Moosehead Region Fishing Report: February 13, 2007
The early season concerns over warm temperatures and thin ice conditions are now in the past in the Moosehead Lake Region. Ice conditions are now more typical of mid-winter on most lakes and ponds. Fishermen on Moosehead Lake are reporting 14-18 inches of ice in most areas. Anglers still need to be cautious of pressure ridges and thin spots in the usual places. There may be a little slush here and there as well.
This winter fisheries staff from the Greenville Office will be checking anglers during the weekends and holidays on Moosehead Lake, Lobster Lake, Chamberlain Lake (including Round Pond and Telos Lake), and Allagash Lake. We did hear of some good catches of fish on Allagash opening week. Last year we had reports of many short salmon on Lobster Lake, which prompted us to include it on this year’s schedule for a winter survey. Small fish are not typical for Lobster Lake, which has a 20-inch minimum length limit on salmon. The lake is known for slow fishing but with trophy-sized fish. We made our first trip to the trophy lake on Saturday and will continue to check the lake throughout the month of February.
When we are not on the ice talking to anglers, we are busy working up data collected during the past year. Sitting in front of the computer crunching numbers may not sound very exciting, but this is how we evaluate the success and/or failure of the various fisheries management plans on our waters. We also rely on comments from the hundreds of anglers we have contact with each year. Local anglers are our eyes and ears on many of the 1200+ lakes and ponds and over 4,000 miles of flowing water in the Moosehead Lake Region, which is managed by just 3 full time fisheries biologists. We really appreciate the productive and practical comments we get from these folks.
During the late winter as we analyze all of this information, we develop any changes in fisheries programs, such as altering stocking programs or regulation changes. We have already identified several changes that will hopefully increase fishing opportunities (both summer and winter) in this region. There will be changes to create more trophy trout fishing opportunities and a few changes will liberalize length and/or bag limits in an effort to reduce over-abundant fish populations and we will propose regulations to protect a few native trout ponds that were first surveyed in 2006. It has always been our philosophy to incorporate as much public input as possible whenever we consider significant changes in fisheries management for a water. This can take several forms. We frequently include information in press releases and attempt to contact camp owners, if possible. We also schedule informal meetings in nearby towns to get the thoughts of local anglers. It is important that anglers have the opportunity to voice their support or opposition to changes in the fisheries management on waters they fish. The resource belongs to everyone and we encourage you to be involved in a positive and constructive manner.
In a related issue, we want to make everyone aware of a bill that has been recently submitted to the Legislature. Rep. Theodore Koffman of Bar Harbor on behalf of SAM has introduced LD 285, An Act To Designate Additional Wild Trout Waters for Recognition and Protection. In summary this proposed bill states: The use and possession of live fish as bait will be prohibited on waters containing brook trout that have not been stocked in the last 20 years and these waters may not be stocked with any fish.
While most of the good wild and native trout ponds in this region already have restrictive regulations to protect the fisheries, there are some waters in the Moosehead Lake Region that would be affected by this bill.
Most notably, anglers at Chamberlain Lake, Telos Lake, and Round Pond in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and Seboomook Lake would no longer be able to use live bait. Also, Brassua Lake in Rockwood would no longer be stocked with salmon and fishing with live bait would be banned.