June 6, 2005 Fishing Report

Region A- Southwestern Maine

What a difference a week makes......surface water temperatures at Cushman Pond in Lovell rose 10 degrees Fahrenheit between last Tuesday and last Friday under the summerlike temperatures that dominated the week. With these warming temperatures the bass spawning season is finally well underway and the bass fishing should remain excellent for the next few weeks as territorial males aggressively defend their nests against any potential threats, including popular bass lures. Sight fishing for bass this time of the year is very exciting, but anglers should remember that male bass expend considerable energy defending their nests and are under considerable stress. Hooked bass should not be played to exhaustion as this condition may compromise the bass' ability to effectively protect the developing eggs from predators.

With bass spawning well underway Region A staff will be working nights this week to sample bass populations with the new electrofishing boat. Over the next couple weeks we hope to sample Bear Pond (Waterford), Crystal Lake (Harrison), Crescent Lake (Casco), Coffee Pond (Casco), Auburn Lake (Auburn), and Wilson Lake (Acton). Shorefront property owners shouldn't be alarmed if they observe a well lit 18 foot aluminum vessel that emits "beeper" sounds amidst the background of an onboard generator. It's probably just your resident, sometimes sleep derived, fisheries biologists at work. We contact the State Police prior to these evening excursions as calls from the public are inevitable.

Trout activity is increasing as high stream flows have finally subsided and water temperatures are rising. Insect hatches are also more prevalent, adding to the fishing excitement. Stream/river fishing should remain very good in the region for the next couple of weeks.

I assisted Region G last week on the Aroostook River, where the new electrofishing boat was enlisted to sample brook trout between Caribou and Fort Fairfield. Special regulations adopted on this reach has produced a quality fishery, which I observed while sampling and then experienced by rod and reel when the work day ended. I caught brook trout up to 14 inches and caught/missed brook trout at nearly every shore location that I fished. For those southern Maine anglers that have not visited this region I would highly recommend a trip. Gentle rolling hills, picturesque views, and an open landscape dominated by agriculture offers a pleasant visual experience. The business owners are very hospitable and they appreciate your business. Yah, the fishing is good too. Another beautiful area of Maine worth visiting.

Francis Brautigan, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region B - Central Maine

I have worked in the fishery division for over thirty-five years now. In that time, I have observed many changes affecting the way we manage our fishery resources.

When this department was created by the legislature, it was stated: "There is established the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to preserve, protect and enhance the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the State; to encourage the wise use of these resources; to ensure coordinated planning for the future use and preservation of these resources; and to provide for effective management of these resources." While keeping those criteria in mind, think about how this department is working to provide anglers with optimum opportunities for the varieties of fishing the angling public desires. At the same time, the Department ensures that these same fish resources are going to be here for generations to come. While considering those, think about two major changes that have created challenges in the way we operate: access to waters, and introductions of exotic species. Both have changed how we manage waters throughout the state. Are these changes inevitable? How do we address them to fulfill the mandate charged to us by the legislature?

Exotic Species introductions: When I started my career in Machias (a short one, due to a stint in the army), I learned very quickly that some fish species were not put there naturally, but by inconsiderate individuals. From there, I moved to the Rangeley Lakes region. In that area, I really had my eyes opened by the human 'inspired' influx of yellow perch in prime brook trout habitat. There, as in my current region in the Belgrade Lakes area, where I have seen the northern pike wreak havoc, result in many fisheries that are now totally different from those that existed when I first came to either region.

In every case, the introduction of 'exotic' species results in detrimental effects to the resident fishery. Management of waters where non-native species have been introduced is extremely complex. How extensive is the population of the invasive? How are currently managed species competing? What is the future of the principal fishery? Are stocking allocation changes necessary to maintain the principal fishery? These are just some of the issues that need to be addressed. To gain suitable answers for these questions involves extensive staff time, and sometimes may not reveal a successful management strategy. While the long-term ecology and management of invasives involves some 'art', the science of short-term situations shows negative effects to traditional fisheries. In short, introductions of 'exotic' species constitute a theft of a resource. And that's putting it mildly.

Access: There is public access to many of Maine's 6,000 lakes and ponds and 31,000 miles of rivers and streams in this vacationland we call home. While there have been some gains in access to certain bodies of water, it has been limited in some areas, and prevented in others. Naturally formed lakes and ponds over 10 acres in size are known as 'Great Ponds' by law. That same law indicates that the waters, as resources, belong to all of the citizens of Maine. However, the land adjacent to those waters can be and usually are in private ownership. The Department will not stock waters where there is no access for public use.

