Living in Maine, many of us have been fortunate enough to have found our common bond with our favorite season. For anglers across the state, January 1 marks opening day for ice fishing. While some die hards were scoping out those bodies of water open for fishing before the new year, the majority of fishermen will be dotting the landscape on opening day.

During the early fishing season, Maine Fish & Wildlife stated that popular bodies of water included Norcross, Parker and Sand ponds, all in Chesterville, and Roxbury Pond.

Before opening day, I caught up with my brother, Tim Holland, as he eats, breathes, sleeps and dreams ice fishing, or anything outdoors, for that matter.
He informed me that he and his fishing buddy, Abe Bradeen were all ready to get the shack out on Worthley Pond in Peru and had everything set to go on opening day. He said that depending on the weather, he’s seen close to a foot of ice on Worthley at the beginning of the season, “depending on what the fall weather looked like.”

“The old Jiffy auger is full of gas and ready to go. We like to use a variety of smelts and shiners, and once in a while, crawlers. It doesn’t hurt to try different things to see what the fish are attracted to.”

Tim stated that they spend most of their days at the shack on Worthley, but they do venture to other lakes and ponds to change things up.
“We usually have quite a few people who like to hang out, so we make a good time of it. The kids really enjoy coming out and fishing. When we have a bunch of people out, we usually have a big barbecue and cook up deer steaks, burgers and hot dogs.”

When I asked him what the biggest fish he caught on Worthley was, he told me a 7.5-pound brown trout.

While Tim and his friends are looking forward to fishing on local ponds, IF&W biologist, Bobby Van Riper, urges fishermen to head to Crowell Pond in Chesterville, where a thousand brookies were stocked there recently. Another location stocked with 1,400 brookies was Chain of Ponds north of Eustis. But, anglers are being warned to remember that COP is a moving body, so extra caution is advised around the points and in the narrows.

If you’re looking for a new spot this season, why not check out Webb Lake in Weld, Wilson Lake in Wilton, Embden Pond in Embden and Wesserunsett in Madison.

Wherever you decide to venture off and set up your five-trap limit, be sure to check the safety of the ice, be sure someone knows where you are and check the law book to be sure it’s not restricted to artificial bait.

And, the most important thing, won’t you please consider introducing a child to the sport. There is so much fun to be had in the outdoors, anytime of year, but especially in the beautiful winter snow.

If you have a unique winter adventure planned with or without your children, won’t you please consider allowing CC’s Outdoor Journal to tag along and document the memories. You can contact me by emailing ccrockett@rumfordfallstimes.com or find me on Facebook.