September 27, 2019 at 11:58 am
By Regional Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey
The Moosehead Lake Region is blessed with fishing opportunities for wild fish. In this neck of the woods, there are hundreds of ponds, lakes, and countless miles of streams and rivers with thriving populations of wild brook trout.
However, like most areas of the state, good fishing is not right in the downtown area. You might have to get off the pavement to find the fish. Easy enough for some but what if your only mode of transportation is the new bike your parents bought for your birthday? Or maybe you’re from an older generation and find it difficult to trek to more remote areas? Fisheries managers understand the need for the diversity of opportunities.
I remember my first week working in the Greenville area as a summer college student in May 1984. The experience made an incredible impression on me. Those first days were not spent in the wilds of northern Maine where I fished from time to time. Instead, we were standing on the edge of a gravel pit in Greenville Junction. Photos of the site from the year before looked like the surface of the moon with a wet stain in the middle of a crater.
But there was a vision. The regional fisheries staff, Roger AuClair, Paul Johnson, and Scott Roy saw the potential for a local fishing hole, a place for the kids in town and others who couldn’t access the backwoods. The fisheries staff's enthusiasm for the project was contagious. I was excited to help create a new opportunity for trout fishing.
In 1982, the gravel pit was dug out to create a pond, a cooperative project between three State agencies: MDIFW, DOC, and DOT. The Bureau of Public Lands managed the property and DOT needed the subsurface gravel for a large road project nearby. The pond settled during 1983. When we arrived in 1984, crews were transforming the shoreline from barren sand to shrubs and grass that would eventually stabilize the area.
Over the last 35 years, the pond has undergone several changes. It was enlarged and deepened in 1991 and again in 2002. Handicap-accessible paths were constructed along with wheelchair-accessible fishing platforms. Picnic tables and a parking area were also added.
MDIFW stocks the pond multiple times a year with brook trout. The Greenville Recreation Department holds a fishing derby each spring. Recently, the Moosehead Lake Fisheries Coalition started another youth fishing day in the fall associated with the International Seaplane Fly-in. Kids from all over the state attend the event and two lucky anglers go home with lifetime fishing licenses.
Gravel Pit Pond is now an important part of this community. Young and well-seasoned anglers can be found at the pond all summer. Removing the gravel from this old pit created a nice little fishing pond where many budding anglers have made memories.