One of our pressing duties is to find and develop access sites for recreational uses for of all kinds of water uses. The need for access continues to grow as development along lakeshores and stream corridors increases. Existing access points are sometimes threatened by the behavior of a very small percentage of users. The result is a shrinking amount of viable land and a reticence on the part of local residents in locating the access site.

There are numerous ways to put an access site 'together', but all involve a partnership to some degree. Parties involved in the partnership include the Department, other state and federal departments, towns, sports and environmental groups, lake associations, watershed councils and private citizens. This is only fitting since the access belongs to all of us too.

Many of our access points are on or across privately owned property. The landowners who allow anglers access do so as a service to the fishing public. Following that, all of us have the responsibility of making sure that we respect access points by using them properly, keeping the area picked up, and following any rules set by landowners where applicable.

We now are faced with a choice to live with these situations, or we can attempt to make them into situations that provide a quality fishing experience to both residents and visitors to the state. I think it is evident that we will continued to be challenged to fulfill the mission that the legislature mandated to us many years ago. It is up to all of us to meet the challenge.

On my perpetual calendar a recent date quoted a Babylonian proverb, often repeated by Herbert Hoover: "The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing".

William Woodward, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region C - Downeast

On Saturday morning, the public boat launch at Cathance Lake was jam-packed with 13 vehicles. Although most anglers were there to try to cash in on the terrific salmon fishing, some were probably after smallmouth bass which have moved into the shallows to spawn. Weather-wise, it was the nicest weekend day to fish in a LONG time, and this no doubt contributed to the heavy turnout.

Cathance continues to provide some great action for salmon trollers. On overcast days with a decent chop, the fish are still being caught on the surface. This spring marks the second time in the past 6 years when the lake has likely been one of the top 20 producers in the state of 3-4 lb salmon. Because of this attribute, it has been proposed for inclusion in Maine's Classic Salmon Initiative. With some management changes, I believe the lake can provide an exciting fishery for large salmon in perhaps 4 years of every 6. There are several Hancock county waters which currently provide fisheries for 3-4 lb salmon, and it would be appropriate for Washington county anglers to have a similar lake.

Our proposal to manage Cathance for large salmon includes two key components. The first is a reduced stocking rate to encourage excellent growth of the stocked salmon. This management strategy has consistently yielded good results on selected waters throughout Maine. This spring's premier fishery results from stockings of 750 salmon in 2002, 925 in 2003, and 1,000 in 2004 for a total of 2,675. Under the initiative, the stocking rate would be reduced to 750 for 3 consecutive years (2005-2007) for a total of 2,250. Thus, our proposal equates to a modest 16% reduction in stocking rate. Some anglers who initially didn't like the proposal because of concerns over a lower stocking rate have now switched to a neutral/support position based on the knowledge that the number of salmon to be stocked over the next 3 years is only 425 less than were stocked over the past three.

The second component of the proposal calls for a more restrictive regulation change. With fewer fish being stocked, we should see more large salmon based on superior growth rates. But, like many things in fisheries, it's not that simple. It will also be necessary to reduce angler harvest of medium size salmon to allow more of them to remain in the lake and grow to 3-4 lbs. We propose to accomplish this objective through a modified slot limit, i.e. daily bag limit on salmon: 2 fish, only one of which may exceed 18 inches. This is the identical regulation which has produced favorable results for my colleague, Mike Smith, at both East Grand Lake and West Lake in northern Hancock county. It still allows anglers to keep two smaller salmon per day, but only one medium/large fish. Data collected this spring strongly suggests that the new regulation would not pose an undue burden for many Cathance anglers. Of course, with some boats landing 6-10 salmon per day, many salmon have had to be released. However, it's also clear that numerous anglers have voluntarily released salmon that they could have legally kept. In our current sample, anglers reported releasing 59 (71%) of 83 legal salmon they boated. This is an impressive release rate, and the propensity to catch and release is an important positive which substantially increases the chances for success of the initiative if it is supported by anglers.

If you would like to view several recent catches of Cathance salmon by Maine Guide Matt Whitegiver and East Machias angler Jim Roberts, click here<http://www.state.me.us/ifw/fishing/regioncphotos.htm. I'm in the process of soliciting input on the Cathance Classic Salmon proposal prior to the public hearing later this summer. Kindly send your thoughts, pro or con, by phone into John Boland(287-5261)or Denny McNeish(287-5022)in our main Augusta office. Their e-mail addresses are <john.boland@maine.gov, and <dennis.mcneish@maine.gov.

