Weekly Fishing Reports by Regional Fishery Biologists 
January 28, 2008
Angler use on the smaller ponds in York and Cumberland counties has lightened up quite a bit as anglers begin to venture out onto bigger waters, which have gained some appreciable ice since the earlier January thaw. Nonetheless, those small waters are still producing some decent fishing opportunities, particularly for the 8-11 inch advanced fingerling brookies. For example, I interviewed five anglers at Barker Pond in Lyman on Saturday morning (1/25). Three had each caught a brookie, the fourth had caught 2 brookies, and the last angler managed to land 6 brookies including one of the larger fall yearlings (12-14 inches). Kids fishing Round Pond in Lyman are still having some great fishing, too. On Saturday I checked one of the regulars, and he had caught and released 9 brookies in a couple hours and kept a nice 13 incher. On Sunday I interviewed a young girl that was out for her first time with her mom and grandfather, and she had gotten her limit in about an hour. It’s great to see kids out there fishing, and having some fast action for trout!
Anglers at Ossippee Lake are picking up some brookies and salmon. We have also heard rumors of a few browns, but most that I have observed in hand have actually been misidentified brood salmon. The male salmon sometimes sport yellow coloration that most anglers associate with brown trout.
Kennebunk Pond anglers had their typical great one to two weeks of fishing, and now the fishing has slowed to a more typical pace. I spoke with one angler on Sunday that had caught and released several 13" browns and had kept a 14" brookie. He claims the fishing there has been really good this year, and his best catch was a 23" 4 1/2 pound rainbow! A local camp owner said he witnessed a little boy pulling out a 4+ pound brood brookie on opening day, and exclaimed he'll remember that day better than his first prom date!
Two observations I wanted to point out based on my survey experiences so far this season. First, on waters where we stock advanced fingerling brook trout (8-10")...the intent is to create a put-and-take winter fishery with relatively fast fishing opportunities. On these waters we typically also stock a smaller number of 12-14" brookies, and a handful of brood (2-4 pounders). These stockings have been very popular and have created trout fisheries on waters that saw little angling all winter. These programs have really helped to spread out use, while creating some new and popular fishing opportunities. However, anglers often release the smaller ones exclaiming “we'll let those grow up,” but in reality most of these waters have limited summer quality and/or an abundance of predators that will prevent those brookies from holding over to older ages. While practicing catch-and-release on these put and take waters may allow you to fill your bag with one of the larger fish or allow the fish to be caught another day by yourself or another angler, don't feel guilty if you want to keep a couple fish for a nice trout meal every now and then. Secondly, I had an angler fishing Barker Pond this past weekend in hopes of catching one of brood brookies. While it may occasionally happen this late in the season, if you want to catch one of the brood brookies then the old adage the early bird gets the worm holds true. Most of the large brood brookies are all caught and harvested within the first two weeks of the season. But don't let that stop ya, there are still plenty of fish out there and our better waters yield a handful of trophies all season long. Good luck!
- James Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fishery Biologist, Gray
Some Anglers may refer to them as breeders, brood trout, or just “ large fish”. They are 3-year old brook trout, the trophy species for many winter anglers. After these large fish have been used as sources for eggs and milt in our hatcheries they are stocked into many lakes and ponds around the state. The purpose of stocking these retired brood is to provide an opportunity for an angler to harvest a larger than average size fish.
Brood brook trout commonly display brilliant red and orange colors and can be quite robust. Most retired brood fish will not have any missing fins. Fins that are missing are nothing more than normal wear and tear from an extended hatchery life. Female brood fish will not have many eggs left in their body cavities because they have been ‘stripped’ out prior to being stocked. These large 3-year-old brook trout can range in sizes from 17 to 19 inches and weigh up to 3.5 pounds.
Anglers can increase their chances in catching these brood fish by fishing close to shore in relatively shallow water. Boat landings are popular release sites for these retired fish and some of the fish tend to hang around where they were stocked. Brood fish “traditionally” will not last very long once the ice-fishing season begins. Most will be caught within the first few weeks of the season.
In addition to the brood fish, several tens of thousands of fall yearling brook trout have been stocked in many regional waters. These 2-year-old fall yearlings can range in sizes from 13 to 14 inches and weigh up to 1.5 pounds. Female fall yearlings can be full of eggs and will most likely be in the process of reabsorbing them. This absorption of eggs is nothing more than the fish not finding a suitable spawning site to deposit their eggs. A few hundred of these fish will be held over for one more year in the state’s hatchery system to replace this year’s brood. Once these fish play their roles in supplying eggs or milt, they also will be retired and stocked out the following fall. For local stocking locations of retired brood brook trout and fall yearling brook trout, go to the Maine fish and wildlife web site: www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/reports/stocking/index/htm.
- Scott Davis, Fisheries Specialist, Belgrade Lakes Region
As we approach the end of the first month of the regular ice-fish season, biologists are reporting much improved ice thicknesses and traveling conditions on most Hancock and Washington County waters. Dangerous ice conditions still exist on the major portion of Tunk Lake, and extreme caution should still be used when venturing out Jordan Pond and Eagle Lake on Mount Desert Island.
