The 10 Best Fishing Lakes in Maine

Residents of Maine and visitors alike know the state for its rocky coastlines, dense forests, and scenic waterways. You can find many great fishing spots across the Pine Tree State, including numerous picturesque lakes. From ice fishing to fly fishing, bait casting to spinning, Maine offers something for every kind of angler. That said, what lakes in Maine offer the best fishing? Keep reading to learn about 10 of the best fishing lakes in Maine. 

10. Square Pond

Square Pond lies near Acton in western York County. This small 910-acre lake measures around 20 feet deep in most spots and has a maximum depth of 44 feet. It features a rocky shoreline that provides excellent spawning grounds for various fish species. 

Despite Square Pond’s small size, experienced anglers know it ranks as one of Maine’s best brown trout fishing spots. In fact, an angler caught the largest brown trout on record in Maine at Square Pond in 1997. The angler caught the massive 23-pound trout while ice fishing. In addition to popular game fish like bass and perch, you can also catch white sucker, landlocked alewife, and pumpkinseed sunfish at Square Pond. 

9. Rangeley Lake

Located in Franklin County, Rangeley Lake serves as one of the main headwater lakes for the Androscoggin watershed. The lake encompasses 10 square miles and possesses an average depth of 95 feet. At its deepest point, the lake measure around 149 feet deep. The town of Rangeley encircles the majority of the lake, hence its name. The lake drains into Mooselookmeguntic Lake via Rangeley River from its northwestern shore. 

Rangeley Lake offers plenty of fishing opportunities for prospective anglers. You can rent a boat or canoe to take out on the lake or fish from the shore. While mostly known for trout fishing, you can find numerous fish in the lake. Resident species include trout, bass, whitefish, perch, and smelt. You can even find landlocked salmon in parts of the lake. 

8. Mooselookmeguntic Lake

Situated just a few miles west of Rangeley Lake, Mooselookmeguntic Lake also belongs to the Androscoggin River watershed. Several waterways feed the lake aside from the Rangeley River, including the Cupsuptic River and Kennebago River. The lake’s surface area measures around 16,300 acres, making it the 4th-largest lake in Maine. Its average depth is 60 feet, and its maximum depth is 132 feet. With over 57 miles of shoreline, Mooselookmeguntic Lake offers visitors plenty of space to stretch their legs or find the perfect fishing spot. 

Mooselookmeguntic Lake is stocked with a variety of fish. You can find salmon, lake trout, smallmouth bass, whitefish, smelt, and yellow perch within its waters. If you want to fish on the lake, you can rent a boat or canoe at one of the marinas on the lake or bring your own and launch from one of several boat launches along the shore. 

7. Megunticook Lake

Megunticook Lake lies in Knox County near the towns of Camden, Hope, and Lincolnville. At 1,328 acres, Megunticook Lake ranks as the largest lake in Knox County. Mount Megunticook towers over the lake on its eastern shore.

You can launch a boat onto Megunticook Lake from either its eastern or western shore. Alternatively, fly fishing or spinning are both readily accessible from the shore. The lake offers excellent fishing for rainbow trout, smallmouth and largemouth bass, and white perch. While less abundant, you can also find some brown trout, brook trout, and landlocked salmon in the lake. 

6. Thomas Pond

You can find Thomas Pond just off U.S. Route 302 in southern Maine near the towns of Casco and Raymond. Thomas Pond measures around 1.4 miles long and 1 mile wide for a total surface area of 533 acres. Its deepest point measures around 64 feet deep, while its averages around 22 feet deep. Thomas Pond drains into nearby Sebago Lake. 

While relatively small, Thomas Pond offers plenty of fishing opportunities. Commonly caught fish at Thomas Pond include chain pickerel, brook trout, white perch, bass, and salmon. Consider bringing different baits and equipment when fishing on Thomas Pond. That way, you can target the bass, perch, and chain pickerel that live in the shallow parts of the lake as well as the Atlantic salmon living in the deeper parts of the lake. 

