Southwest Pond Fishing Guide, Washington County, Maine

• Overview

  Washington County, Maine, is where Southwest Pond sits. The setting is rolling bush on every side. The water covers some 142 acres, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The bank runs about 2.3 miles all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. The town to know is Cherryfield, 14 miles out. Sherbrooke sits 196 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Southwest Pond

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Reported across Washington County: alewife, Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brown trout and smallmouth bass. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Southwest Pond a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 67°F in July and bottom out at 17°F in January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from mid April. Averages place the thaw at mid April and the freeze at early December. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Southwest Pond regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Failing this one, try Bog Brook Flowage, 1.9 miles away. Check the current arrangement for Southwest Pond.