Grand Lake Lodge

West Grand Lake spreads 14,340 acres across eastern Maine and the lodge’s cabins sit directly on its shore, a short walk from the village of Grand Lake Stream. Guided days run from ice-out in spring until the season closes on October 25, and anglers choose between a traditional Grand Lake canoe and a 20-foot Lund Alaskan. Early spring is the trolling window, when smelts, streamers and lures worked near the surface bring up landlocked salmon and lake trout; as the water warms the fish drop deeper and the guides follow them down. A trip is a full day on the water and takes in the lodge’s shore lunch, cooked on the bank. Smallmouth bass fill out the summer, on West Grand itself and on the chain of undeveloped lakes reached from it. Fishing licences can be bought in the village at the Pine Tree Store.