Ward Pond, Maine: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Ward Pond is one of the Kennebec County listings for Maine. The coast is 25 miles away. It runs to roughly 54 acres — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Roughly 1.2 miles of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Start from Belgrade, 3 miles down the road. The big place round here is Sherbrooke, 124 miles distant. No boundary runs near, so the county rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Ward Pond

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. 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. Survey and observation records for Kennebec County include brown trout, Atlantic salmon, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Ward Pond responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about 18°F and July at about 69°F, the water has a wide range to work through. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early April. Open water usually runs from early April until about mid December. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Plan any trip to Ward Pond around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Part of this sits inside or beside Ward Pond Woods, so read the notices. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Joe Pond, 1.6 miles out. Nothing here settles the position at Ward Pond for certain.