Western Mountains Fishing Report: February 13, 2007

Cold, cold, and more cold, that’s what the conditions on the lakes and ponds in western Maine are like for anyone who hasn’t stepped out the door within the last week. Ice thickness is becoming safe in most areas with well over a foot of good clear, blue ice. Caution should still be observed around inlets and outlets as slush and thinner ice are possible. On many waters, the wind has blown the snow into hard packed drifts ranging from six to twenty inches in height, so ice travel is slow and bumpy.

�� Despite the cold, windy weather anglers are getting out. Wyman Lake in Bingham has been good fishing lately with anglers regularly catching brook trout, salmon, and splake. One brook trout caught was 18 inches long. Last Saturday fishing conditions were poor at Chain of Ponds in northern Franklin County, with a cold wind blowing enough snow to at times to create “white-outs”. Fishing was slow there over last weekend with only a few brook trout being caught. Embden Pond in Embden is known for it’s slow fishing, and that held true last Sunday, when creel clerk Ethan Tracy check a dozen fishing parties and saw only three brook trout, three togue, and a cusk.

�� Anglers might try fishing late in the afternoon for some action. With the days getting longer there is more opportunity to fish in the afternoon and angler reports of fish becoming active just before sunset are common. This seems to be the case with most fish species, but especially true with white perch. This is also an excellent time of year to target cusks after the sun has set.