Archive for August, 2007
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Last month a few articles regarding salmonid consumption of soft plastic baits hit the press. Since these articles were released many anglers have asked the fisheries staff at Inland Fisheries and Wildlife many questions about the issue. To understand the significance of some of the study’s findings, one should consider the following about soft baits.
Soft plastic baits do litter the bottom of many bodies of water, particularly where both bass and trout provide the principle fisheries. If you spend any amount of time snorkeling in the shallows it does not take long to find many of these discarded baits. All salmonids are susceptible to the consumption of plastic baits. We routinely collect biological data from many different waters by gill netting, creel census, trap netting and electro fishing. It is common to see discarded plastic baits in the stomachs of salmonid, particularly brook trout and lake trout. Although, we often see many brown trout that have ingested rubber bait, brook trout and lake trout appear to be the most susceptible. Brook trout seem to be the most susceptible to lost plastic baits, particularly in Central Maine. There are several reasons that explain brook trout susceptibility. Region B stocks brook trout in more waters than other stocked salmonids. Large fall yearling brook trout are stocked in many waters that also have very popular bass fisheries. Fall stocked brook trout will inhabit the shallows where many of the lost or discarded baits end up from the previous fishing season.
Most plastic baits swell and absorb water over time, making them much more difficult to pass through the fish’s digestive system. I have several plastic baits in a bottle full of water; some have more that tripled in size and weight, over a three-year period. Bass do not seem to be affected the same way salmonids are when ingesting soft plastic baits. I have never seen a soft plastic baits in any bass stomach. The only negative effect that I have witnessed with soft plastic baits regarding bass, is when a bass has taken one too deep in its throat and the hook is the culprit for any damages. I can also say that I have never seen a salmonid die as a direct result from eating soft plastic bait.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Central Maine Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Each summer regional staff electrofish two streams as part of a statewide brook trout monitoring program. These streams are different from our regular summer stream sampling in that they are intensively electrofished in such a way as a population estimate can later be calculated. That is, we can determine roughly how many brook trout there are in our chosen stretch of stream. We choose the best trout streams we can manage for this task so it is always exciting to observe the abundance of wild trout we still find in southern Maine streams. This kind of work also allows us to become very familiar with a stream in fairly short order. With electrofishing there is no guesswork. You never have to wonder of you spooked the fish, if they weren’t biting, or if there weren’t fish in that hole. I won’t pretend that I net every single fish the electrofisher shows us but we do catch the vast majority and it becomes a real eye-opener.
Last week, the day before we sampled one of our brook trout monitoring streams I took a few hours in the morning and went worming for brook trout at a few likely spots. Water was low and I was fishing small streams so legal fish were few and far between, few enough so I released all I caught along with plenty of 4-5 inch pretenders. Since our brook trout monitoring stream was right on the way to work I stopped to dunk a worm in a couple of pools that have historically held a decent number of legal brook trout. As usually occurs, disaster struck right when I was about to begin fishing the best/first pool on the stream. First cast I felt a nibble so I set the hook on nothing but air and water, the line flew out of the water and wrapped itself around a “flimsy” piece of grass. Rather than expose myself to the pool I flicked the rod up and broke the handle off my cheapo bargain rod sending rod and reel splashing into the pool. Despite having hopelessly spooked the trout I plunged doggedly on, and held the reel to the rod for my next cast with which I buried my only hook into a nice meaty log. The next day we electrofished that pool in the course of obtaining our annual sample and I netted 12 legal trout, all of which were released still wearing that smug grin on their pointy little faces from foiling the fishery biologist the previous morning.
So, take a morning off, sneak up to your favorite pool (or explore up a new favorite), throw some hardware or flies at our still abundant wild brook trout and show them who’s boss. Obviously they know I’m not boss.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Southwestern Maine Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Fishery Division staff from the Ashland and Enfield office will be holding a public meeting on Monday, August 20 at the Meduxnekeag Ramblers snowmobile clubhouse on Carry Lake off the Wiley Road in Littleton. The meeting will start at 6:30 pm. Fishery management issues in the greater southern Aroostook area will be discussed as well as entertaining questions from the audience.
All roads lead to Fort Kent this weekend as the community hosts the annual fishing derby targeting muskellunge. Muskellunge have become established in the St. John River drainage as the result of the stocking of this species by Quebec biologists in Lac Frontier, a headwater of the Northwest Branch of the St. John River. In addition to the St. John River, the species provides a sport fishery in Baker Lake in Somerset County and Glazier Lake in Aroostook County. The state record muskellunge was caught in Glazier Lake by Jeff Albert at a length of 46 inches and 31.02 pounds.
In addition to participating in the derby, anglers can visit the Maine Winter Sports Center that has hosted world class biathlon championships. Numerous other activities and events, as well as more detailed information on the derby can be found at www.fortkent-muskie.com. The people of the St. John Valley are well known for their hospitality and I’m sure this weekend will be a great time for all visitors.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
After almost two weeks of hot, humid weather with no rain, water temperatures across the region have soared ! Continued conditions will take its toll on all species of coldwater fish. Flows in the East Branch of the Penobscot River was running around 600 cfs, roughly 200 cfs below normal. Hopefully conditions will improve soon.
Regional staff will be heading to Baxter State Park this week to do some new surveys on a number of small ponds in the southern portion of the Park. Grassy Pond, Mink Pond, Rum Pond, Tea Pond and Deer Pond will all be examined. We will also be doing some re-surveys on Foss and Knowlton Pond, Lost Pond, Daicey Pond, Kidney Pond and Draper Pond to check for any changes in the species composition, water quality and brook trout populations.
Tags: Penobscot Valley Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The fishing is still very good on the big lake. Anglers are reporting catching good numbers of lake trout and the salmon fishing has been very good all summer with many fish in the 16-18” range. It seems each week we get a report to the office or see a photo in the Moosehead Messenger of a 4+ lb brook trout. The hot flat summer days are perfect for slow trolling for lake trout with bait so get out and enjoy it because summer will be gone before you know it.
Plum Creek’s proposal for development in the Moosehead Lake Region has been a hot topic for discussion this summer. Development of this scale is unprecedented in the unorganized territories of this State and it can have both positive and negative impacts on the region. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will be formulating comments over the course of the summer in preparation for LURC hearings in the fall. From a fisheries perspective, we will first look at any impacts the plan may have on habitat. Access is also a very important issue for our Department and the sportsmen we represent. We want to be sure there is adequate value in the conservation easements to offset the proposed development. Value will be evaluated in the form of protection from development as well as protection from the loss of traditional access. Sportsmen know the trends regarding access are not good for the hunter and angler. We have lost access in recent years, some from the pressures of development (sprawl) but also from the creation of “Kingdom Lots”, which protect the habitat but shut out the traditional users. We have seen large tracts of land and water gated off as a result. We will also review the impacts from the anticipated increase in visitors to the region. The recreational impact study for the proposal indicates a substantial increase in visitors to the area. It is likely that all waters in the region, not just those with new development, will witness an increase in fishing pressure. Certainly there are some waters that would benefit from more fishing pressure, while others could suffer. To successfully manage increases in recreational use it will be important to have transparency and opportunities for input from the many competing stakeholders.
Tags: Moosehead Region Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
