Best fishing in Maine?

[jbmaine]

For SM & LM. Where in Maine would you consider the best fishing ( lakes or area)  We're considering moving further into Maine, (living in the Kittery area now ) and would like to be close by to quality SM,LM, fishing.

                                                                   Thanks

                                                                            Jim

[BassB8Caster]

depends on how you look at it IMO. There are great bass spots from 100 acre ponds to big lakes. If i remember correctly you have a boat. That makes a difference. I live in Norway (oxford hills area) and love all the small ponds i can take my kayak to. Little fishing pressure and some great fish in them. Im talking nearly 10 good ponds / small lakes within 20 minutes. If i were boat fishing that would cut the accessability way down. One big issue i see around me is access to the water. Most have access. Some have none or only via private property. If i had to consider a boat, i would be down to 3 or so lakes within that 20 minutes. I do have Kezar Lake and Thompson Lake right next to me, which are two of the best in the state. If you have no problem driving an hour to fish i would say anywhere in the state (for the most part) would have that. 

 

Look at a map and look around augusta. Tons of great lakes right there from Monmouth up to the belgrade lakes area. Picking a place to live is much more difficult. I will tell you this, the real estate market is nuts right now. You will pay top dollar for garbage. It may vary slightly location to location. I have my house on the market due to this (plus the fact we have out grown it with 2 new babies). Good to sell, bad to buy. Rents in turn are high and hard to find. 

 

If you ever find yourself in my area, let me know if i can help in any way. good luck. 

[jbmaine]

Thanks for the info. Yes we have a boat, so larger water is better. I recently retired and am living here to be close to work, not an issue any more. We have to travel an hour to get to good fishing from here and taxes are high. We are thinking of moving for lower taxes and fishing closer by. So we thought if we are going to move, lets move where the fishing is really good.

 I've looked at a lot of places on the map, but I'd like to hear from people that fish them a lot. If and when I'm up in your area, I'll give you a shout.

                             Thanks

                                    Jim

[BassB8Caster]

I hear ya on the taxes. Some towns are insane. From my searching in the past, most towns list their tax rate (search town mill rate). Or call town office. The Belgrade lakes area gets a lot of praise from everything I read. 

[Arcs&sparks]

Augusta area is pretty centralized

[gunsmoke]

Anywhere around Monmouth Gardiner Winthrop in general the Belgrade lakes area and you got everything covered.

[wna1911]

East Grand lake for smallmouth.

[MerkinScarf]

Great East lake and China lake are great Maine bass lakes

[Don51]

Kezar Lake always makes Bassmaster 100 best lakes.  ?

[MainelyBASS]

If im forced to relocate to an area based on bass fishing, its not even debatable. The Belgrade Lakes area is world class for both Largemouth and Smallmouth. Theres a reason why Major League Fishing has come to Maine 2 times in 5 years to hold major events. Both times, they fished the Belgrade Lakes area. I live in Sanford, and love the Sebago Lakes region for my bass fishing, but if I have enough time and funds available, ill always make the ride to Belgrade.

[CHIP-MAINE]

moved to lewiston( yes there are nice parts of it) have the androscoggin 5 min. away with many and big smallies and cobbessecontee stream 30 min. away with great largemouth size and numbers.

[JBM Bassin]

Personally i think it really depends on budget and where you need to be for work, personally for a convienient, affordable option i would honestly recommend Lewiston/Auburn. you have easy access to both belgrade and the sebago lakes region, both of which can give up some absolute pigs. You also have the Andro river right near you as well for smallmouth. If you're only concern is the fishing I'd definitely recommend the Maine Capitol Region, but assuming that you're looking for a good all around spot where you're close to town but still just as close to god status fishing, i would honestly recommend Lewiston. Just avoid the tree streets and there are some honestly good neighborhoods.