Archive for May, 2009
Great Pond in Belgrade, Maine, Offers Great Cabins and Cottages
May 31st, 2009 categories: Belgrade Lakes Region
Inviting water of Great Pond on a summer day
Great Pond in Maine, situated primarily in the town of Belgrade and less so in Rome, is among the largest bodies of water in the world called a “Pond.”
View Vacation Rentals on Great Pond
Great Pond measures roughly seven miles north to south by 4 miles east to west. It has a surface area of 8239 acres, has a maximum depth of 69 feet and a mean depth of 21 feet, and its shore length is over 46 miles.
Salmon fishing used to be a big draw here, but the salmon have “left” and the attraction now is fishing for northern pike. (When I say “left,” I mean they have been devoured by northern pike, fished out, or both.) Northern pike are an aggressive species and have thrived in the waters of Great Pond. Some grow as large as 30 pounds and it’s these giants the sports fishermen are after. Love them or hate them, their appeal to many fishermen is undeniable.
Cabins and cottages dot the waterfront, as well as some more ostentatious dwellings. Some have been in families for generations, while others are newly constructed by recent inductees to the beauty and attractions of Great Pond and the Belgrade Lakes Region in general.
Several islands call Great Pond home including the largest, Hoyt Island, as well as Chute Island, Joyce Island, Oak Island and Pine Island.
The outlet waters of Great Pond flow through the Great Pond Storage Dam and into Long Pond. Visit the town of Belgrade, buy a sandwich and cold drink at Day’s Store, and picnic at the park area along the spillway that separates Great Pond from Long Pond.
If you’re interested in Maine lakefront property for sale on Great Pond just click the green box above.
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Milfoil Threat Will Close Part of Great Pond
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Tarry-A-While By the Shores of Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine
May 28th, 2009 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
One of the nice things about the lakes region of Maine is that it has a history of welcoming guests from away for over 100 years. A local favorite here in the Sebago Lake region is the Tarry-A-While resort located on the shores of Highland Lake, just off the Ridge Road, in Bridgton.
Built in the 1890s to house the parents of owners who lived up nearer the Ridge, the house soon began to feel too big for the parents and they started taking in boarders during the summer. It has fulfilled that purpose ever since.
For its first 50 or more years, rooms at the Inn were let out during the summer, year after year, often to the same families. Housekeeping cottages were added, as well as a bath house for swimming and boating. Meals were provided and guests ate together in the dining room of the Inn. The Inn gained a reputation for providing “a Maine summer experience”, i.e. outdoor recreation, swimming, boating, sailing, and hiking and touring.
In 1966 Tarry-A-While passed out of the hands of the family and was bought by Hans and Barbara Jenni. They continued to operate it as a summer hotel and added the Stubli Switzer restaurant, the menu reflecting Hans’s Swiss roots. In 1992 the Jenni’s sold to Mark and Nancy Stretch who are the current owners and who continue to operate the Inn and several cottages as rentals for summer guests.
Currently the Inn offers guests 11 rooms to choose from and five cottages. All enjoy the wonderful sand beach and recreating in clean and clear Highland Lake. On site you can also enjoy tennis, badminton, shuffleboard and croquet. Across Ridge Road is an 18 hole golf course, The Bridgton Highlands Country Club, open to the public.
If you’re visiting the area and would like to have “a Maine summer experience” try Tarry-A-While.
If you prefer staying at your own place on Highland Lake, but don’t own one yet, here are the properties currently for sale with lakefront on Highland Lake in Bridgton:
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Landlocked Salmon – Poster Fish for Sebago Lake Region Anglers
May 27th, 2009 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
When it comes to fishing in the Sebago Lake Region, the landlocked salmon has to be the #1 cold water gamefish in the area. I say cold water, because there’s a pretty strident group out there that would stick up for small and largemouth bass and they’re a warm water fish.
If you’ve ever sat in a boat and seen a salmon break the surface, jumping clear out of the water, a silver flash in the air, electrifying the fishpole doubled over in your hands, you know why it’s #1.
Sebago Lake holds the record for a landlocked salmon caught on a pole and line: 22 lbs. 8 oz. taken on August 1st of 1907. You’ll be hard pressed to find anything that size these days. In fact, a salmon over ten pounds is uncommon, but many are taken every year in the five pound category.
Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Game conducts an ongoing program of salmon stocking to keep the supplies fortified. In southwestern Maine this year they are releasing 9,800 salmon into area lakes and ponds.
