Belgrade Lakes Photos

We left Rockland Feb 2007 to seek ice in the north and the pike beneath it. Long Pond in Belgrade, Maine was our destination. Last year with the somewhat poor ice conditions, we did manage to get out on the north end of Great Pond and caught the little guy below. Mar-E learned the art of tent sailing as the 25 mile an hour winds took her for a ride. It was quite a sight. I almost couldn't catch her as I was laughing too hard.

A sudden urge gripped Mar-E to head to Belgrade lakes again and try for big pike. So we loaded up the truck with the gear and "Chief" and off we went. Friday we fished Long Pond to no avail. We were in 20 ft of water near Castle Island Road along the channel. Day 2 found us on Great pond. Access is from the north end and ice conditions were ideal for vehicular travel. 16-20 inches of ice cover the surface so out we drove. Nothing like heater fishing. Traps out in the cold ,me and Mar-E nice and warm in the truck. There were plenty of fishermen on Great Pond, Saturday and Sunday. Only heard of a couple pike caught all day, both in the 8 pound range. The man who caught the 2 fish said he was fishing shiners 15 ft below the ice out over deep water. We were fishing 8 traps for pike and 2 for salmon on Great Pond, we hung most baits 1-2 ft of the bottom and a couple of traps we set for 12-15 ft. Mar-E got her first lesson on big fish as she lost a nice one at the "hole". I had just bought her a new ice trap for Valentine's Day and sure enough that flag went up. Pulling a good sized fish into a 18inch deep hole is tricky business. Right Mar-E! Talking to the local "boys" fishing has been slow and they are looking forward to next week and the local pike tournaments. Mar-E and I are heading for Long Pond and the Lions Fishing Derby. One unexpected treat was the pair of Bald eagles that buzzed the pond looking for any thrown away baitfish.

There are plenty of bait shops in the area and we chose this one. Plenty of what you need in a friendly atmosphere. It carries a complete line of ice fishing gear and bait. Stop at the Sunset Grille for breakfast and make friends with the locals. You can pick up your ticket to the tournament from your waitress as you drink your coffee.

This year's winner of a $1000.00 dollars for a pike over 20 pounds was Les Witham. There were plenty fish from 18-20 lbs and there were some disappointed people. I was surprised when people were talking about throwing back 10 pound or bigger fish. Now we know why. A great time was had by all and there were fish from all the categories. Salmon, brook trout, brown trout, pike , splake, pickerel, and togue filled the board and the runner up table. Christy's parking lot and Rte 27 were filled with vehicles and people coming to the weigh in. You can't beat the look on the face of a winner or some one who's brought in their first fish to weigh.