Great Pond - Belgrade

[dr cusk]

Hey Guys,
Headed up to Great Pond next weekend and was looking for some pointers.  Not just general info and stuff....really looking for your secret spots, bait, techniques etc for hooking some pike and browns.  Just kidding...kind of....:p
We’re on the east shore in hatch cove so just looking to see if that’s a good place to set up or if we should look to be heading out to other parts of the pond.  We have a wheeler so will be able to travel a bit over the ice which should be nice after this weekend’s cold snap.  Thanks all!!

[413iceman]

Hatch cove is wicked shallow...Try near any inlets or get to deeper water...south of hatch is also solid...might be worth taking a ride.

[Fish Wayniac]

Hi Dr, I have only fished Great pond in the summer. I trolled for Browns , small moth bass and a occasional Pike. I didn’t fish any where near Hatch cove . Mostly on both sides of Hoyt island. The North side of Oak island the water starts to get deeper . Things could be different through the ice or how far you want to travel it’s called a pond but big like a lake .

[dr cusk]

Thanks guys!  Yeah we’ll test out the shallows day 1 then head to the deeper waters around the islands on day 2.  The guys I’ll be with are nut jobs so they’ll prob have the 4 wheelers going end to end on that pond...:p

[Fish Wayniac]

Sorry about the crappy pic of the pond. Thought it would look better .

[413iceman]

4 wheelers may be tough going after this storm comes through. Could have some serious slush.

[riverphishin]

Looking for a good spot to get on the ice to fish the northern part of the lake? I would like to fish north of Hoyt island. 

[Bassman1up]

I’ve fished Great Pond once a long time ago, like 15 years.  My brother in law was coming down from up north to fish with a friend who was in the area.  I drove him over and they poked a few holes for me while I was there.  I was the one that ended up catching a 45 inch pike that weighed 22.4 pounds.  There was a lot of ice that year and it was in maybe 3 feet of water.  They were all using suckers for bait, I was using the big smelts.
In Pinkham Bay.   

[413iceman]

Dr. Cusk how did you end up?

[dr cusk]

We had a great weekend up there!  Ice and weather were perfect but the fishing...not so much.  4 days....averaged 10 hrs a day on the ice...20 traps between the group...and caught 2 little perch....so about 400 trap hrs per fish....😩. No pike no browns....we had every type and size of bait available (including a hot dog or two based on some recent posts) but no dice!  We did pull up 3 mud puppies though which was cool.  Beautiful area though and I look forward to hitting the open water there in the spring!

Photo of muddy puppy biting me attached...😂

[Pikin Aint Easy]

Bummer on no Pike. I would definitely give Great Pond a try on open water. I have always caught them throughout Pinkham cove as the place is loaded with the propeller weeds as we like to call them;) Those weeds are what the Pike like and they are easily defined on the sonar. You can always find untouched spots by traveling the lake and looking for random beds of the propeller weeds!!!

My PB Pike came from Great and I try to get there at least once per year.

PM me if you give open water a try and have any questions.

Good luck hunting Pike!
Dustin

[Steve H.]

Used to be some really nice ones in there.  I'm sure there are still a few left.

[Fish Wayniac]

I have only fished it in July. I caught a 39” pike while trolling for Browns. My down rigger popped when it was set at 40 ft. I thought I was snagged on bottom until I looked at my electronics and saw that I was in 55 ft of water. I got the pike to the boat and I had Julie reel so I could net it. She reeled back wards ( rookie move) and the handle fell off. I hand lined it in and with lots of luck got it in the boat. Lol!

[dr cusk]

Some nice looking fish there guys!  Can’t wait to get back up there in the spring and do a little more exploring.  Plus those fish up there owe me a few nibbles....:p

[Pikin Aint Easy]

I always have good luck on Great the first week in June and then last week of September. Toss a Mepps Giant Killers or Mepps #5 with silver blade and white fur and you cannot go wrong! Always good to have a big golden shiner drifting off the back too while casting. Good luck!!

Here is a pic of my PB on Great Pond!

 

[Global Warming in CT]

I'm heading up to Great tomorrow night to fish on Sat and Sun. My brother in law lives on a cove near Stony Point. I fished near his house for three days straight in early Jan (anywhere from 3' to 25') and didn't get a single pike. I also jigged about a hundred holes without marking anything on the flasher, although I hear that Great has good white perch. I'm thinking/hoping that maybe the pike will be in shallower now that it's later in the winter and getting closer to spawning.
Any tips would be appreciated. Do people do better with dead bait on Great? Suckers, shiners, or smelt? I'm gathering that pike fishing on Great is going to take a different approach than what I'm used to here in CT. Also wondering how thick the ice is (hoping my auger will get through, not a problem that I ever have in CT).

[nbourque]

I'm heading up to Great tomorrow night to fish on Sat and Sun. My brother in law lives on a cove near Stony Point. I fished near his house for three days straight in early Jan (anywhere from 3' to 25') and didn't get a single pike. I also jigged about a hundred holes without marking anything on the flasher, although I hear that Great has good white perch. I'm thinking/hoping that maybe the pike will be in shallower now that it's later in the winter and getting closer to spawning.
Any tips would be appreciated. Do people do better with dead bait on Great? Suckers, shiners, or smelt? I'm gathering that pike fishing on Great is going to take a different approach than what I'm used to here in CT. Also wondering how thick the ice is (hoping my auger will get through, not a problem that I ever have in CT).

Big dead suckers a few feet off bottom in shallow will be your best bet for a big fish.

[Global Warming in CT]

Thanks for the reply nbourque. Same approach that works best in CT! Maybe I just had terrible luck last time. The cove he lives on seems like an ideal spot for pike. 

[nbourque]

Thanks for the reply nbourque. Same approach that works best in CT! Maybe I just had terrible luck last time. The cove he lives on seems like an ideal spot for pike. 

The thing with these big bodies of water like great, meso, Cobb etc is that not every cove is going to hold big fish. Sorta like trial and error finding them and you may only find one or two big girls in one area. When I pike fish I go for one or two big bites. That’s it.I try and fish the biggest dead suckers I can find. Large sea smelts work very well too. I don’t care about lots of flags. One 20#+ fish makes the whole day worth it.

[Pikin Aint Easy]

Take the trip to Pinkham cove as the whole thing is 5'-10' with cabbage. I know there are pike there and it is a large cove.

Good luck