Penobscot Valley Fishing Report: January 26, 2007

Ice fishing in the region is still significantly restricted by poor ice conditions. The average temperature in the Bangor area has been 7° above normal thru Jan 22 despite the recent cold spell when the nighttime temperature dropped to – 18° F on 2 consecutive nights. The snowstorm that dropped 5 to 8 inches of snow in the region occurred before the cold spell and served to help reduce ice formation during the cold spell that followed.

Pleasant Pond in Island Falls has had decent ice conditions and has supported a good, consistent fishery for nice salmon and trout. The large basin of Cold Stream Pond has some very thin ice a short distance from shore and angling activity is restricted to the upper basin and areas close to shore. Ice conditions on East Grand Lake are very poor with anglers fishing in only a few, carefully chosen locations. Many of the smaller lakes have sufficient ice but even on those lakes anglers must use extreme caution.

Ice fishing derbies have been postponed on two area lakes. The Cold Stream Pond derby scheduled for the weekend of January 13 has been rescheduled to February 9, 10, and 11 and the East grand Lake derby scheduled for the weekend of January 27 has been rescheduled to February 24 and 25. The Schoodic Lake derby scheduled for the weekend of February 17 has not been changed at this time. A few Northern pike have been caught from the illegal introduction in Pushaw Lake and Mud Pond in Old Town. Anglers who catch Northern pike are encouraged to keep the fish and report the catch to Department personnel working on the lake or to the IFW offices in Bangor or Enfield. Kids only ice fishing ponds; Jerry Pond in Millinocket, Little Round Pond in Lincoln and Pickerel Pond in T32MD (near Milford) have been very popular with young anglers and have produced many fine brook trout.