May 2, 2005

May 2, 2005 Fishing Report

Region A- Southwestern Maine

A late ice-out and high water delayed stocking in southern Maine by 1 to 2 weeks, but the hatchery trucks have been rolling out almost everyday since. If interested, anglers can check out the 2004 stocking list on our website (www.mefishwildlife.com). Although, this is last year's list, the stockings remain relatively similar from year to year and it gives anglers a good idea on what, where, and when certain waters are typically stocked. As one might expect, the date of stocking is variable, but will typically be within a week or so of the previous stocking year. A familiarity with the stocking list is a good way to increase your chances of a successful angling adventure. I remember many unsuccessful fishing trips when I was in junior high and high school, which I know now was simply a matter of fishing waters without wild or stocked fish, as well as, timing and technique mistakes. However, even the fishless trips seemed to turn into interesting adventures and created many fond memories. Then again, sometimes we got lucky and stumbled onto a great, secret fishing hole.

Many people have been out chasing salmon since ice-out and we have had some reports of excellent success. Our own seasonally clerk, Greg Massey, and his friends have been fishing Lake Auburn (Auburn) with great results. They have managed to land many nice landlocks and lakers including a 6.5 pound salmon. We have also heard of some good salmon being caught at Thompson Lake (Oxford) where most of the legal fish being caught are in the 2 tro 3 1/2 pound class. Regional biologist, Francis Brautigam, has had several good days of landlocked fishing on Peabody Pond, despite a barrage of boat, motor, and weather condition problems. The president of Sebago Lake Anglers Association, Don Sicotte, recently reported, "The mouth of the Songo R is teaming with fish stacked up at various depths and many clouds of bait fish showing up on fishfinders in the area as well as all along the western shore. Other reports of the water blackened with smelt at the Songo Locks is encouraging to say the least." Although, the catches of salmon are on the light side, some quality fish are beginning to show up in the fishery...another good sign that things are looking a little better on Sebago. According to Don, Steve Hoyt Jr. landed a 22in. 4.5# salmon last week and others have been reporting fat, healthy salmon that look like footballs.

Stream fishing for brookies has largely been a washout thus far, but we expect things to pick up when flows resume to more normal levels. One of our voluntary record keepers called me up last week and reported fantastic fishing for brook trout on some of our smaller trout ponds in the Oxford County area. He fished two different ponds and reported catches of 16-18 fish each trip between himself and his 2 fishing partners. He claimed it generally took awhile to find the fish, but once you found them the action was pretty fast. Most of the fish were in the 9-12 inch range and all were in excellent condition. One brookie was a fat, 14 1/2 incher! Although a few trout were rising, he indicated that the majority of fish were caught on small streamers fished with fast sinking fly lines.

A few anglers have reported fairly good fishing for rainbows and browns right after ice-out. Mike Andrews, who works at our Casco Fish Hatchery, reported catching 8 rainbows on Crystal Lake in Gray along a with a few rainbows and browns out of the Range Ponds in Poland shortly after ice-out. Wobblers, stick baits, flies, and sewn bait all appear to be fairly effective this time of year when trolled slowly and relatively shallow. Shortly thereafter the rainbow fishing slowed while the mature rainbows went through the spawning routine in mid-late April, but most of the fish have dropped back into the lake and should be aggresively feeding again.

Its a great time to fish for trout and salmon, so get ought there and wet a line. Good Luck!

-Jim Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region B - Central Maine

Soft baits have been on the market now for as long as I can remember. Remember when we use to put these soft baits in our trays of our tackle boxes only to find a melted spot where we had left them? You can almost guess the age of another's tackle box by the amount of scaring or melting where the rubber worms where left. Today we all know to place them in plastic bags before we place them in our tackle boxes.

