Western White Mountain Pond Exploration

An island on Long Pond

I got a couple days off this week. I did what I do when I get two days off during the summer... I went to New Hampshire. On Wednesday after work I got to do a quick hike to Middle Sugarloaf Mountain. I went to bed thinking I'd hike the Kinsmans. However during the night it started to drizzle. I knew that when I woke up, the sky would be cloudy. There is no way I'm doing a ten mile hike up a big mountain without seeing the view. So I went to plan B.

Plan B was to explore some ponds in the western White Mountains. For my purpose, the western Whites consist of ponds west of I-93. I got up before 7 am and headed south. My first stop was a roadside pond off of North and South Road named Long Pond. The sky was still cloudy so if it rained I wanted to be in my kayak and not five miles from the car.

Long Pond is a long skinny pond. It is very pretty roadside pond. There is a large parking area, a boat ramp, and two handicapped accessible docks. There is a concrete dam that one can stand on. The pond is stocked with trout. However in my ninety minutes in my canoe I did not catch a fish. More surprisingly, I didn't even see a fish rise. I gave up knowing that I had other places to explore.

My next adventure was the Tunnel Brook Ponds. The trail through Tunnel Ravine is/was the trail I

One of the Tunnel Brook Ponds
Moosilauke in the background

most wanted to do in the White Mountains. The trailhead was only a few minutes from Long Pond on North and South Road. I packed my backpack and headed out under cloudy skies. It's only a couple of miles out to the first in a series of eight or nine beaver ponds. In a distance of about three quarters of a mile there is one small pond after another in the valley. To make the scenery even nicer, 4800 foot Mt. Moosilauke stands over them.

The first pond that you come to from the south is Mud Pond, which is the largest of the Tunnel Brook Ponds. From there, it is a chain of small lakes. I brought my small six foot fly rod on its maiden voyage. Wild brookies have been rumored to be in the ponds, but I hadn't heard of anything confirmed. Unfortunately, without waders it is tough to get to the ponds. The ones I explored have extensive grass covered mud for 20-30 feet from the ponds edge.

I did get to cast my fly line standing on two beaver dams. It was a precarious balancing act standing on logs and twigs with water rushing below me. However on one of the ponds I was rewarded with a fat eight inch brookie. It was my only fish, but I was happy to confirm the rumors. I did not get a picture since I didn't want to chance falling into the stream with my camera in my pocket.

I spent a couple hours at the ponds, but since I couldn't do much fishing I headed back to my car with plenty of time left in my day. I got out of the woods about 3:45. There is nothing quite like an early start to make the most of the day.

From the trailhead I had another short drive of only fifteen minutes to another roadside pond. This

Cliff over Oliverian Pond

one is named Oliverian Pond. This roadside gem has a huge cliff on Owl's Head shadowing it. I shoved off my kayak and paddled out a few yards. I decided to make a cast. To my surprise my rod bent almost immediately. I was even more surprised to reel in a rainbow. Almost all the lakes, ponds, and streams in the mountains have brook trout, wild or otherwise. I ended up catching seven more. This was easily the best fishing of the day for me.

The wind stopped and the water got flat calm about ninety minutes in. When this happened the fish stopped biting. I tried unsuccessfully for another forty five minutes or so before calling it quits. It was supper time and I wanted to make my meal by another roadside pond.

Surprise rainbow

I drove up Route 118 to Route 112 and went by Lost River. A few miles further west is Beaver Pond. This is another roadside pond. It is not stocked with trout. According to the guide book it has yellow perch and hornpout. I didn't fish at all but just enjoyed the scenery. I ate my Stove Top at the picnic table and looked at the cliffs. There were a couple kids fishing but it looked from a distance that they didn't get anything.

All in all I visited three roadside ponds and seven back country beaver ponds. The fishing was only okay, but the scenery was terrific. It was a satisfying day

Beaver Pond from my picnic table