Archive for August, 2007
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The most common fisheries question we receive this time of year in northern Maine is one that involves the restrictions on rivers, brooks and streams. Without a doubt many anglers fishing in northern and western Maine are convinced that these “flowing waters” are closed after mid-August.
In reality, rivers, brooks, and streams are open to fishing until September 30 but under more restrictions because of the onset of spawning behavior in brook trout and landlocked salmon. Restrictions involve the use of artificial lures only (ALO) and a daily bag limit of 1 for salmon, trout, and togue. The regulations are intended to still allow for fishing opportunity but with added protection to the resource by limiting harvest of fish (daily bag limit) and minimizing hooking mortality (ALO).
This time of year we notice that brook trout in streams begin to leave their summer-time habitat as water temperatures cool. These fish become more aggressive as they approach spawning time and some great fishing can be found on many of our regional streams and rivers. Currently, stream temperatures are dropping to normal levels with cooler weather; to date, Monday, August 20th, fall rains have not occurred so water levels remain low from summer.
Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Fishing remains good through out the region. Reports are far and few but the information is good. Most of the reports are from bass anglers.
The Penobscot river remains excellent fishing. South Branch, Spednik, Baskahegan, Nicatous Lakes and Dolby Pond are also producing some great action.
East Grand Lake continues to produce some nice salmon for the lucky or accomplished angler. Other lakes that the salmon angler might try are, Schoodic, Cold Stream Pond, Lower Sysladobsis, Pemadumcook, Millinocket and West Lakes.
Schoodic Lake is also producing some nice lake trout. Over the weekend an angler caught 2 fish in the 5 lb range. Some other lakes that also hold some nice lake trout are Millinocket, East Musquash, Cold Stream Pond, Pemadumcook, and East Grand.
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
In 2005, the Natural Resource Education Center (NREC) received a federal grant to provide natural resource based programs for students from kindergarten through grade 12. The Maine Woods Explorers initiative was established with this grant, and Selena Tardif was hired to be the Director of Education to develop and supervise the project. A rich variety of programming and partnerships serving young children through teenagers throughout Piscataquis County operates from the Maine Woods Explorers base in downtown Greenville.
The Greenville staff had an opportunity to spend last Friday morning with the Selena Tardif, Cindy Noyes, and 11 of their Maine Woods Explorers at Gravel Pit Pond in Little Moose Twp. The group was made up of kids ranging from 5 to 11, and they traveled from near and far to participate in last weeks program. Two individuals Brooke and Matthew Tardif ventured north from Biddeford, as did Morganne Lanier who trekked from Guilford. Rounding out this group of explorers were Keegan and Law Hinkley, Alec Moore, Pete Shelton, John and Tommy Watt, Nick Foley, and Evan Sullivan all from Greenville.
On Friday this group of explorers had a chance to see some of the gear that we as fisheries biologists use to help manage the fisheries resources throughout the state. They saw the different types of nets we use, minnow traps, water quality gear, and watercraft. Prior to meeting with the group, we had collected some minnows and crayfish for the kids to look at. One activity we did with the kids was a hi-tech game of hide-and-seek. The group had a chance to use our radio telemetry gear to locate some tags that we had placed around the pond. They had to listen carefully to determine which direction the loudest beep was coming from as we closed in on the location of the tag. After locating our tags it was onto bigger and more exciting things, “ snack time”. After some needed refreshment we moved onto the next phase of the day. As we all know there is no substitute for some hands on, getting wet, and really into your work experience. So the kids were given some nets and buckets and 30 minutes to collect anything and everything from the pond that would fit in their nets and at the end of 30 minutes we took time out to review and talk about what they had collected. There was a large assortment of aquatic critters, which included a variety of minnows, aquatic insects, frogs, tadpoles, and freshwater mussels. At the end of the morning we talked about other types of animals that might live in a pond such a Gravel Pit Pond but were not collected. These explorers came up with some very good answers including, snails, turtles, and “blood suckers”.
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Tags: Moosehead Region Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Regional staff have been very busy in the field during the past month. Our primary focus in July and August has been on evaluating small trout ponds, which the western Maine highlands have plenty of. This effort usually entails a detailed water chemistry analysis, collection of fish samples of all species including minnows, an assessment of tributary and outlet condition, and a check on current access and signs of angler use. If warranted, we’ll even “re-sound” the pond if earlier depth surveys appear inaccurate or if water levels changed significantly since the original survey. Taken together, this information helps us evaluate fishery responses to new fishing regulations or stocking programs, and sometimes shows us a need for slight tweaking of either or both.
Much of the work we’ve completed this summer focused on wild brook trout ponds in the King and Bartlett and Seven Ponds Townships. We’ve also re-surveyed several togue waters, including Lincoln Pond in Parkertown TWP, Varnum Pond in Wilton, King and Bartlett and Little King Lakes in King and Bartlett TWP, and Richardson Lake in Richardsontown. For the latter, I received assistance from Biologist Frank Frost, who works out of our Fish River Lakes Region in Ashland. Frank’s visit was part of our “biologist exchange program” whereby regional staff are required to work in outlying regions. This is an excellent way for us to stay in touch and experience a broader range of fishery issues. I’m sure Frank enjoyed his brief visit and we appreciated the help.
Soon we’ll gear up to begin routine electrofishing surveys to assess stream trout populations. This year we plan to estimate the size of trout and salmon populations in Alder Brook in Perkins, Abbott Brook in Wilsons Mills and Mass Bog Stream in Coburn Gore.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The staff in the Downeast office has been busy in the field lately. We have been conducting numerous stream, lake, and pond surveys.
We have been successful at finding brook trout in many of the brooks and streams we have been surveying. Recently we have been sampling on Mount Desert Island, Otis, Surry, Grand Lake Stream, Calais, and the northern part of the region in the Topsfield area. These surveys are providing us with a great deal of information. We electrofish a section of the stream, perform water quality analysis, record observations about habitat, and complete an assessment of any road crossings near the survey section. This information is vital for us to effectively manage fish populations in our region.
Recently we have surveyed fish populations at lakes and ponds in Calais, Lamoine, and Deblois. We surveyed Nash’s Lake in Calais to evaluate the landlocked salmon that we stock there annually. We sampled 25 salmon ranging from fish just over 1 year old, that were stocked in the spring, to fish that were just over 3 years old, and also one wild salmon that was just over 4 years old. The fish were all in good shape with the largest salmon being about 18.5 inches. About 75% of the fish sampled had good numbers of small smelts in their stomachs. We were pleased to see good smelt numbers since this spring’s smelt run at Nash’s Lake was somewhat poor as a result of fluctuating water levels in Interval Brook. I would like to thank Phil and David Hill for assisting us in our sampling efforts and also to Earl Boyd for providing us with some of his fishing experiences at Nash’s over last few decades as well as a detailed depth map that he created.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