The Fishery Division has proposed numerous regulation changes for brook trout waters which are designed to simplfy the lawbook. For this region, we have proposed changes which place the vast majority of our brook trout waters into one of 6 standard categories. The four most common are: 1)general law,i.e. daily bag limit of 5 trout over 6 inches, 2) daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish, 3) daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish; minimum length limit: 10 inches, only one may exceed 12 inches, 4) daily bag limit on trout: 2 fish; minimum length limit: 12 inches, only one may exceed 14 inches. A few examples of our proposals include: Young's Pond in Otis = #3 above, Bubble Pond and Eagle Lake in Bar Harbor = #2, Harriman Pond in Dedham = #4, Keene's Lake in Calais = #2, and Tilden Pond in T10SD = #2. We would like to receive comments on the new proposed regulation scheme which enables us to simplify the lawbook while retaining appropriate regulations to achieve our management objectives for each water. Please send your comments into John/Denny whose phone numbers/e-mail addresses appear above. Your input on such matters is gratefully acknowledged.

Ronald Browkaw, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region D - Western Mountains

River levels are finally retreating after a spate of high water during the month of May. On Saturday I talked to members of the New England Outdoor Writers Association at Grant's Camps on Kennebago Lake. They had good luck fishing in both the lake and the river, and there were reports of a nine-pound salmon being caught in the lower river. I also saw a large brown trout in the 6-pound range that had been caught at Kennebago. These fish are not native to the lake and (fortunately) are not abundant, but a few large brownies are caught there every year.

With funding from the Trout and Salmon Foundation, Trout Unlimited, and the Rangeley Guides, we have completed habitat restoration projects on the Cupsuptic River and South Bog Stream in the last few years. I was concerned that the high waters might have damaged our efforts, but both made it through the high flows, although the South Bog project will require minor upkeep work. These projects are designed to repair fisheries habitat degraded by log driving many years ago.

It's been a banner spring at Rangeley Lake, with salmon up to seven pounds and brook trout up to 4.5 pound being reported. With air temperatures rising into the low 80's the past week, surface water temperatures rose into the 60's; salmon and trout will be deeper as a result, but there's still good fishing to be had.

Biologists Dave Boucher and Dave Howatt have been busy the past week live trapping C Pond for fish to determine the extent of upstream smallmouth bass migration from Umbagog Lake. The invasion of this illegally introduced species into important trout and salmon waters is a big concern, and we are spending much of our time responding to this threat to protect native species to the best of our ability.

Forrest Bonney , Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region E - Moosehead Region

The past week was marked by warmer conditions causing regional waters to warm slightly, especially some of the smaller trout ponds. It also seems that with the arrival of warmer temperatures the black flies are once again out in force!

Last week Steve Seeback and myself, along with the assistance of the Bangor Research staff were able to visit a couple of the stocked brook trout ponds in the Moosehead Region and will be going to others the next few weeks, to assess the performance of different brook trout strains, which have been stocked annually over the past few years. When conducting these strain evaluations, we compare growth, condition, and holdover success of fish from one year to the next. Some ponds have been stocked with a single strain of trout, which will allow us to assess how that strain has done in a particular pond from one year to the next. Ponds that have received two or more strains are assessed to compare growth, condition, and holdover success of one strain versus the other. We can also compare stocking rates or the number of fish stocked in a particular body of water to determine if growth conditions warrant stocking changes. Poor growth can sometimes be the result of stocking to many fish in a body of water such that the pond does not produce enough forage to support the number of fish being stocked. All of this information will later help determine which strain of trout should be stocked and how many to stock in a particular lake or pond.

This week we are planning on spending time at Misery Pond in Misery Twp. in another attempt to try and document the presence of smallmouth bass, and to eradicate them if possible. Last fall we received information from the warden service that anglers on two separate occasions had reported catching smallmouth bass in Misery Pond. Fisheries staff from Greenville and Bangor responded immediately by conducting a weeklong effort to collect and remove smallmouth bass from the pond by placing gillnets, trapnets, and conducting backpack electrofishing along the shallower areas of the shoreline. This effort did not turn up any bass. However, by the time Region E staff received these reports it was already the last week of September and the timing of our work was a bit late in the season, as water temperatures had dropped to 50 º C. It is likely that any bass, if present, in Misery Pond had likely moved into deeper water by this time.

We appreciate the information that has been generated by 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

While this is supposed to be a fishing report, a better name this week would be the "Regional Fly Report"! I can't resist the opportunity to comment on the incredible numbers of biting insects that quickly appeared after the sun came out last week. For the first time in what seems like months the sun did appear and we quickly went from early spring weather (wet and cool) to mid-summer weather (warm and humid). Black flies and mosquitoes were abundant and hungry. Some of the largest of both varieties that I have ever seen were out last week in numbers. We even had a few "no see ums" during the evening hours just to remind us how much hurt those little fellows can produce when they are in high enough numbers. We have no choice but to grin and bear it and hope they go as fast as they came. Although I'm afraid the mosquitoes will be with us for a while judging by all of the standing water in the woods.

