Moosehead Region Fishing Report: March 8, 2007

Despite the State’s recent snow storm and high winds late last week, the regional fisheries staff surprisingly found traveling on Moosehead Lake to be fairly good this past weekend. However, anglers and snowmobilers alike should pay close attention when traveling along the immediate shoreline. The longer days and warmer temperatures have started to produce some very soggy areas. Our staff encountered a few areas of slush while conducting creel census work this past weekend. Traveling on the south end of Moosehead Lake, I identified a few areas that have started to get very soft. Some of the red flag areas are in Deep Cove on the west side of the lake and Doughnut and Galusha Coves in the Lily Bay area. Also, areas immediately around ice shacks contained some slush. This likely from water coming up through fishing holes as a result of the added weight by this most recent snowstorm.

In my travels this weekend I also noted many ice shacks on Moosehead are now surrounded by a couple feet of drifted snow with water and slush near or already onto the runners of some of the shacks. Anglers who have an ice shack on a body of water and haven’t been to it for a while, may want to do so to make sure it is high and dry, reducing the possibility of it flooding and freezing in.

Fishing on the big lake is still producing some fast action for many anglers. Most of the fish being caught consist of smaller togue in the 14 to 18 inch category. Our Unity College help have been reporting some decent salmon on the ice in the Rockwood area. I also encountered several parties on the lake this weekend that were targeting cusk. Although a bit odd looking these fish are very tasty. Most folks I talked to were hoping to get enough to have an annual fish fry or a big cusk chowder.