Because of the previous week’s’ thinner ice and poor traveling conditions, overall angler use has been lower across the region, so there are still plenty of catchable fish for eager anglers. Remember that because of the very cold-water temperatures, the fish’s metabolism is slower, and many don’t feed as readily as they do in the open water season. When they do feed, it’s generally in a small area and for the most part they do not travel great distances. Other trout and salmon that are more active feeders still do not travel great distances to feed, but rather feed in generally tight patterns in an area where they have regularly found food, these areas are known to anglers as “hot spots”. Anglers who find a combination of favored habitat and forage, may experience the fast action of what they call “hot spots”. But remember, once these so called “hot spots” on a lake have been fished hard, which generally occurs at the beginning of the season, the catchable trout and salmon have been handled, released, and/or harvested. Then the fishing in these locations slows down dramatically. Anglers who know and watch these areas the first few weeks of the season know when it’s time to move to a different spot on the lake. Try this and you will be rewarded.
Now that the easy access places on lakes and ponds have been fished, adventurous anglers should consider fishing some of the more remote backwoods trout ponds that are open to ice fishing. I recommend the follow waters:
- Rainbow Pond – T 10 SD
- Tilden Pond – T 10 SD
- Anderson Pond – T 10 SD
- Halfmile Pond – Amherst
- Keely Lake – Marshfield
- James Pond – Charlotte
- Lakewood Pond – Bar Harbor
- Bubble Pond – Bar Harbor
- Second Pond – Dedham
- Ackley Pond – Cutler
- Second Marks Lake – Marshfield
- Vining Lake – Cooper
- Goulding Lake – Robbinston
- Long Lake - Marion
Just a reminder that West Grand Lake in Washington County opens later this week on Feb. 1. If you haven’t fished this lake, you’re missing a treat as it has one of the most diverse cold-water fisheries in the region with terrific landlocked salmon, lake trout, lake whitefish and cusk fishing. It’s a 14,000-acre lake with generally good ice conditions. As always, use caution when venturing out on a lake for the first time this winter and be particularly cautious around inlets, outlets, points, island saddle areas, known spring holes and wind funnel areas.
Take a child fishing, good luck and be safe!
- Greg Burr, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist, Jonesboro
The early weeks of ice fishing are often characterized by fast fishing and thin ice. After a nice stretch of cold weather, however, the ice on western Maine lakes has thickened to 12-15 inches, allowing anglers to fish pretty much where they want. After the initial flurry of fast fishing the action inevitably slows down, with longer waits between flags. Still, we're seeing good numbers of fish caught. Ethan Tracy recently checked a 31-inch, 8 pound lake trout at Pleasant Pond and Dave Howatt checked a number of salmon and lake trout at Clearwater Lake in Industry. Thanks to an abundance of smelt, the salmon there are nice and fat. Salmon fishing has also been good at Porter Lake in New Vineyard.
Other than checking ice fishermen, our winter days are largely taken up by entering and analyzing the information we collected the previous field season. We determine the ages of many of the fish we sample by "reading" scales (magnified scales have series of growth rings that yield their ages) and there are hundreds of them to be read every year. This and other information must be entered into regional and statewide data sets, and, using this information, we typically write a number of reports on individual waters each winter.
As an indication of the extent of data we've compiled, Dave Boucher, our landlocked salmon specialist, has information on more than 79,000 individual salmon (dating back to 1939!), and we also have information on more than 25,000 brook trout from around the state. These databases tell us how old the fish are, their lengths and weights, whether they are wild or stocked, and much more information. As an example of how we're using this information, I'm currently looking at how brook trout growth and population age structure is affected by different regulations.
This winter we have written (or are in the process of writing) reports on movement of radio-tagged fish in the Magalloway River; updates on several stream restoration projects; the Rangeley Lake fishery; and the status of brook trout populations in a number of ponds throughout the region.
- Forrest Bonney, Regional Fisheries Biologist, Rangeley Region
Last weekend’s First Annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby was a tremendous success. We have had an over-abundance of small lake trout in the big lake for the past 15 years and they have severely reduced the number of smelts; which are critical to both salmon and lake trout growth. Although we have seen some improvements from time to time, we have not been able to reach our established goals for growth and average size for these prized gamefish. The derby was one of several strategies in our efforts to reduce the number of small lake trout in the lake in order to improve the forage base.
The Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce organized the derby with support from Greenville’s favorite NASCAR personality, Ricky Craven. The derby raised thousands of dollars for several charities including: The Children’s Miracle Network and the James Alleson Foundation. Some of the proceeds will also be dedicated to a Fisheries Enhancement/Internship program with the Natural Resource Education Center in Greenville (NREC). This cooperative program between NREC and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will create college internships for fisheries management and research projects in the Moosehead Lake Region.
Nearly 500 derby entries were sold including many family tickets. There were a lot of kids on the ice this weekend taking advantage of the good weather, fast fishing, and liberal bag limits. This year’s first prize for the biggest fish was $1,500 and it went to Paul Thomas of Corinth with a very nice 8.29 lb lake trout. Second place went to James Bragdon with a 7.15 lb fish and third place went to Penny Hatch with a 4.03 lb fish. There also were over 60 prizes in the fish pool. Everything from hats to free pizzas to ice traps was up for grabs in this pool. Anglers received a ticket in the fish pool for each lake trout that was registered. A total of 2,024 lake trout were registered during the 2-day event. This is a great start at thinning down the togue.