All anglers have their tricks of the trade, but for some pretty good pointers on how to land that exceptional fish you might want to try the advice of Mike Christy of the New England Sportsmen’s Network.
Jim Pellerin, the state’s regional fishery biologist in Gray, says you might want to try other lakes and ponds besides Sebago for landlocked salmon. He suggests Moose Pond in Bridgton, Kezar Lake in Lovell, Colcord Pond in Porter, and South Pond in Greenwood. Other traditionally good places to try are Thompson Lake in Poland, Bryant Pond in Woodstock, Trickey Pond in Naples, Panther Pond in Raymond, Pleasant Lake in Casco, and Auburn Lake in Auburn.
June is one of the more productive months to fish for salmon as the water is still pretty cold. Trolling live smelts is one of the preferred methods used, as well as trolling streamer flies. Favorites include Joe’s Smelt, Gray Ghost, and Barne’s Special. I’m told that you should troll the flies at a higher rate of speed and live bait at a lower rate of speed. As the summer progresses and waters get warmer, you’ll need to troll deeper.
Good luck to all you fishermen and women out there!
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Sebago Lake – When Only a Big Maine Lake Will Do
May 25th, 2009 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
If you were spending a little vacation time in Maine this Memorial Day weekend and were fortunate enough to spend it at a camp or cottage on Sebago Lake, you know what I mean when I say that for some lakefront property buyers only a big lake will do. And when you’re in this neck of the woods “big lake” can mean only one thing – Sebago Lake.
In a previous post – Sebago Lake – Facts for the Lakefront Lover of Big Sebago - I wrote about Big Sebago’s size, depth, clarity and cleanliness. For some, that says it all. For others, one must go on…and on, with great enthusiasm, talking about the legendary lake trout and salmon fishing, the fantastic powerboating on a lake big enough to accommodate even the biggest watercraft, the waterskiing and wakeboarding, and the unmatched sunsets and views of the White Mountains.
How about tacking into a northeast breeze with a Hobie Cat, or paddling a kayak along the shore watching a loon, a Canadian goose and her goslings, or any of several varieties or ducks? How about the wonderful sandy beaches and sandy bottom swimming that Sebago is famous for? To feel that sand between your toes when your up to your armpits in water – now that’s pretty sweet!
Anyone who wants to have the Big Sebago experience can do so by visiting Sebago Lake State Park – Sebago Lake State Park Welcomes Vacationers to Lakes Region. But for those who can afford it, only having a place of your own on Big Sebago will do.
Here are all the current listings for lakefront property on Sebago Lake:
Water District Backs New Sebago Lake Level Plan
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Kennebunk and Swan Ponds in Lyman, Maine – 2 Gems for Lakefront Lovers
May 21st, 2009 categories: Sanford Lakes Region
If you live in the Boston area, or points south, and are a weekend vacationer or daytripper to the southern Maine lakes region, or just have an affinity for a good clean water body and a modest camp, you really need to check out both Kennebunk Pond and Swan Pond in Lyman.
Why? Two major reasons – water quality and proximity to Boston.
First off, the water quality in both of these small ponds is rated very good for clarity, color, and the possibility of algae blooms. The people who already own on these ponds are good stewards and it shows.
Secondly, both of these small bodies of water are less than 100 miles from Boston, lying about 15 minutes west of the Biddeford/Saco Turnpike exit. How easy is that?!
The downside? Well, if size really matters to you, i.e. bigger is better, then these two ponds will probably not suffice. At 199 acres, Kennebunk Pond is great for smaller motor boats, swimming, and fishing, but water skiers and wakeboarders will soon be bored from tooling around in the same circle again and again. The same for Swan Pond at 132 acres.
However, if power boating is not your thing, then these two ponds might be just what you’re looking for. To learn more about the current lakefront property listings on these two gems, just click on the green box above.
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Solving Septic System and Wastewater Issues For Maine Lakefront Buyers
May 20th, 2009 categories: Observations and Commentary, Sebago Lakes Region
We had a buyer recently who put in an offer on a nice vacation camp on Sebago Lake that sits about 25 feet from the water. When going through the inspections, this buyer was dismayed to find that the septic inspector had characterized the septic system as “marginal” and needing attention. The system was old, the soil was sandy, and there was significant groundwater and surface water runoff in the area.