Fishing stories told this morning in the office indicate that the brooks and streams throughout the Penobscot Region were just about right for trout fishing this past weekend. Although water levels are still running a bit high, the brookies were biting like crazy! Conditions may change as water levels are dropping quickly and the temperatures are on the rise. Regional lakes and ponds are changing rapidly as well. Last week, Cold Stream Pond was running in the low 50's, but by Sunday the surface water temperature was 64° F! It's amazing what a couple of days of hot, still weather can do to surface water temperatures. Back to fishing. One of our best and most knowledgeable salmon anglers stopped by the office last week to pick up an art print for his years of keeping an excellent voluntary angler diary. Henry Trial retired from the Maine Forest Service after 31 year as a Forest Entomologist in December of 2003, has not been out as much as he would have liked, but did fill us in on some of his better landlocked salmon fishing this spring. Henry is one of the 5% of anglers that we believe catch 95% of all the fish caught in Maine. Henry releases most everything he catches, killing a fish occasionally if there is any bleeding. Although I will not give him up and relate all the details he gave us last week, suffice to say that all of the usual regional lakes seem to be producing some fine salmon angling opportunities this spring. East Grand Lake, West Lake, Duck Lake, Deering Lake, Upper JoMary Lake and Pleasant Lake all were discussed in some detail. Salmon up to 8 1/2 pounds were taken, although most were quite a bit smaller. Henry is very scientific about his methods. He pays close attention to every detail, and it has paid off for him over the years. All of us here in Enfield Fisheries would like to publicly thank Henry for all of the excellent information that he has provided in the many years of volunteer service to the Division. You have provided the Fisheries Division with an outstanding effort over the past years in volunteer services. We would like to acknowledge those efforts and say thank you with the limited edition print of "Reflections of Teal" by Maine artist Thomas Merriam. Your voluntary assistance enables us to accomplish our mission of protecting and managing Maine's fish and wildlife resources. We want you to know how grateful we are for your contribution. Thank you for your service to Maine's fish and wildlife and the many people who enjoy the Maine outdoors! Nels Kramer, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist Region G - Aroostook County

Surface water temperatures and river/stream flows are now conducive to producing fish for the angler. A day of fishing on Long Lake produced 27 salmon for a party of 4 anglers this past Friday. Fish size ran from one to three pounds. Another party of 3 anglers fishing Eagle Lake caught 4 togue, 41 salmon and 1 brook trout. Fish were caught on the surface down to 25 feet. Although not all anglers will be as successful, it does illustrate that the fish are there to be caught.

On Wednesday, we used the Fishery Division electrofishing boat to sample the lower 4 miles of the Aroostook River. Water temperature was about 60 degrees. We sampled about 50 trout ranging from 3.5 to 16 inches. The larger trout were captured in the deeper pools associated with drop offs from points and islands. The most interesting finding was the numerous yearling trout captured along the riverbank associated with a narrow band of flooded grass with flowing water. It appeared that these trout were in the grass cover and in a feeding mode, as all were extremely fat. Without the use of the e-boat, the activity of these small fish would remain unknown. It demonstrated the importance of these flooded areas to brook trout production in the river. Fly hatches were just coming off late that afternoon with the hot and sunny weather.

Anglers preparing for fishing trips to their favorite destinations are reminded to put insect repellant and/or protective netting high on their list of gear.

David J. Basley, Regional Fishery Biologist

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

Turkey season is about over and soon the long wait until next hunting season begins. There are a few activities that can keep you busy and get you ready for next season:

* Go through your firearms - clean them well and make sure they are in safe operating condition before next hunting season sneaks up on you; * Stop by and visit with landowners who gave you permission to hunt last year and ask again for next year - offer to help them out with their hay or firewood - or just plain thank them for allowing you the privilege of hunting on their property; * Put up your wooden tree seats (remember - only after you have obtained landowner permission) during the summer so they get weathered and aren't new and spook game animals during the season; * Use your GPS to mark good hunting spots, tree seats, and wildlife crossings. This will give you an advantage for next fall and also help you keep from getting turned around.

Good luck fishing - have fun boating - enjoy preparing for next hunting season early!

Colonel Tom Santaguida, Chief of the Maine Warden Service

Marc Michaud Director of I&E

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