Archive for May, 2007
Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Action was hot and heavy on area rivers over the Memorial Day weekend. Anglers found flows and temperature at perfect conditions and the brook trout cooperated very nicely. When anglers wanted to go ashore to stretch their legs, they could pick a pail full of fiddleheads that would later accompany their trout on the dinner plate. The only misery to the weekend might have been the blackflies that were anxiously seeking warm bodies. Depending on weather conditions, the trout fishing should continue to cooperate into next weekend, as well.
Public access to the Aroostook River is found in Fort Fairfield, Presque Isle, Washburn, Ashland, Masardis and a new one this year in the town of Oxbow. The Meduxnekeag River has public access in Houlton and at the Lowrey Road in Littleton. The Fish River is accessible in Soldier Pond and at Fort Kent. The Allagash River has access points at Churchill Dam, Umsaskis Thoroughfare, Henderson Brook Bridge, and Finley Bogan. The St. John River, better known now for its muskellunge fishery although trout can still be picked up in the tributaries, can be accessed near Moody Bridge, the former Priestly Bridge site and the Big Black crossing as well as numerous campsites below the confluence with the Big Black River.
The Presque Isle Elks Club and the Presque Isle Fish and Game Club will be hosting a Hooked On Fishing Program on Saturday, June 2 at Mantle Lake Park. Mantle Lake is a small pond within city limits that is open to kids under the age of 16 and adults with complimentary licenses. There are playground and picnic facilities available at the site and on this day there will be numerous recreation and educational activities for children. Masons from the 1st District of the Grand Lodge of Maine will be on hand offering their free Child Identification Program for families wishing to participate.
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Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Weather and water conditions are nearly normal for springtime in east central Maine. All major river systems in the region are reporting near normal flows and temperatures. Despite daily fluctuations in temperature, from 17 degrees above normal to 15 degrees below normal daily temperatures, the overall average temperature has been close to normal for the season and rainfall has been about normal for the month.
Spring fishing for trout, salmon, ands togue has been very good in Region F and bass and perch are getting ready for spring spawning which produces the best fishing for these species. Cold Stream Pond, Duck Lake and Pleasant Pond have had some good salmon fishing while Schoodic Lake and Cold Stream have produced good lake trout fishing. Local area brook trout ponds have been doing well and with the mayfly hatch just beginning, they should be getting even better. The ponds further north including those in Baxter State Park should peak a few weeks later. Some of the more active bass waters have been the Penobscot River, Lincoln area lakes, South Branch Pond, West Lake and Nicatous Lake. As is the case with brook trout, bass fishing will improve in northern areas as spring progresses. A stream survey crew electrofishing streams in northern Washington and southern Aroostook Counties for the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture Project have reported that they have found some very good trout populations in streams sampled so far and that there has been considerable fishing activity on most streams. Spring stocking in Region F is nearly completed and over 50,000 fish over 6 inches long have been stocked. These consisted of 25,000 brook trout, 14,500 landlocked salmon, 6,000 splake, 3,000brown trout, and 2500 lake trout.
Tags: Penobscot Valley Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Thanks to the late snowstorms we received this spring and recent rain events, we had plenty of water to work with this spring for filling First Roach Pond. So much in fact that we had to release higher flows for an extended period of time so that we wouldn’t run the risk of extremely high lake levels. We will be making adjustments to the dam in the near future to maintain a summer flow in the river. Flows in the smaller streams and brooks, have subsided and are providing some good trout fishing.
Last week with the help of Verizon and the folks at Northern Pride Lodge we were successful in getting our new remote water level logger up and running. This logger will help us by cutting down the number of trips and time for monitoring the lake level at First Roach. In the past we frequently had to travel from Greenville to Kokadjo to check on the lake level. With the new logger in place we are able to call into the dam and the logger will automatically give us a lake level reading. This can be done from anywhere; office or home and we hope will cut down on the amount of heartburn the Regional Biologist has encountered over the past 2 springs in dealing with water level management at First Roach.
With the first hot days of spring that we had last week the flying ant hatch was right on cue and signs of mayfly hatches were also noted on some of the smaller trout ponds in the Region. Unfortunately it has also intensified the blackflies and mosquitos, so don’t forget the fly dope!
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Tags: Moosehead Region Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Several reports of superb spring fishing came in this morning, indicating this is indeed prime time for trout and salmon anglers. Honey Cronin, fly fishing at B Pond in Upton, caught two salmon around 4 pounds each. Honey reported the fish were gorging on crayfish and wondered if this was unusual. While salmon clearly prefer smelts and need them grow well and become robust, they are opportunistic fish and will eat just about anything available, including crayfish. In fact, insects are usually the most abundant food item we see in the stomachs of salmon taken during the late spring and summer months.
Guide Harry Vernesoni and his sports had great fishing late last week, including a 28-inch togue taken on a fly from Upper Dam Pool. Harry also reported several brookies over 20 inches from the Rapid River, as well as a 24-inch salmon. Harry is also the dam keeper at Middle Dam and conducts our angler counts and surveys on the Rapid and Upper Dam Pool, so he’s a busy man.
Steve Kasprzak called in with a report of a 5 pound brookie from a river in the Rangeley area (see photo). Steve wasn’t willing to give us the name of the water – typical fisherman!
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, May 31st, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
In the freshwater fishing world, this week’s time window is a magical time of year! This is the time when peak fishing for a number of different species overlaps. The fishing is so good in fact that it is hard for anglers to choose which fish to go after. Water temperatures in most lakes and ponds in the Downeast region surpassed the 60-degree mark at the end of last week. This temperature summoned smallmouth bass to start spawning and the fishing is fast and furious as male bass are now on their nests. On the wild brook trout streams mayflies are coming off in earnest making this week one of the best times to fish on Downeast’s flowing waters. At the same time, landlocked salmon are on the surface on most of our lakes and taking streamers aggressively.
For smallmouth bass here are waters in Hancock & Washington Counties that we recommend anglers try:
Hancock County:
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: General
