Key Species: brook trout, landlocked salmon, splake, cusk, lake trout possible
Best Way to Fish: boat, canoe, bank
Best Time to Fish: May and June, January through March
MAG: 39, C-3
Description: Holeb Pond is a 1,055-acre pond located in the middle of the Holeb Parcel of the Maine Bureau of Public Lands. Attean Mountain and Sally Mountain provide a scenic background. This wild area is just west of Jackman, known as “the Switzerland of Maine.” In 1995, Holeb Pond was stocked with 9,300 brook trout and 1,000 splake. There is a slot limit on brook trout and splake. A primitive campsite is available.
Fishing index: The maximum depth of Holeb Pond is only 52 feet, perfect for brook trout and splake. Beginning in mid-May, slowly troll the entire shoreline, using night crawlers, small smelt or minnows, or Jerry’s smelt. Use a fly rod and sinking fly line. Anglers using spinning gear sometimes take brook trout on small spoons and spinners by fishing from a boat or canoe and casting in toward shore. The area just off the boat ramp is a good spot for brook trout and splake, as are the several small islands in the south end of the pond. Many anglers like to drift slowly with a lively worm, hooked once so that it retains a natural appearance. Do this in 10 or 20 feet of water and you should take both brookies and splake. Lake trout can be found near the deepest section of the pond, just off the south end of the big island at the north end of the pond.
In May and June, try for landlocked salmon along the north end of the pond, between the mainland and the one large island. Troll at a fast clip, using tandem streamer flies, Mooselook Wobblers, and Flash Kings.
If you come here to camp, you may want to cast a line for cusk from the shore near your campsite. Use a night crawler or dead minnow and let it sit on the bottom. With your rod secured so that a fish cannot pull it into the water, you can watch the stars while you wait for a cusk to bite.
Directions: From Jackman, head north toward Dennistown on U.S. Route 201, and turn left on the Beaudry Road. Continue on the Beaudry Road until it becomes the Holeb Road. Follow the Holeb Road to the boat landing and primitive campsite, a distance of 13 miles from U.S. Route 201.
For more information: Contact the Jackman-Moose River Region Chamber of Commerce.
