Archive for June, 2007
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
As we’ve previously noted in these columns, the illegal introduction of smallmouth bass is expected to impact native brook trout populations in the Kennebec and upper Androscoggin drainages. Our crews are currently working to determine those impacts, and to minimize or negate them where possible. Dave Boucher, Dave Howatt, and Jason Seiders spent part of last week electrofishing bass from C Pond in Oxford County prior to the construction of a fish barrier on the outlet later this summer, all part of an effort to prevent bass from becoming permanently established there. In addition, Boucher, Howatt and Kyle Murphy of Florida Power and Light will be working on the Rapid River this weekend to monitor the impact of bass on that fishery. With permission, they’ll be weighing and measuring the trout and salmon that anglers catch, (to be returned to the river alive, of course) and appreciate the cooperation of anglers in helping with this project.
Beginning next month we’ll be monitoring our stream restoration projects at South Bog Stream, the Cupsuptic River, and the Sandy River. In addition, we’re planning a new project on Bemis Stream, a tributary to Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Like the other streams we’ve worked on, Bemis was degraded by log driving and timber harvesting within the drainage. We’re planning a different type of restoration on this stream – the addition of “large woody debris” to a mile of the stream. Adding wood to the headwaters of the stream will help to form pools, slow down the runoff, and trap nutrients. This project is being done in concert with a study being conducted by Dr. Stephen Coghlan and his grad student Paul Damkot to determine the effect of the introduction of brook trout on fishless streams. We’ll report on this project as it progresses.
I’ve had lots of reports of good stream fishing “if you can stand the bugs” so lather up in fly dope and head for the sound of running water; this is prime fishing time.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
If you love bass fishing, the bass are biting well now! Both smallmouth and largemouth bass are highly active, with juveniles feeding heavily and with adults spawning. Males dependably and dutifully remain by the nest to guard eggs and fry from fish-eating predators. When male bass are removed from the nest, even temporarily, as when anglers catch and release them, this interruption in diligent nest defense can result in high levels of predation on the eggs and fry in just a few minutes. Anglers are strongly encouraged to play and release male bass quickly in the immediate vicinity of the nest; it will pay dividends for your future bass fishing!
The fisheries staff of the Downeast Region is currently sampling bass from Graham Lake in the Ellsworth area and Georges Pond in Franklin to monitor size and age composition of the bass populations. The information we have collected during the past 21 years from more than 7,000 bass has been highly valuable in implementing regulations to preserve and protect the quality of eastern Maine’s bass populations, which occur in 613 of Maine’s lakes and ponds.
Try bass fishing! You’ll find it to be the way fishing should be.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Anglers living in central Maine have some serious decisions to make when it comes to late spring fishing, which water to fish today?
In preparation for my father’s annual spring visit I started thinking of places where to take him fishing. He is an avid angler, happy to fish for most any species, always interested in seeing new waters, and tends to shy away from places that are too crowded. To put it plainly, he just loves to fish.
This year I decided on showing him a variety of opportunities: wild brook trout ponds, wild brook trout streams, stocked brook trout stream, warm water streams, black crappie ponds, and bass lakes. His visit was for nine days and I am happy to report that he had the opportunity to fish each day.
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Tags: Central Maine Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, June 14th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Even though surface water temperatures are beginning to climb with the onset of summer, trout and salmon fishing in the region remains excellent. Anglers continue to report good catches of lake trout and salmon from Sebago, Auburn, and Thompson Lakes. Of the three, Sebago is certainly the shining star and has made a dramatic turnaround over the last year or two. Anglers are commonly reporting catches of 3-7 pound salmon, and even one or two monstrous 8-pounders have been landed! The lakers are also looking healthy with most fish running between 3-6 pounds, but a number of fish in the low teens have been landed so far this year. Certainly, the lake will yield a few more of these trophies throughout the summer months. On the other hand, as we forecasted from our 2006 data (hydroacoustics and fall trapnetting) Thompson Lake’s salmon and togue fisheries are experiencing a downturn, particularly in terms of size quality. The cause…a substantial decline in smelt abundance. MDIFW has reduced the salmon stocking rate by 1/3 for the spring of 2007, and we will continue to adjust as the smelt population responds. Past experience suggests Thompson Lake will probably make a relatively quick recovery. Auburn Lake has had mixed reports from anglers, the biggest complaint being fewer salmon. On the other hand, our seasonal clerk censusing Auburn has seen some excellent catches of lake trout and salmon. This season’s clerk data, as well as, our annual fall sampling of the salmon run will allow us to keep tabs on the situation at Auburn Lake and we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
Medium and smaller sized lakes in the region have also been fishing well for trout. Anglers have reported some fantastic trips in the past week or so, particularly for rainbows and browns. Roger Lavalliere of Windham recently fished Crystal Lake in Gray one afternoon and landed 8 bows and 4 browns in the 14-18″ range. He was particularly excited about a beautiful heavily spotted, and strong colored 17″ inch rainbow trout. Like Roger, a York County angler has had some great fishing for browns and bows from 14-20″ at Kennebunk Pond in Lyman, and we have had similar reports from Upper and Middle Range Ponds in Poland. Trolling live bait, stick baits, lures, and streamer flies along the shoreline at depths of 8-15′ deep have all been effective. Give it a try!
As reported in the past couple write-ups, region A has been sampling several bass waters with our electrofishing boat. Last week we were sampling Thompson Lake, which we hope to finish up this week before moving on the Thomas Pond in Casco. Our bass sampling work on Thompson has been interesting. As expected largemouths are relatively rare, and even though smallmouths were more abundant there presence was spotty. The average size quality of the smallmouths was excellent; however, there was a definite lack of juveniles and smaller sized bass despite an abundance of juvenile bass habitat. Based on our sampling at Thompson, it is clear that the smallmouth bass spawning season is well underway even on our larger lakes. Don’t miss out…it is without a doubt one of the best times to fish for bass! This is also a great time to introduce a kid to fishing, you can almost guarantee fast action and land a few hawgs.
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Tags: Southwestern Maine Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
This week’s report will describe various fishing regulation proposals that are being proposed for the 2008 fishing season. A formal announcement of all of the Department’s proposals will be forthcoming at a later date. This summary is meant to be for information purposes only. Comments on the proposals may be forwarded to the IFW headquarters in Ashland via telephone, letter or email.
Big Reed Pond, T8R10, Piscataquis County All fish caught must be released alive at once. Purpose: conserve the existing populations of Arctic charr and brook trout
1st,2nd,3rd Chase Ponds, T14R9, Aroostook County Daily bag limit on togue: 3 fish; minimum length limit: 14 inches, only 1 may exceed 18 inches. Purpose: conform to standard togue management regulation categories.
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Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: General