The Mann's grape jelly worms were the first soft baits that I was introduced to. This rubber worm changed my style and outlook on how I approached bass fishing. Skipping the worm across the surface of the water or dredging the worm along the bottom produced many fish. Regardless how the worm was used, it always seemed to produce. I still use these soft baits today, but the selection of soft baits on the market now is overwhelming. With names like Strike King, Enforcer and Mr. Twister they leave you with the impression, when you read the fine print on the bags, that you will catch more fish by using their products. The scents that are impregnated into the baits are good enough to be mistaken for snacks. Some of the figures and colors of the baits are so life-like that they can even fool the angler using them. Scents like watermelon, scented crayfish to a garlic flavored fluorescent green spider. These baits are a great addition to any anglers tackle box.

The problem with these products is that they are being discarded after use. Some of these discarded baits are littering the bottom of many lakes in Maine. One can see this littering by snorkeling any popular bass water. The decomposition rate of these baits seems to be years, not months and this is where these baits could pose a threat to other fish. It is not uncommon for fisheries biologists to come across many of these discarded soft baits in the stomachs of many salmonids. In some cases there is more than two or three baits in a single stomach. The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife hopes to address this issue with future studies. Remember to dispose of soft baits properly and do not discard your soft baits into the water after use.

-Scott Davis, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region C - Downeast

Several warm days since ice-out have raised surface water temperatures to the high 40's and low 50's, stimulating fish metabolism and triggering the start of the best feeding and growing period for salmon and trout. Water temperatures are suitable to catch fish in the shallows close to shore and on the surface throughout the lake or pond. Whether you prefer trolling classic Maine streamer flies, metal wobblers like Mooselooks and Flash-kings, Rapalas, or sewed bait, the fish are "on top" for the next few weeks.

Cathance Lake in Cooper has been producing good fishing and growth for landlocked salmon, with some fish over 3 pounds being landed. Other good salmon waters this spring have been Green Lake in Ellsworth, Donnell Pond near Franklin, Jordan Pond on Mt. Desert Island, Mopang Lake in T 29 MD, Schoodic Lake in Cherryfield, Nash's Lake in Calais, Big Lake in T 27 ED, and West Grand Lake in Grand Lake Stream.

Speaking of Grand Lake Stream, flow is now very high (2,350 cubic feet per second) as frequent heavy rains and melting snow from one of the wettest springs in recent years have filled West Grand and the lakes upstream, necessitating the opening of 5 gates on the dam. These flows create dangerous strong currents and greatly limit fishing until they are reduced. Most anglers prefer flows below 500 CFS, so before you head to Grand Lake Stream this May, you can check present flow conditions for yourself at: <http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me/nwis/uv?01019000>

Brook trout are biting well in many ponds now, but high water conditions in streams and rivers is delaying good fishing. Monroe Lake and West Monroe Pond in Twp 43 MD are yielding good catches of trout, as are Six-mile Lake in Marshfield, Pineo Pond (fly fishing only) and West Pike Brook Pond on the blueberry barrens of Deblois and T 18 MD. Trout action continues to be hot at Simmons Pond in Hancock.

Brown trout fishing has been good at Six-mile Lake in Marshfield, Upper Lead Mountain Pond in Twp 28 MD, Walker Pond in Brooksville, and Rocky Lake in Whiting.

I've talked to many avid bass anglers this week who tell me of many great catches of early-season bass already on lures fished relatively slowly. Early spring bass tournaments are already underway on eastern Maine lakes.

Biologists from the Downeast Region stocked smelt eggs this spring to augment existing populations at Tunk Lake, Phillips Lake, and Beech Hill Pond. We expect that this should hasten the recovery of temporarily depressed smelt population levels in those lakes.

In addition, we worked together with other biologists, volunteer anglers, and Dr. Gayle Kraus's Ichthyology class from the University of Maine at Machias to finclip 50,000 landlocked salmon and brook trout prior to stocking. This is a great program because it allows biologists to tell how old the fish is simply by noting which fins are missing.

Spring stocking of brook trout has been occurring for 2 weeks, and beginning this week, we will be boat-stocking landlocked salmon. By boating fish at most lakes, we release them away from the shallow waters and predators into safer surroundings in at least 40 feet of water. Most of the fish will reach legal length in 12-14 months after stocking.