The buyer was concerned because he was hoping to do some updating to the camp and wanted a septic system that would qualify for a four bedroom dwelling. The lot is small and treed and the buyer wanted to keep the trees for privacy, shade, and as a buffer from the road. To complicate matters, both his well and the abutter’s well are nearby. Septic systems must satisfy several different setback requirements, including setbacks from any wells, property lines, and the lake or pond. It looked as if there was not enough room to site a septic system that would satisfy all of the requirements.
Enter a septic system designer and a septic system installer. These two people met with the buyer at the site and discussed all the variables that needed to be taken into consideration. Because these guys were experienced and local – and thereby used to working with failing systems in the shoreland zone – they came up with an affordable plan that would satisfy the desires of the buyer, fit into the limitations of the lot, and pass muster with the local Code Enforcement Officer or Plumbing Inspector. Even better, the installation of this new system would benefit both the lake and the property and the buyer could fulfill his responsibility as a lakefornt property owner to be a good steward of the lake.
Many older lakefront properties are fraught with septic and wastewater disposal issues. Some camps have cesspools, others have metal tanks that have rusted out years ago, some have failed leach fields, and some just have holding tanks. While initially dismaying, solutions can often be found for inadequate septic systems that will satisfy the needs of the owner, meet all current rules and regulations for waste disposal in the shoreland zone, increase the value of the property, and make the owners good stewards of the lake.
When faced with an inadequate septic system situation in the shoreland zone try to think beyond the initial expense and focus on the opportunity to make a real difference in the value of your property and the health of the lake. A good septic designer and installer can be invaluable when finding solutions to these septic system problems.
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The Maine Lakefront Camp Idyll – Tranquility as Vacation Destination
May 18th, 2009 categories: Observations and Commentary
Allow me to go back a bit – before iPods and laptops, HDTV and MTV, all wheel drive and triple-bladed razors, and ATMs and IRAs – to a time when families watched Walt Disney on Sunday nights, girls always put their hair up in curlers at night and wore dresses to school, and boys went fishing and played baseball, a glove always hanging from the handlebars of their bicycle.
Back in those days, you were lucky if you knew someone who had a camp somewhere – it didn’t have to be far away, just someplace other than where you were most of the time. Someplace not quite familiar. It was usually on a pond or small lake. Rustic. Simple. It probably had electricity, but maybe no indoor plumbing. Just a place to get away to – to relax, to nap, to swim and fish, to listen to the cicadas buzzing in the trees, to hear the June bugs bumping on the screens at night while the easy voice of Curt Gowdy called the game at Fenway, coming in over the transistor radio.
These days most camps have been updated, at least a little, but finding that semi-remote place on a small body of water, where a 10 horse motor is all you really need for your boat, and one bathroom with a shower is more than sufficient, is getting a little harder to find. However, Mr. Lakefront loves these modest places that feature peace and quiet. Here are a couple that come to mind:
West Pond in Parsonsfield is off the beaten path, 140 acres in size and has a maximum depth of 28 feet. Smallmouth bass are plentiful, I’m told. The loons do that weird laughter thing at night. The sunsets are gorgeous. The West Pond Asscociation keeps a watchful eye on the health of the pond and invites seekers of tranquility to vacation and recreate here. If you seek a straight-forward camp on the water, look no further than 92 Shady Lane for $199,900.
Sand Pond in Norway is just ten minutes from McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, but might as well be a hundred miles away. Down a country road, not far from a beautiful, old 9-hole golf course (the Norway Country Club), Sand Pond is a 136 acre gem, clear and cool, and 56 incredible feet deep. It, too, has a concerned group looking after it – the Lake Association of Norway. If an authentic L.C. Andrews log cabin at water’s edge sounds interesting to you, you might want to check out this one at 421 Sodom Road for $275,000.
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Great Camps, Great Vacations, Great Lakefront – It’s Great East Lake!
May 15th, 2009 categories: Sanford Lakes Region
Just 96 miles from Boston, straddling the border between Maine and New Hampshire, lie the clean, clear waters of Great East Lake. Tucked away in the southwest corner of Maine in the town of Acton, Great East has been a magnet for vacationers, campers, and fishermen for over 100 years.
Great East Lake covers 1768 acres in surface area, has a maximum depth of 102 feet and a mean depth of 35 feet, and it water quality and clarity are rated above average. These clean, cool waters host a variety of fish species including brook trout, brown trout, and lake trout, pickerel, bass, perch, and sucker.
