Maine Fishing at Rideout's Fishing Lodge on East Grand Lake

A happy Rideout's Maine salmon fishing guest

Great Maine Fishing - Our “Claim to Fame”

Whether trolling, spin-casting or fly fishing, you're bound to have success on a Maine fishing vacation at Rideout's Lodge. Our 22-mile-long, East Grand Lake has several features that make for excellent fishing: low-intensity fishing, quality water and structure, and an abundance of small "fodder" fish. As a result, trophy-sized game fish can be caught at any time of the year. East Grand Lake is renowned for the finest smallmouth bass, landlocked salmon and lake trout fishing.

Maine Salmon Fishing at Rideout's
East Grand Lake offers what many consider the finest landlocked salmon fishing in Maine. In recent years, the lake has produced salmon over eight pounds, and it's not unusual for our guests to boat 15-30 legal salmon in a day's fishing. To back up our claim, our guests have written several internal newsletter articles over the years about our excellent fishing. These salmon fishing articles contain technique and location information of particular interest to Maine anglers. Read more about Maine salmon fishing here.

Hefty smallmouth bass taken from East Grand Lake, Maine

Hefty smallmouth bass taken from East Grand Lake, Maine

Maine Bass Fishing at Rideout's
Fishing for smallmouth bass is second to none in Maine. Smallmouths up to six pounds are taken every year by Rideout's guests, and three-to-five-pounders are quite common. Rideout's has been featured in North American Fisherman magazine, which states that under ideal conditions, “you can catch 100 smallmouth bass per day” here (contact us for a copy of the article). Also, our guests have written several articles over the years describing our excellent Maine bass fishing. Read more about our terrific smallmouth bass fishing.

Maine Lake Trout Fishing
When fishing for lake trout we commonly catch 12-pounders, and sometimes haul in lunkers that tip the scales at over 20 pounds. Giant Maine lake trout swim near the surface in the spring and fall, and go deep (60 to 80 feet) in the summer. Lake trout are sometimes also taken by tandem fly fishing during the early season. Read more about Maine lake trout fishing. Last year an unusually large number of togue were caught on the surface of East Grand Lake. Guides reported that the big fish, many from 7 to 14 pounds, were caught all over the lake, particular off points and in the large US coves.

Maine Brook Trout Fishing

Over the past few years the square tail population has increased dramatically on East Grand Lake. Why? Several years ago the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries began stocking them. Since then the fish have moved from fingerling size, to pan fry size, to full meal size. Lately fish up to 18 inches and 2 1/2 pounds are being brought into the Lodge for the fry pan. Two or tree years ago, most of the brookies were being caught “accidentally” when trolling for salmon or casting for bass. But in the past couple of years, because of their increased size, many fly fishermen began to target the brookies specifically. Most did this by casting wet and dry flies along the shorelines, or by trolling for them close to shore using streamer fly fishing techniques.

Other Game Fish Species in East Grand Lake
Our lake has several other popular species, including chain pickerel, and white perch. Typically weighing three or more pounds, pickerel are fierce fighters that are often caught in the shallow areas of our large coves. Perch are an especially tasty dinner entree, and can be taken in large numbers for that family fish fry.

Another great Maine fishing day at Rideout's Docking at Rideout's Lodge
Because our lake is large, it's ideal for for power boating. We are accustomed to handling our guests' personal boats, and have spacious, protected docking. All of our docks (one over 200 feet long) are located within protected Davenport cove. Rideout's docks are well constructed -- eight feet wide and smooth -- so even our physically challenged guests can easily access their boats. Marine gas is available, as well as full dock service for those who choose the full-service American Plan.

Fishing Maps, Advice & Guides
We are very knowledgeable about changing conditions on East Grand Lake and nearby areas. Rideout's staff routinely provides guests with detailed advice regarding appropriate tackle and techniques, as well as the current hot-spot locations on East Grand Lake. We provide free, internally developed Maine fishing maps, and brief guests on the important lake features. Because of this in-depth personal attention, many Rideout's guests routinely venture out on their own.

For guests who prefer to be guided to the best fishing hot spots, we have access to a number of excellent, registered professional guides. An excellent Maine fishing guide has years of experience, and a true passion for fishing. Our guides have both of these critical qualities, plus a reputation for pleasing their customers. Many have developed their own special fishing techniques that have proven productive under varying conditions and with different species. You can count on a Rideout's fishing guide to know every rock, cove, hot spot and trick of the trade. In short, if there’s a fish to be found, our expert fishing guides will find it.

Rideout's Convenient Location on East Grand Lake
We are located near the mid-point on the west side of East Grand Lake, within protected Davenport cove. Our central location gives us quick access to the best fishing hot spots, thus reducing boat travel time. We are also in close proximity to what many consider to be the best bass fishing waters.

We Supply Bait & Tackle, Plus Rental Equipment
Rideout's offers good-quality live smelts for purchase during the early fishing season. Later in the year, shiners and worms are available. As a courtesy to our guests, we maintain a well-stocked tackle shop. In addition to basic fishing items, salmon fishermen will find the most popular and effective streamer fly patterns and bass fishermen the most popular lures. We also rent rods, reels and specialty equipment for bass and salmon fishing. Resident/non-resident Maine fishing licenses, plus Canadian fishing licenses, are available in the tackle shop.

East Grand Lake Access & Boat Launches
Rideout's is very accessible, located less than one mile off of US Route 1 on paved roads. For launching your boat onto East Grand Lake, we have two good launches on our property, and a public launch is just a two-minute walk from the Lodge.

Enjoy a fun and relaxing Maine fishing vacation with us at Rideout's! Contact us for additional information on fishing, lodging and dining vacation packages for serious anglers or the whole family.

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Your Hosts: Bob Sr. & Annie Lorigan
& Bob Jr. & Jami Lorigan

Rideout's Lodge
6 Waterfront Drive
Weston, ME 04424-4248
1-207-448-2440
1-800-594-5391 (back-up)
info@rideouts.com

"Great Maine Fishing Since 1947"