-Rick Jordan, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region D - Western Mountains

The rainstorms of April made it difficult to get in any productive stream fishing, not to mention fish stocking, in the last few weeks. Although some fish have already been stocked into our lakes and ponds, we're holding off stream stocking until flows recede to the point that fish won't be swept away after they leave the stocking truck.

For those who haven't visited their web site, USGS tracks flows of a number of Maine waters. I frequently pull up the charts for the Dead Diamond River, the Carrabasett River, and the Swift River to get a feel for what we can expect for flows before we venture into the field, especially after storm events such as those we've had the last few weeks. Another good source of information is the 'flow phone', provided by Florida Power and Light and the Kennebec Water Power Co., which lists lake levels and stream flows for the Androscoggin and Kennebec River drainages. The number is 1-800-557-3569.

This is the first week of ice-out in the higher elevation lakes, and one of the best times to troll for salmon. Brook trout are also hitting on the smaller ponds. Early lake and pond fishing is often a better bet than stream fishing, at least until water levels drop a bit.

Reports of smelt run abundance have been mixed. Many of our smelt runs are closed to dipping to protect them as forage for salmon and other coldwater fish. We'll continue to check smelt egg deposits the next week or so to evaluate their abundance and may adjust some stocking rates accordingly. This was the first year of a midnight-to-noon smelt dipping closure on the Richardson Lakes. We requested this part-time closure in an effort to improve smelt spawning success in a number of tributaries.

Some anglers in the Rangeley area may have noticed that the screen at the outlet of Rangeley Lake in Oquossuc is open. The cables holding up the middle section of the screen failed this winter, allowing it to drop to the bottom in an open position. Once the flows recede to workable levels, we'll repair the cables and close the screen. Based on information collected back in the days when there was a fishway in the dam, there is little outmigration of salmon or trout in the spring. Nonetheless, we'll repair the screen as soon as practicable.

-Forrest Bonney, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region E - Moosehead Region

Well, we've all heard the saying "April showers bring May flowers". If this is true we should have one beautiful bloom during the next month. The Moosehead Region as well as the rest of the Maine has seen its share of rain over the past couple of weeks. Brooks and streams have been spilling over or at bank full and haven't presented themselves for very good fishing. The larger rivers in the region, which are primarily regulated for flood control this time of year, have all been at very high flows. With Brassua Lake and Moosehead Lake full, flows in the Moose River and at the East Outlet of the Kennebec have been very high. Flows on the Piscataquis River and the Roach River have also been running at flows too high to safely fish. As the run-off subsides and we get back into a drier weather pattern, we should see conditions on these rivers and the natural brooks and streams return to more fishable conditions.

The fishery staff has been busy conducting some early spring trapnetting for brook trout as well as tending the First Roach Dam for water level management which for the past week and a half has been more like flood control as the pond has been at or near full. Unfortunately, with the lake level being so high, it has resulted in flows in the Roach River being extremely high, as we have had to pass in excess of 1,600 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water for nearly a week.

The ice is slowing clearing from the lakes and ponds in the region. Some in the immediate area and south of Greenville are free of ice. Moosehead Lake still has ice holding on but with warmer temperatures forecast it wouldn't surprise me to see the majority of it out by the end of the week. A few ponds in the southern part of the region have received spring yearling brook trout and more throughout the area will be stocked as ice clears and access roads to them dry out and become safely passable. We've had a few reports that smelts have been running in some of the brooks and streams throughout the region.

As the openwater fishing season kicks off, we'd like to once again remind folks that your fishing information is very important to us. We appreciate the information that has been generated in the past by volunteer anglers keeping books for the Department. As well as anglers completing the cards from survey boxes placed at various locations around the region. Another means of providing the Department fishing information based on your fishing trips is through TripTracks Fishing Logbook, which is a free web-based service. Log on to www.triptracks.com <http://www.triptracks.com> to sign up, and you will then be able to record all of your fishing trip information, upload photos to your private logbook, and even review summary data from around the state.

-Jeff Bagley, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region F, Penobscot Region

Ice is out, smelts are running, and with the help of the hatchery crew, fish are being stocked.