5. East Grand Lake

As its name implies, East Grand Lake lies in the far eastern part of Maine near the border with New Brunswick, Canada. At 22 miles long and 4 miles wide, the lake covers an area of around 15,917 acres. It sports an average depth of 28 feet and a maximum depth of 128 feet. Visitors often praise the lake’s scenic beauty and excellent fishing. 

Feel free to bring your own fishing gear to East Grand Lake or rent equipment at a bait shop on one of the lake’s marinas. You can launch a boat on the lake or find a fishing spot somewhere along the lake’s 78 miles of shoreline. Species that make their home in the lake include landlocked salmon, yellow and white perch, smallmouth bass, American eel, and several varieties of trout. 

4. Belgrade Lakes

This next entry may be cheating, but it technically counts. The Belgrade Lakes consist of a chain of lakes located near Belgrade, Maine, hence the name. In order, lakes in the chain include East Pond, North Pond, Great Pond, Long Pond, and Messalonskee Lake. Visitors flock to the lakes to swim, boat, and fish.

Altogether, the Belgrade Lakes make for prime fishing grounds for white perch, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and chain pickerel. Efforts to introduce northern pike, black crappie, and Atlantic Salmon into the lakes have been made in the past with limited success. Just make sure to watch out for algae blooms that crop up on the lake during the warmest parts of summer.  

3. Sebago Lake

Sebago Lake is located in Cumberland County, Maine. With a maximum depth of 316 feet and a mean depth of 101 feet, it ranks as the deepest lake in Maine. At 30,513 acres, Sebago Lake also ranks as the second-largest Maine lake by surface area. Given its size, Sebago Lake represents one of the few lakes in Maine that does not completely freeze over in winter. Sebago Lake State Park lies on the northern shore of the lake. You can also find numerous private campgrounds and beach clubs along the lake’s 105-mile shoreline. 

Experts believe that Maine’s landlocked salmon population originally came from Sebago Lake. In addition to salmon, Sebago Lake is also stocked with various species of trout, bass, smelt, white, perch, and pike. That said, numerous non-native species, such as northern pike, have been both legally and illegally introduced into the lake. State authorities permit anglers to catch and kill as many invasive northern pikes as they like when fishing on Sebago Lake due to the damage they can cause to the lake’s ecosystem. 

2. Moosehead Lake

Nestled within the Longfellow Mountains, Moosehead Lake lies in Piscataquis County in northwestern Maine. At around 75,451 acres, Moosehead Lake ranks as the largest lake in Maine. It also ranks as the second-largest lake in New England and the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States. It features an average depth of 55 feet and a maximum depth of 246 feet. Several small townships rest on the shores of the lake, while over 80 islands lie within its borders. 

In addition to spectacular wild scenery, Moosehead Lake also offers the potential for a great fishing trip. You can fly fish on the lake’s outlets in the spring and fall. Alternatively, you can spin fish or troll the lake from a boat. Spin fishing is usually best for bass, brook trout, and smallmouth bass. Meanwhile, trolling is usually best for lake trout or Atlantic salmon. You can also try ice fishing on the lake in winter if you want to catch burbot. 

1. Cobbosseecontee Lake

Cobbosseecontee Lake, or Lake Cobbosseecontee, belongs to the Winthrop Lake Region in Kennebec County, Maine. The lake measures 9 miles long and encompasses nearly 5,543 acres. It features 62 miles of shoreline broken up by numerous coves and jetties, lending the lake an irregular and captivating shape. Numerous islands dot the lake’s interior, one of which supports Ladies’ Delight Light, the state’s only active inland waters lighthouse. 

Anglers know that Cobbosseecontee Lake features some of the best bass fishing in the country. Along with a thriving largemouth bass population, the lake also supports brook trout, perch, sunfish, crappie, and bullheads. 

Summary of The 10 Best Fishing Lakes in Maine

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/visionsofmaine