Downeast Fishing Report: March 6, 2008
March has arrived with her winds and sunny afternoons that trigger the snowmelt leading to Maine’s eventual “mud season”. Many anglers love March fishing, with the sun on their faces and a chance to fish for a few hours in just a sweatshirt, quite a change from the icy blasts of January’s winds. Now the days are noticeably longer and twilight lasts until 6 p.m. Just four weekends remain in which to squeeze those memorable last trips for togue, trout, salmon, perch, and bass before the ice auger and snowmobile are put away for the off season!
Here are some of the questions every March angler should ask themselves while planning the next fishing trip:
* Can I make it up the lake through the snow with a 4-wheeler or do I need to take a snowmobile?
* Or the opposite, if I take my snowmobile, is there enough snow to lubricate the sliders?
* Will my snowmobile (or ATV) start once I get there?
* Has the ice melted and pulled away from the shore, making it impossible to get on the lake?
* Are there pressure ridges that cannot be crossed safely?
* Will the bait shop still have smelts and shiners, or have they run out for the season and chosen not to restock?
Finally, if the answers to all the above questions are favorable, the last question is, “will the fish bite today?”