Posts Tagged ‘Western Mountains Fishing Report’
Posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
One of this agency’s primary missions is to secure public access to Maine’s lakes, rivers, and streams. As regional biologists, we’re responsible for maintaining a list of access priorities, assuring that the list is continually updated, and assisting with locating and designing appropriate sites. We work closely with the Department’s access coordinator and chief engineer, the Department of Conservation, and a variety of local groups to acquire and develop the sites.
Completing a water access project is often a frustratingly difficult and time-consuming endeavor. Nevertheless, we do have some successes each year. In Region D, for example, a full service boat launch is now available on Riley Impoundment of the Androscoggin River near Jay, and a small carry-on site is nearing completion for the Sandy River Ponds, located just south of Rangeley. We recently purchased parcels on the Sandy River in Farmington Falls and New Sharon; when developed, these launches will give anglers and recreational boaters an opportunity to float and fish a 7-mile section of this attractive stream with good smallmouth bass and brown trout populations.
Despite these successes, there is much more to do. Our most pressing needs are at Oaks Pond in Skowhegan and Hancock Pond in Embden. We recently suspended popular stocking programs for splake and brook trout at Oaks, and for salmon and brook trout at Hancock for lack of legal access during the open water months.
(MDIFW can not stock waters where public access is denied or is deemed inequitable with shorefront property owners). Also, the traditional access site for Gull Pond in Dallas Plantation was recently put on the market — the current landowner permitted public use of a small launch site, so its future availability to anglers is now very much in question.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
Stream flows in the Rangeley region are finally beginning to look normal. Late-afternoon thunderstorms seemed like a daily occurrence through much of June, and this kept flows in our major rivers unusually high. On the positive side, the high flows were generally coupled with cooler than average temperatures, so the fishing held up well in places like the Rapid River, the Magalloway River, and the Androscoggin River. As flows and temperatures return to normal, salmonid fishes will seek thermal relief provided by cool tributaries, spring seeps, and in the case of larger lakes, the deeper water.
This is the time of year our work schedules really heat up. Over the six weeks or so, we’ll be conducting a variety of fishery surveys throughout the region to assess our management programs. These surveys will be conducted on small trout ponds with both wild and hatchery stocks, larger lakes for salmon, togue, and brookies, small streams for trout and salmon, and larger streams for brown trout, rainbow trout, and bass.
We’ll also complete our assessments of bass populations in Wesserunsett and Wilson Lakes. Sprinkled in among all that work, we’ll monitor several stream restoration projects, complete a few initial surveys of remote ponds, and assist other Regions with their survey work.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Wednesday, July 9th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
A study to evaluate the effect of adding large woody debris (more commonly known as trees) to headwaters of the Sunday River has grown to a major brook trout research effort thanks to the involvement of Dr. Stephen Coghlan of the University of Maine. The original study, funded through the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture, involved restoring wood to two tributaries of the Upper Sunday River in extreme western Maine and monitoring the results, which are expected to moderate flows and improve brook trout habitat by creating pools and adding organic matter (notably by trapping leaves) to increase the abundance of macroinbertebrates (aquatic insects), a major food source for brookies.
Enter Dr. Coghlan and his crew, including graduate student Paul Damkot. They are not only helping to monitor the existing project, but have expanded it to determine the role of brook trout as macroinvertebrate predators. They are in the process of sampling streams both with and without brook trout, and have plans to introduce brook trout into fishless reaches to monitor resultant changes to the macroinvertebrate population.
To return to the original project, Maine streams (as well as many streams nationally) are thought to be devoid of naturally occurring wood, which was removed to facilitate log/pulpwood drives and hasn’t really reoccurred naturally since log driving days because of cutting near the shores of streams. We found several log-driving dams on the Sunday, even high in the headwater streams, supporting this notion.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
The Rangeley chain of lakes in Western Maine is a land of salmon and brook trout. The brook trout are native; the salmon (and the smelt they feed on) were introduced over a hundred years ago. Before the salmon were introduced, brook trout gorged on blueback trout and grew to tremendous size. The blueback’s disappeared after the turn of the century, but this chain of lakes still provides salmon and trout fishing that attracts anglers from far and wide. The Rangeley chain of lakes, which form the headwaters of the Androscoggin River, lie in Maine’s western mountains. The Appalachian Trail runs south of the lakes, providing views of the lakes and mountains to the north, as well as providing access to a series of isolated trout ponds.
The Rangeley Region pioneered fly fishing, and many of the waters, especially the rivers and smaller trout ponds, are limited to fly fishing today. On the larger lakes, trolling with flies, lures, or sewed-on bait is the preferred angling method. A number of waters, particularly stocked trout ponds, have less restrictive regulations, and provide great opportunities for family fishing.
Central to the Region is the Rangeley chain of lakes. Rangeley village, located on the northeast shore of Rangeley Lake, has a wide variety of businesses catering to anglers. There are motels, inns, and cabins to provide housing, as well as marinas, restaurants, fly fishing shops, and a helpful Chamber of Commerce, which can be reached at (207) 864-5571.
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Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
Posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 by Maine Sportsman
Western Maine received 12 to 16 inches of new snow from last week’s double-whammy of storms. Access to many of the region’s lakes became tougher as a result of the bad weather. Several parking areas are simply not being plowed any longer and travel on the ice is through deep snow. No major slush yet, but that’s expected to change with the warming temperatures and rain that are forecasted for this week. Angler activity was very low last weekend on all the lakes we checked.
While the 2008 ice fishing is showing signs of winding down, there’s still plenty of time to get out and enjoy the stronger sun and longer days of March. Bass fishing usually picks up now, especially around south-facing shoals and shorelines, or near open water. Temperatures warm more quickly in these areas and larger bass seem to seek these areas to prepare themselves for the impending spawning season (that means they want to eat a lot!). Good bets for March bassing in this region include Clearwater Lake, Hancock Pond, Wesserunsett Lake, Webb Lake, Roxbury (Ellis) Pond, Norcross Pond, Crowell Pond, and Parker Pond (Jay). In case the bass aren’t interested, most of these waters also provide decent action for white perch and pickerel.
Tags: Western Mountains Fishing Report • Categories: General
