Posts Tagged ‘Downeast Fishing Report’
Posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
As we put the unofficial end of summer behind us, we approach my favorite time of year. September in Downeast Maine gives us cool nights and comfortable days. These conditions cause water temperatures to fall and fish to become more active. This is the time of year that makes me start thinking about all the opportunities fall has to offer. Hiking and canoeing to see the changing leaves, camping with no bugs and comfortable sleeping conditions, and of course fall brook trout fishing.
In the Downeast region the month of September can provide some great stream and brook fishing for trout. In the fall brook trout exhibit beautiful spawning colors that are more striking than anything else in nature. When that beauty is coupled with the changing foliage, you can’t ask for a more memorable experience.
Every time I think about fall fishing, I am immediately reminded of a day trip I took with a college friend a few years back. We were out fishing a small stream around the Route 9 corridor on the last day of the open water season. The day was sunny with a cool breeze and could not be more picturesque. We took turns fishing for about a mile and a half of stream. We didn’t catch any great number of fish, but every fish we landed made the trip worth it. I took two photographs that day which stick out most in my mind. I have included both pictures with this weekly report and they can be viewed by clicking the link for “Photos from the field.” The first was of a beautiful male brook trout that my friend caught in one of the first pools we fished. The picture hardly does justice to the intensity of colors that fish exhibited. The second picture from that day was of my friend casting his fly surrounded by the changing foliage. Both of these images stand out in my mind and they are what drive me to get out in the fall and wet a line.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
The hot and humid weather that comes with a Maine summer is upon us now. During the last few weeks we have been sampling brooks and streams in the area around the Stud Mill Road, north of Route 9. The sun was bright, the air was muggy, the alders were thick, and the deer flies were abundant but we gained valuable information about many little streams and the areas where they cross the Stud Mill Road.
After about a week of electrofishing our observations led us to make some conclusions about streams in the area. The things we were seeing are quite common throughout most of the region. First and foremost, we observed where we found brook trout and where we didn’t. The number one factor in determining where trout were found was water temperature. As long as the water temperature was less than about 70 degrees we found trout. (We did not electrofish any stream with a temperature greater than 73 degrees since if salmonids are in the stream they will be greatly stressed already and the stress caused by electrofishing could kill the fish.) Even in streams that didn’t look like the “classic” brook trout stream, as long as the water temperature was acceptable, we found trout.
One example is a small brook that is only about 4-5 feet wide and about a foot deep. This brook meanders through some tall grasses and alders, the flow is quite slow and almost appears stagnant. We recorded a water temperature of about 70 degrees, which indicated that this brook has spring influence contributing cold water from underground. The bottom of the brook was very soft and had at least one foot of soft organic sediment (muck!) on bottom. We electrofished a section of 150 feet and were pleasantly surprised with the result. In that section we netted 127 brook trout, ten times more than I would have guessed! The brook was not very well shaded, except for a few alder trees here and there, but it did have undercut banks that provided good shade and cover for brook trout. Only four of the 127 fish were over six inches, the majority of the fish were ones that hatched out this spring and at this time of year are between an inch and a half and three inches in length. This brook truly is a small wild trout hatchery.
Another observation we made is that a very high percentage of the brooks we sampled showed signs of road washouts at some time in the past. In most cases gravel and rocks from the road had filled in portions of the streams downstream of the road. Sometimes this sediment could be seen 75-100 feet downstream of the road. The washouts were likely caused by undersized culverts that could not pass high flows adequately or by beaver activity.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
We invite the angling public to attend one of two informational meetings to discuss and comment on a set of proposed regulation changes for Hancock and Washington counties that will create increased conformity of general law fishing regulations among 10 of Maine’s counties.
Meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on July 29 at the Bucks Mills Rod and Gun Club in Bucksport and at 6:30 p.m. on July 30 at the Calais Rod and Gun Club in Charlotte.
The proposed changes are largely the result of ongoing efforts to consolidate ice fishing and open water regulations into a single two-year law book. Our aim is to increase angling opportunities where possible, further simplify the law book, save time and financial resources, and to continue protecting the resource. Most of the proposed changes will affect southern, central, and eastern Maine angling opportunities.
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
Downeast Maine is noteworthy because of the wide variety of angling experiences it offers. Anglers can choose among coldwater (salmonid) and warmwater fisheries in lakes, easily accessible and remote wilderness-type waters, wading or fishing from a canoe for wild brook trout in streams.
Numerous waters offer good fishing for one or more of 9 species of sportfish; landlocked salmon, brook trout, lake trout (togue), brown trout, splake, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white perch, and pickerel. The region boasts one of the top 10 salmon and togue lakes in Maine (West Grand Lake), one of the top 5 riverine fisheries for salmon (Grand Lake Stream), some of the very best smallmouth bass angling in the state, and the premier lake for whitefish in eastern Maine, West Grand Lake.
West Grand Lake
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
Posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
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?
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Tags: Downeast Fishing Report • Categories: Fishing Reports
