Spider Lake Fishing in Aroostook County, Maine

• Overview

  Out in Aroostook County, Maine, sits Spider Lake. The setting is pine and birch. Roughly 918 acres of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. With 7.2 miles or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Few waters listed in Aroostook County are bigger. Nearest town is Saint-Pamphile, 44 miles off. Patten follows at 48 miles, then Sainte-Perpétue at 54 miles. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Spider Lake

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Records held for Aroostook County cover Atlantic salmon, rainbow smelt, brook trout, lake whitefish and Arctic charr. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. The shape of Spider Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 64°F and January near 8°F. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. Climate figures give an open season running late April to late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Spider Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public data records a boat ramp half a mile out. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Failing this one, try Grass Pond, 2 miles away. The position on Spider Lake is worth confirming on the day.