Last week we stocked Lower Togue Pond with 500 splake; Seboeis with 3000 splake and 1000 salmon; Cold Stream Pond with 1,500 brook trout and 500 salmon; East Grand Lake with 1600 brook trout; Weir Pond with 250 brook trout; Tomah Pond with 300 brook trout; Farrow Lake with 1,000 brook trout

This week we are planning to stock Matagamon Lake with 3,000 lake trout; Millinocket lake with 2,000 salmon and 4,000 lake trout; Pleasant Lake in Island Falls 1,200 Salmon and 2,000 brook trout and Hay Lake with 500 salmon.

We have reports of very good splake fishing in Seboeis Lake and the same party also caught a 5 pound salmon. There have been some good catches of brook trout from Loon, Crystal and Upper Ox Head Pond. As the high flows in the brooks and streams go back to normal, brook trout fishing should be great.

Here is a great opportunity for kids to fish. The hatchery personnel here at the Enfield hatchery are stocking Cold Stream Stream with legal sized brook trout each week. From the bridge to the old fish way, the regulation is general law; open to kids under 16 years of age and complementary license holders.

Good luck!

-Brian Campbell, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region G - Aroostook County

High water in lakes and ponds, free of ice and in rivers, brooks and streams has made for difficult fishing conditions to date. In addition, many of the private gravel roads in the North Maine Woods area have been damaged by the heavy rain and run-off such that fishermen seeking to access these back county ponds may want to call the North Maine Woods office for updates on road conditions.

Needless to say, adventurers looking for canoe/kayak trips of the X-games caliber can visit the several rivers in this region. Smelts have reportedly begun running in some of the lakes but the high water conditions make it difficult to check and observe the runs. As the water drops this week, we may get a better picture of what is happening with our smelt runs. The trout ponds in eastern Aroostook County would undoubtedly be the best bet for fishing right now. Ice was still reported in all or a portion of the larger lakes as of last Friday. This week may see many lakes become ice-free by Friday.

-Dave Basley, Regional Fisheries Biologist

From the Maine Warden Service...The Colonel's Outdoor Tip

Each year many people go spring fishing for trout or salmon and keep some of their catch with the best intentions of having a fish fry or a wonderful fish meal; and unfortunately, each year some of those fish get tossed into a ziploc bag, thrown in the freezer and end up being discarded after getting freezer burned.

If you decide to keep part of your catch, it's your responsibility as a sportsman or sportswoman to respect your catch and care for it carefully and promptly. So here are a few tips regarding keeping fish:

1) Plan ahead. All fish are far better fresh than frozen. So, think carefully and plan so that you can eat the fish fresh without freezing them. If you don't have some plans for your catch, it might be a good idea to decide ahead of time to catch and release.

2) Keep fish moist - if brook fishing, the old practice of placing wet ferns in your creel is an excellent way to keep fish wet and fresh. If in a boat, bring a small cooler with ice. This is far superior to keeping fish in a bucket of water or on a stringer, which can make their flesh mushy.

3) Dress your fish promptly. If you decide to keep a fish, regulations require that it must be killed immediately. Afterwards, it is a good idea to dress it immediately. Make sure you scrape the blood off of the backbone inside the cavity. This will enhance the quality.

4) Again - bring ice. Regardless of the time of year, during open water fishing season, a small lunch cooler with ice to store your fish while fishing in a boat or on the way home from fishing a stream or lake will greatly enhance the quality of your catch.

5) If you do decide to freeze your catch there are a couple of good ways to do this. One way is to wrap the fish or fish fillets tightly in plastic wrap removing all the air. Then, next wrap the fish in good freezer paper and tape it up tight. Last, place the fish in a freezer grade ziploc bag - removing all the air. I still recommend eating the fish sooner than later. A second method that works well with small fish such as small brook trout is as follows: place the fish in a plastic or cardboard milk carton and fill with water enough to cover the fish completely but leave enough room for ice to expand. Simply place the carton in the freezer. The ice will completely cover the fish and protect them from freezer burn.

Finally, if you do decide to keep some of your catch - make the most out of it and take care of fish properly OR consider catch and release.

-Colonel Tom Santaguida, Chief of the Maine Warden Service

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