The Lake

Hopkins Pond located in Clifton and Mariaville is one of our favorite places to fish. Very little fisherman visit during the summer, most all activity occurs during the winter season. I usually fish the pond 2-3 times a week for trout, salmon and togue. Salmon and trout are few and far between in the summer. Most stocking of these fish has occured in the fall for ice fishing. While some nice fish are taken, most range 18-23 inches and a few pounds. Access is off the private/public ramp. This ramp is owned by the campowners association, but open to the public. Previously it was owned by the paper company, but deeded to the association when the lots were sold. The state will not take over the ramp, as the lot is too small to meet IFW requirements. The town charges the association the tax rate based on a usable building lot. It is not big enough to build, and open to the public, the town should forgo taxes. Maybe the association should go non profit! It is critical to respect the private landing, especially to trash and parking. There is a small donation box which helps pay for up keep of the landing, all donations are accepted. Please do not leave trash or make a lot of noise the landing is nested between two camps. If you come in off Route 9 at the orange rock, come around the outlet and continue until you see a sign with three camp owners names hanging (I haven't posted their names). The landing is down this drive, stay straight or right, don't go down the gated drive. It looks a little overgrown, but opens up to a nice cement landing ramps and turn around.

Leaving the landing and heading out to the main lake, stay toward the left cove, cut across this cove - do not go near or behind island, unless you want to replace prop real quick. as you saty left you will see rocks on right side and a bouy, stay just left of the bouy to enter lake, you will suddenly drop from a few feet to forty. You will notice a point straight ahead or left, a bar runs into the lake from the point and comes up shallow. So as you enter lake, turn right, with rocks on right, you should be in forty to fifty feet of water. As you pass another bouy on the right, turn west toward the other shore and a red camp, as you near the camp, turn left again and head down west shore. The depth range on this run from forty to fifty feet, you might hit a deep spot of seventy feet or so. Thus you will be fishing the main lake in a horseshoe pattern. If you head to the north or extreme south end of the lake, both behind island, you will be in water less then twenty feet and in some cases eight deep with sudden rocks, not good for spoons when trolling.

There is enough room to vary your horshoe and make a pass up and back on each side, its just that bar in the middle that get yeah. You can raise lines to twenty feet if you know the bar then rest as it drops quick. So putter around with the depth finder to learn the lake. The area behind the island as you came out of the landing is shallow and rocky, fit only for kayaks or canoes.

Also beware of the loons, this is loon haven and the camp owners very much enjoy their birds. Remember loons eat about eight pounds of fish a day, the water is crystal clear, so fish are deep.

The outlet flows into Oran Pond, just down from Hopkins, shallow and weedy, however fishable in winter and early spring for trout. This flows to Frost Brook, meeting Jellison Brook on way to Union River.

Let me know how the fishing is