Archive for June, 2007
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Low flows in area rivers and streams got a needed boost of water from Sunday’s thundershowers. This increase in flow should get the trout to move a little. These showers were much needed relief from the continued warm temperatures of last week.
All of the stocking has now been completed in regional waters. Legal size trout have been stocked in East Branch Mattawamkeag River, North Branch Meduxnekeag River, Arnold Brook Lake, Logan Lake, Upper McNally Pond, Conroy Lake, Spaulding Lake, Mud Pond (Linneus), Nickerson Lake, Rockabema Lake,Durepo Lake, Monson Pond, Island Pond (T10R10), Round Mountain Pond, Upper Elbow Pond, Beavertail Pond, Ben Lake and Moccasin Pond. Reports on fishing in these ponds has ranged from excellent to “are you sure the water was stocked”?
Fall fingerling brook trout ponds that have been producing this year include: Echo Lake (Presque Isle), Hanson Brook Lake, Trafton Lake, Hale Pond, Perch Pond, and Silver Lake.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Rivers and streams in our area continue to provide some excellent fishing.
The Penobscot is producing some great angling for smallmouth bass, in some areas a local angler reported it “seemed like there was a bass or two behind every rock.”
Water temperatures are staying below normal and that is helpful to brook trout. We had a couple reports of some good fishing in the tributaries of the Penobscot, Piscataquis, Mattawamkeag and Pleasant Rivers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Penobscot Valley Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has adopted the “Hooked on Fishing – Not on Drugs” program as one of its youth educational tools. This is an ideal program to promote youth and family togetherness through fishing within the State of Maine.
On June 5th, members of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Dover-Foxcroft Kiwanis and volunteers held a Youth Fishing Day at the Kiwanis Park Pond in Dover-Foxcroft. Over 80 fourth grade students from the Morton Avenue Elementary School attended the one-day event. The class was broken into 4 groups of approximately 20 students. A short presentation was given to each group regarding the stocking of the pond and another one on the importance of “saying no” to drugs and alcohol”. The students were then given the opportunity to fish for about an hour. Many of the students were successful in reeling in a trout or two, and a few were lucky or skilled enough to catch more.
Before the fishing started, each group was asked if there was anyone that had never fished before. Surprising to me there were several that said this was their first time fishing. This event was their first time out and I’m happy to say that many of these kids caught their first fish. What a great feeling to see the expressions on some of the faces and the screams of “I’ve got one” as they felt the tug of a fish on the end of their line. There were plenty of plastic bags and ice on hand for any students wishing to keep their catch. The fish were cleaned and placed in a bag with ice and each students name was marked on it. At the end of the day the fish were taken back to the school and given back to the students where they got strict instructions from Mr. Ellis not the open the bags on the bus!
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Moosehead Region Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Spencer Lake in western Somerset County was the site of a major habitat restoration project, completed last October. Like many Maine lakes, Spencer’s original water levels were altered some 100 years ago by the construction of a large dam on the lake’s outlet to accommodate spring log drives. In Spencer’s case, the effects were very dramatic because the channel above the dam was deepened to facilitate a higher structure. So as the old dam deteriorated, water levels in the lake dropped well below that which occurred prior to about 1906. This resulted in the loss of about 600 acres of wetlands, dewatering of excellent brook trout habitat in the lake’s shallows, the disconnection of small tributaries from the lake, and most recently, the loss of boat access to Spencer Lake from the Fish Pond Thoroughfare. In addition, smallmouth bass recently colonized the lake’s outlet, Little Spencer Stream. Their migration to Spencer Lake was only blocked by the remnants of the old dam, which was near to being completely washed out by 2005.
Around this same time, FPL Energy, owners of Harris Dam on the upper Kennebec River, was required to restore or create wetlands to compensate for those lost in Indian Pond as a result of their operation of this large hydroelectric project. After consultations with Department wildlife biologists and other key personnel, Spencer Lake was selected as the site for FPL’s Indian Pond wetlands mitigation project. The Spencer restoration project centered on constructing a new concrete dam at the site of the old driving dam. The new dam would be designed to reestablish water levels to the lake’s natural elevation. This would restore about 600 acres of the lake’s contiguous wetlands, including those associated with Fish Pond located just upstream, and provide significant benefits to a variety wetland-dependent wildlife species. Additional benefits included re-watering great brook trout habitat, re-connecting the lake to its tributaries for brook trout and smelt spawning, and preventing the upstream migration of bass from Little Spencer Stream. The project would also benefit anglers because boat access from Fish Pond could reestablished with the higher, more stable water levels.
The project was overseen by FPL biologists Bill Hanson and Kyle Murphy, and Bud Brown of Eco-Analysts. Dan Spaulding from Spaulding Engineering designed the dam, while Joe Haley from M&H Logging in Rangeley carefully removed the old dam and very ably coordinated other contractors. We were present during most of the construction period to assure that bass could not pass into the lake during different phases of construction. This was an excellent crew and they deserve lots of credit for getting this project completed in about six days, just prior to the fall rains.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Maintaining access to public waters in the Downeast region is a top priority for fisheries biologists. This region has over 500 lakes & ponds and 3,800 miles of rivers, streams and brooks, where biologists and wardens have the responsibility of finding suitable lands to be purchased for public access to inland waters. Currently over 85 percent of state waters in Hancock and Washington Counties have public access across privately owned lands. These gracious landowners who have allowed public access for decades to Great Ponds (Great Ponds are lakes and ponds over 10 acres in size) in our area, have done so because they understood the importance to their communities, both for recreational opportunities and to the local economy. The social benefits from public access to inland waters is immeasurable as it keeps people connected to the natural environment and provides badly needed opportunities for citizens to enjoy the outdoors. Statistics have shown that children who fish and recreate on the water have a greater tendency not to become involved with drugs or alcohol.
The economic benefit to the Downeast region from fishing and other water based recreation is in the millions, as just fishing in inland waters generates upwards of 300 million annually state wide. These wholesome family activities are what help bind communities together and are what make Maine what it is, the place to be.
Sadly, these public access points that cross private lands are disappearing as the parcels change hands and the access blocked off. When this occurs, the lakes and ponds become privatized or semi-privatized, leaving little opportunities for Maine people to access the water that they own. In many cases once these access points are closed off the water can no longer be stocked, as all citizens need to have the same advantage to the fish resources of that water. This is a fairness issue that arises when there are many private access points that are associated with camps and residences remain and only family and friends can access but not the general public. The Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife policy states that fair and equitable public access has to be in place in order for the department to stock. This means that access between private landowners and the public must be the same, so that both have the same advantage to the stocked fishery resources. This can be accomplished through local towns, the federal government, state agencies or a lake landowner providing access for the public with agreements and/or development of access sites.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: General
