day.