There’s a very active lake association here called The Great East Lake Improvement Association. You can visit their website by clicking here: http://www.greateastlake.org/. Among the upcoming activities they have scheduled are the Great East Lake Watershed Survey Breakfast on May 30th, the Watershed Survey itself on June 13th, and an Invasive Plant Patrol Workshop on July 14th. Their annual meeting is being held on July 11th this year. For more information on any or these activities just visit their website.
Great East is home to a variety of lakefront properties. Here are those currently for sale on the Acton side of the lake:
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Sebago Lake – Facts for the Lakefront Lover of Big Sebago
May 11th, 2009 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
We speak so much here about the Sebago Lakes Region and the Sebago Lake area, but haven’t written too much about Sebago Lake itself. To get started, here are a few facts and figures about the mighty Sebago Lake:
Sebago Lake is 12 miles long. The Great Basin width is five miles and the Jordan Bay width is two miles. It’s maximum depth is over 300 feet and its mean depth is just over 100 feet. Its shoreline measures 105 miles and touches the towns of Naples, Casco, Raymond, Windham, Standish, Sebago, and Frye Island.
Sebago Lake is 45.6 square miles in surface area, is the second largest lake in Maine and third largest in New England. The lake level varies between 260.5 feet above sea level to 266.6 feet above sea level depending on the snow melt and regulation of dams. The clarity of the water is so good that the bottom of the lake can be seen at depths up to 45 feet.
Sebago Lake contains almost one trillion gallons of water. It has nine natural sand beaches and is home to 28 species of fish. An Atlantic salmon weighing 22.5 pounds was caught in 1907, a world rod and reel record.
As far as lakefront property is concerned, you can always find something on Sebago Lake on the high end of the market, but finding something on the lower end can be problematic.
Don’t despair. Here are all the Sebago Lake lakefront listings under $500,000:
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Crystal Lake Will Float Your Boat in Harrison, Maine
May 8th, 2009 categories: Sebago Lakes Region
When I was a boy I had a rowboat on Crystal Lake in Harrison. What a sense of independence it gave me to sit in that boat out on the water, oars pulled in, fish pole out, watching the traffic go by on Rte. 117 and enjoying a fish-eye’s view of the camps, cabins and cottages that dotted the shoreline.
Crystal Lake is 446 acres in size, has a maximum depth of 65 feet, a mean depth of 33 feet, and a water quality rating of “slightly above average” as determined by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Lakefront Properties For Sale on Crystal Lake in Harrison
The boat belonged to my Uncle Hank, who died when I was ten. My dad was his closest relative and had to settle the estate, which basically consisted of a big old house in bad repair in the village, an attached barn jam-packed full of stuff (mostly worthless), and several cats that seemed to have the run of the house and barn.
In the barn was the rowboat, overturned on a couple of sawhorses, covered with a piece of oil cloth, and serving as a tabletop for a collection of paint cans, several screwdrivers, a rusted, open pair of pliers, scattered screws and nails, an oil can, and a bicycle chain. Dad cleared off all the junk and removed the oil cloth, exposing the rowboat.
The boat was old and hadn’t been used in awhile, but we decided it was worth saving. Dad guessed that if all the seams were re-caulked and the boat put in water to swell up a little it might be lake-worthy yet. Several nights after supper I helped with the caulking, gave it a new coat of paint, and we got the use of a neighbor’s pick-up truck to give it a lift down to Crystal Lake.
Once in the water the boat floated, but it leaked. Dad said to be patient and return the next day with something to bail out the boat. The next day I came back and used a sand pail as a bailer, and did the same the following day. By the weekend we went on our maiden voyage. We brought the pail and a big sponge Dad used to wash the car. The sponge was sufficient to keep up with the leaking and the boat slid through the water like an overgrown pickerel. I was delighted.
Once I got my rowing technique to a satisfactory level I was given permission to take the boat out on my own, and did so many times. I’d keep it chained up to a ring in a rock next to the public beach and carry the oars back and forth from my house. It must have been a familiar sight to anyone who cared to look–a boy with two oars pressing on his left shoulder and, in his right hand, an orange life preserver, a fishing pole, and a soup can full of dirt and worms. That was a good summer.
Many more camps, cottages, houses, and homes have Crystal Lake as an address compared to when I was a boy. Click on the green box above to learn more about the current listings where enjoyment of Crystal Lake comes with the title.
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Tom - MrLakefront
