You'll have to excuse my delay between post, but I've been out fishing remote locations!

I spent several days last week fishing Toddy Pond in Orland Maine. I picked up a variety of fish species by using a variety of fishing techniques. When I first arrived, I made my way through the narrows to Toddy Ponds eastern end and worked my magic on Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass. I kept feeling sharp quick hits and decided to down size my jig and worm hoping to hook up with larger Bluegills.

I used a 1/4 ounce jig to hook up with small Bluegills. After pulling three or four small Gills out of the water, I headed to the ledges to see if the Bass were active on the steep drop-offs. They were.....but I couldn't hook up with any large Bass. So, I made my way back to Toddy Pond and called it a night.

In the morning, I decided to concentrate on Salmonids. My 50 foot temperature gauge ordered from Cabela's this spring, indicated the thermocline at twenty-one feet down. Although the surface temperature of the lake stayed static at 72*F during most of my trip, the first twenty-one feet of the lake went from 72*F to 62*F. Then, the temperature dropped to 50*F in about a foot.

I started targeting this area and picked up a small keeper Landlocked on a William's blue and silver lure. My down rigger was set for twenty one feet, but I had rigged the lure 100 feet behind the release. I believe I was trolling just below the thermocline at a GPS speed of 2.2 mph.

Wanting to hook up with bigger fish, I headed to Van Raymonds in Brewer, Maine. I was looking for frozen smelt, dead or picked. Van Raymonds didn't have any but told me of a bait dealer that might on Rt. 1A headed into Ellsworth.

I found the bait dealer; he is located directly across from the Howland Public Works Department. There was no one around; so I waited half hour. After that, I decided to start fishing for salmonids again, and headed back to Toddy.

Having no smelt to sew on, I made my best effort with a blue and silver DG smelt which ended up hooking a Splake after my downrigger weight crashed into a rock pile on the Eastern end of the Pond. The rock pile was adjacent to deep water and I believe the pumping action of the weight hitting the rocks enticed the fish into striking. The rock pile is located in the middle of a bay created by Long Point Peninsula. It was a favorite hang out for fish while I was there.

Another popular spot seemed to be against the sharply dropping Eastern shore. If one area was not holding fish, the other area was. I tried to attribute it to the wind direction, but there seemed to be no correlation.

August, being a slow season for Salmonids, I would occasionally break up the day with a little bass fishing. I first targeted the steep drop offs but found more action in the shallows adjacent to deep water. This seemed to be the case even in the middle of the day. Remember, the surface water temperature of this pond was 72*F. I think this is what kept the Largemouths so active in the shallows.

Toddy Pond has plenty of deep water and very few weeds. If you make your way through the narrows, the water turns shallow. Toddy Lake, at least the way it is labeled in my 2005 edition of the Maine Gazetteer, is a shallow body of water encompassing a large area which is no more than thirty feet deep.

Due to the multitude of species this body of water holds, it will hold the interest of a varied number of fisherman. When it comes to ice fishing season, I hear the place is packed.

Till next time....have fun fishing and be safe by wearing sunglasses for eye protection and life jackets for life protection!

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