Archive for September, 2007
Posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
About six months ago I was hired as the Downeast Region’s Fisheries Biologist Specialist. Prior to that I had worked seasonally for two years as a Contract Fisheries Aide. Before I began working for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, I knew very little about what a fisheries biologist really did. Sure, I knew the work involved fish and some aspect of biology, but I never really gave it more thought than that. However, once I was hired on for my first seasonal position, that all changed. At that time I was like a kid in a candy store, just trying to learn as much as I possibly could and to leach as much knowledge as I could from any source that was willing to share with me. The more I learned, the more I wanted to make this my career and by the end of my first summer working with Region C’s biologists I couldn’t get enough of it. I volunteered some time in the fall simply so I could gain experience. Eventually my hard work paid off, and I was extremely fortunate to receive a position working for the state I have lived in my entire life. All of the fisheries staff members in the Downeast Region are native to the state and we are very proud of what we do.
So, then just what does a fisheries biologist do? The short and sweet answer I often use is that one of our responsibilities is to provide, and ensure, that a wide variety of fishing opportunities exist for many years to come. We are fisheries managers and that management involves working with fish and with people. We have a wide variety of tools available to us to manage fish populations. One way is by regulations. We are responsible for creating the fishing regulations on each water. It is the Maine Warden Service who then enforces these regulations. If a population needs to be protected we may impose more restrictive regulations or if we want to promote more harvest we may apply more liberal regulations.
Another tool on our “management tool belt” is the ability to stock fish. The state of Maine fish hatcheries raise the fish and do an amazing job at providing large numbers of healthy fish to stock. Fisheries biologists decide how many fish to stock, what species, and how often the stocking should occur.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
Many anglers are interested in gaining what they can from the knowledge that Fishery biologists have of the waters they manage. We can provide information to virtually all anglers — from those just starting out that who may know nothing about a local water, to the seasoned veteran, who knows every nook and cranny of his or her favorite lake. Even if we are stumped, we have a pretty good idea of whom we can contact to get the right answer to the inquiry.
Recently I had the opportunity to have Michael Witte, an Advisory Council member, accompany me on some routine habitat and fishery surveys of inland streams on the Pemaquid peninsula. He represents three of the coastal counties in this part of Maine. Mr. Witte and I traveled around Bremen and Bristol where he had first hand knowledge of the brooks and streams through assisting our Wildlife Division in their animal damage control program. Although I had been to some of the streams, Michael’s firsthand knowledge helped me complete the survey of the waters we visited. I was unaware that the Patriots Day storm this year had devastated some of the stream crossings in the area, so our field trip helped me put in perspective some of the analyses of road and stream intersects. Mike’s first hand knowledge was a definite asset.
It certainly is a benefit to be able to glean knowledge from someone like Mike, who is very knowledgeable about waterways in his area. As biologists, we do not have all the answers, and we rely on people like Mike to learn more about certain areas, and the knowledge we accumulate from local anglers can give us a much clearer picture of local areas.
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Tags: Central Maine Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
The openwater fishing season is coming to an end, but Maine’s fall fishing opportunities can be fantastic for trout and salmon. There’s nothing like catching a beautiful male brookie in the fall with colors that rival our foliage or a feisty landlocked salmon. The Sebago Region is blessed with some great fall fishing opportunities, most lakes and ponds are open to catch and release fishing until the end of November and a fair number of rivers are open to year round fishing! Be sure to consult your law book for further details.
Fall fishing can be very productive and successful. Trout and salmon become more active as surface temperatures begin to cool and they become concentrated in specific areas as the spawning season approaches. Anglers that target larger tributaries, dam outlets, and thoroughfares in October and November can have some great days of fishing. It is not uncommon for us to hear from anglers catching some beautiful mature landlocks, browns, and other salmonids on lakes like Thompson (Oxford), Auburn (Auburn), and Long Lake (Harrison). In addition, fall anglers also get the first crack at decent sized fall stocked fish (12-14″), which the hatcheries typically have out by the end of October. These fall stocked fish, as well as a few holdover trout have been producing a fantastic fall fishery at Crystal Lake in Gray. While this fishery has been in place for quite some time, anglers have had exceptional fishing off the Town beach in recent years. Some good fall river fishing opportunities include the Presumpscot River in Windham, the Pleasant River in Windham, the Royal River (Yarmouth), the Saco River (below most of the dams), and of course the tide water fisheries (the Mousam, Salmon Falls, and Ogunquit Rivers). The only bad thing about fall fishing is that it can compete with our time for other great fall activities like hunting.
Over the past couple of weeks the regional staff has been conducting quite a bit of stream electrofishing, and it appears to have been a great year for brook trout and salmon. The abundance of juvenile wild trout and salmon appears to be up, particularly on the Crooked River. We are quite pleased at the number of young-of-the-year and parr salmon observed at our four index sites on the Crooked River system, which is related to the recent improvements we have seen in the Sebago fishery, as well as favorable stream conditions this summer. For those that know the river, we expect the Crooked River will provide some decent fall fishing providing we get some rain to draw in the fish prior to the close of the season. Good luck!
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Tags: Southwestern Maine Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
With the first of September comes that nip in the air that reminds you that fall is right around the corner. As the surface water cools and we get a little rain to increase streamflow, the last month of river/stream fishing is eagerly anticipated by many anglers. The lower Aroostook River is an excellent destination to try for fall brook trout. There are several points to access the river below Caribou Dam, one of which is immediately below the dam off the Lower Lyndon Road. There is a fishway in this dam, which precludes fishing within 150 feet of the fishway. Other access sites in downtown Caribou are at the mouth of Caribou Stream adjacent the boat launch and the mouth of Otter Brook. The mouth of the Little Madawaska River can be accessed off the Grimes Road. The Maine Department of Transportation has created a parking area and access to the mouth of Gray Brook off the North Caribou Road and it is only a short distance beyond that to Ansden Brook, another cold tributary to the Aroostook River. In the event that you are parking and accessing the river near a dwelling, please have the courtesy to seek landowner permission before crossing private land. Regulations in effect for this stretch of river are now artificial lures only with a daily limit of 1 brook trout or togue. Minimum length limit on brook trout is 10 inches. All salmon caught must be immediately released alive.
Tags: Aroostook County Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 by Maine Sportsman
How do we keep track of more than 1,000,000 brook trout, lake trout, landlocked salmon, brown trout, and splake after they are stocked? By applying an individual fin clip to a percentage of the fish stocked in Maine each year, that’s how. During the week of September 10, over 120,000 fish will be marked at Cobb Fish Hatchery in Enfield by a very dedicated group of fin clippers from the Enfield and Lincoln area. This is the largest effort statewide to mark fish for later identification. An experienced fin clipper can mark approximately 400 fish per hour, so you can see that it takes a while to clip 120,000+ fish. Similar marking programs take place at all Maine State Hatcheries during the spring and fall each year.
Why do we clip all of those fish? We have a 4-year (11 year rotation for lake trout) fin clip schedule set up for all of the species of fish that we stock Maine, so that each year a different clip is applied. By looking at a marked fish from any lake, pond or stream in Maine that we stock, we can immediately determine what year that fish was stocked. Otherwise, we would have to take a scale or otolith sample of that fish and analyze the data at a later date. Although it takes a long time to mark 120,000 fish, it is a real time saver later in the process of evaluating our hatchery programs.
Based upon this age and growth information, decisions about numbers of fish stocked, length limits, bag limits, gear restrictions and access issues are more effectively made. This is very important information that will provide us a great deal of insight as to the success of any of our stocking programs and management initiatives.
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Tags: Penobscot Valley Fishing Report • Categories: General