Three big door prizes were drawn from the entry tickets and anglers did not have to register a fish to win. Thomas Reinheart of Hampden won the Grand Prize, very substantial ice fishing package donated by Indian Hill Trading Post. Jacob Hacket of Greenville Jct won second prize, a cedar deck donated by Moosehead Cedar Log Homes. Loriann Milligan of Peru won third prize, a 2-night stay at Evergreen Lodge.
It was a great weekend of family fun and fishing. The town was really bustling with activity. There were a lot of happy anglers on the lake, many who had never been to the lake. We saw anglers from as far away Vermont, Portland, and Augusta. The derby will help us meet our fishery goals for the lake. It will also provide funds for several great charities, including reinvesting some of the proceeds into the future fisheries management of the region. It created a very busy winter weekend for local businesses. It will provide future college students interested in natural resource management with an opportunity for an internship. There were many winners all around this weekend!
We want to thank Craig Watt and Bob Hamer of the Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce for adopting this project and really making it happen. They did a great job in a short period of time and exceeded all expectations. Many local businesses really stepped up and donated prizes for the derby. Thanks to Dan Legere of the Maine Guide Fly Shop, Brad and Maggie Scott of Moosehead Bait and Tackle, and others that volunteered to man the weigh-in stations all weekend.
Finally, thanks to all the anglers that came to Moosehead Lake over the weekend. We hope to see you on the ice later this winter and again next year at the Second Annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby.
- Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist, Moosehead Lake Region
As the winter progresses, anglers are venturing forth throughout the region to their favorite fishing spots, and traveling conditions are always a topic. Specifically SLUSH! Slush is the bane of all ice anglers, as nothing can ruin your day faster than to have your sled and tag mired in a foot or more of it on your way to your fishing grounds. Patience, some ingenuity, a little help, and a strong back are the only things that matter when you're in the soup. In our travels on regional lakes and ponds while checking anglers, we have encountered some pockets of slush on most every lake, but nothing too serious. However, the east shore of Schoodic Lake would be one area to avoid, if at all possible.
Anglers across the Region are reporting good to excellent landlocked salmon fishing. Some handsome fish from 2 to 4 pounds are showing up at Pleasant Pond in Island Falls, one of our premier salmon lakes. Other landlocked salmon lakes of interest include Duck Lake in T4 ND, Cold Stream Pond in Enfield & Lincoln, Schoodic Lake in Brownville, East Musquash Lake in Topsfield, Millinocket Lake in T1R8 WELS, and West Lake in T3 ND. Seboeis Lake in T4R9 NWP is also producing some excellent salmon fishing for anglers, as well as splake in the 12 to 16 inch category.
Lake trout anglers at Cold Stream are finally able to set up in "togue water", and it is starting to pay off for some. Fast fishing for lake trout from 16 to 22 inches seems to be the norm for experienced anglers. Schoodic Lake in Lakeview and Brownville, probably the Regions best togue lake, has started giving up some fat 3 to 6 pound fish.
- Nels Kramer, Assistant Regional Fishery Biologist, Penobscot Region
The past two weekends have been spent in the headwaters of the Aroostook River surveying anglers at Millinocket and Millimagassett Lakes. These two lakes lie physically in the Enfield region but because they flow north, the sport fishery is managed out of Ashland. Most anglers are accessing these lakes from the Huber Road. Whereas landowner relations with sportsmen are a hot button topic, the Huber Company should be acknowledged for their effort to plow several areas along their main trucking road that are affording anglers the opportunity to safely park on this busy land management road.
In conducting this survey, we have received the cooperation of the Bureau of Parks and Lands to stay at their camp on Scraggly Lake while on official business. Personnel from the Enfield region are also surveying waters in the immediate area, so each weekend is an opportunity to share time with coworkers that would not ordinarily be available. The groomed snow sled trails going north and south from the Scraggly camp make for great traveling to the lakes - our thanks to the volunteers who are running the groomer to maintain these trails in great condition. This past weekend it was excellent travel conditions.
Several deer were observed walking or crossing the trails and one one Millimagassett Lake was bedded down on the snow, enjoying the warmth of the sun. A fox on Millimagassett Lake was making visits to two parties and was enjoying a feed of smelts that were being tossed his way. These were much favored over triscuits. I would consider a mature fox with its striking red coat, offset with the black legs and white tip of the tail, as one of the most handsome creatures in the Maine woods.
Unfortunately, the wildlife viewing was more active than the fishing - no doubt offset by the full moon during the week. A few togue, trout and a handful of smelts were measured at Millimagassett Lake on Saturday and a few salmon and a splake were seen at Millinocket Lake. Millimagassett Lake affords the opportunity to fish for togue, salmon, brook trout and smelts. The sport fishery in Millinocket Lake is primarily for salmon and splake.
- David J. Basley, Regional Fishery Biologist, Ashland
