Weekly Fishing Reports by Regional Fishery Biologists 
July 9, 2007
Previous Weekly Reports
This past weekend my colleague Jim Pellerin took a friend from the Deep South to the Androscoggin River for bit of smallmouth bass action. This individual, who had never caught a smallmouth, had a 20 plus fish day fishing only with borrowed spinning gear and brown plastic worms. This example goes to show that you don’t need specialized or expensive gear or even much experience with your target species to have great times fishing in Maine. Other good bets for smallmouth bass action include Keys Pond in Sweden, Thompson Lake in Otisfield, and Trickey Pond in Naples. If you want fast action for largemouth bass and other warmwater fish you might consider Worthley Pond in Poland or Lily Pond in New Gloucester.
Others apparently also having a great time fishing have recently been catching fair numbers of land locked salmon and lake trout on Kezar Lake in Lovell including one 22-pound beast of a togue. Another lake trout of note was a 20-pound, 37-inch fish caught on Colcord Pond in Porter. While Colcord Pond is not known for having a robust lake trout fishery, it seems that some lakes that support the remains of a past lake trout stocking program occasionally give up these unexpected wall-hangers. Other good places to target lake trout and salmon include Auburn Lake in Auburn, South Pond in Greenwood, and Sebago Lake in Raymond/Standish/Sebago. Best of luck.
-Brian Lewis, Fisheries Biology Specialist
Last winter during our annual creel surveys we received numerous questions and comments regarding rubber worms in the stomachs of both brook trout and brown trout. The number of these baits we find in the stomachs of fish have been increasing for a number of years. When I first came to the Belgrade Lakes Region in 1995 it was a rarity for us to find these baits in trout, now it seems like we find at least 1 fish in 20 fish that have consumed a rubber or plastic bait.
The Department decided to conduct a study to determine the effects of rubber baits eaten by brook trout. Last week the local newspapers wrote an interesting article regarding the study. These articles generated many questions from the public so I thought it would be interesting to give Dr Russell Danner, the leader of the study, the opportunity to inform the readers the results thus far. Dr Danner submitted the following.
The Department in collaboration with Unity College professor, Jim Chacko, has been conducting an experiment to observe the effects of plastic lure consumption by brook trout. More than occasionally, fish are caught with large masses of stuck together soft plastic fishing lures in their stomachs. Regional fisheries biologists are concerned that these plastic lures may be negatively impacting the growth and health of brook trout, brown trout and lake trout in some bodies of water. To begin to address this question 76 brook trout were transferred from the Palermo Fish Rearing Station to Unity College. One half of the fish were placed in a control tank and fed trout food. The other one half were placed in an identical tank and fed the same amount of trout food and also given the opportunity to voluntarily eat an assortment of plastic lures (no hook or line). The plastic lures were simply dropped into the tank while the fish were being fed. It has been astounding the effects the lures have had on the brook trout. Initially brook trout readily ate the lures, stole lures out of one another’s mouths, picked up lures off the bottom of the tank, grabbed lures at the water’s surface; but after several weeks became sluggish toward their normal food and after 90 days had lost weight and had a poorer body condition factor than controls. In the final analysis 63% of the brook trout were carrying a plastic lure in their stomachs; more Kennebago strain brook trout (83%) had lures in their stomachs than Maine Hatchery strain (45%). On average, the brook trout had only 1 gram of plastic lures in their stomach; although three fish had more than 10 grams of undigested plastic lures in their stomachs. The picture, found in the Region B Photos, shows the almost fantastical size of lures that one brook trout consumed. The salamander lure above fish was presumably in the fish’s stomach since the first week of the study while the lure underneath the fish was consumed several weeks later. Not surprisingly, this fish lost weight during the study. This is the first study of its kind that we’re aware of and more studies will be necessary to ultimately determine the effects of plastic lure consumption on trout and salmon. In the mean time, when you are standing in the bait shop deciding on which lure to use; maybe choose something biodegradable.
-Jim Lucas, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region C - Downeast - Photos from the field!
The Downeast Region that encompasses Hancock and Washington Counties are experiencing an epidemic of illegal introductions of non-native fish species that are affecting the natural eco-systems and native fishes.
In this week’s report I want to let the public know where this is occurring and the potential damages it will cause.
Jacob-Buck Pond, Bucksport – smallmouth bass confirmed in the summer of 2006. This illegal introduction occurred within the last 3 years and will affect native brook numbers and sizes by competing for food and space and by colonizing the outlet and feeding on small trout that would have migrated into the pond.
Holbrook and Davis Ponds, Holden & Eddington – largemouth bass and black crappie confirmed in 2006 & 2007. These illegal introductions occurred within the last 10 years and have now moved down into Chemo Pond. These fish are now competing for food and space with native fish in the watershed and threaten to move down into the Penobscot River through Blackman Stream, where they can cause problems with the restoration of Atlantic salmon and may move up into Fitts Pond, a well-known and popular trout pond.
Graham Lake, Ellsworth & Mariaville – largemouth bass confirmed in 2007. This illegal introduction probably occurred within the last 7 years and threatens many sub-watersheds that are connected to this sprawling lake.
Woods & Douglas Pond, Blue Hill – largemouth bass confirmed in 1996 in Woods Pond. These bass were first introduced into Woods Pond around 1990 and have now moved down into Douglas Pond. They now threaten one of the states best producing wild brook trout waters, that being Billings Pond and will possibly move up into Fourth Pond. These bass will not only colonize the ponds but will also establish themselves in the streams in the watershed and feed on native brook trout and greatly reduce the numbers anglers have enjoyed in the past.
Patten Pond, Surry – largemouth and smallmouth bass were confirmed in the pond in the mid to late 1990’s. These bass have greatly reduced the wild trout numbers in this water to the point where there is no longer a fishery for them.
Toddy Pond and Alamoosook Lake, East Orland – largemouth bass were confirmed in these waters in the late 1990’s and have now spread up the drainage as far as Long Pond on Route 46. These non-native fish are greatly competing for food and space with native fishes and threaten to reduce native brook trout populations in the watershed.
These are a few instances among many in the region in which eco-systems and native fish assemblages have been changed forever. PLEASE, if you know of anyone involved in stocking fish illegally into Maine waters, call the Maine Warden Service’s Operation Game Thief at 1-800-253-7887.
There is a $2,000 reward to anyone helping wardens catch a perpetrator of this crime and your identity will be kept completely anonymous.
Remember we want to leave our environment and its natural resources better for future generations to come!
-Greg Burr, Assistant Regional Fishery Biologist
The 4th of July or thereabouts is a time when we shift gears in our regional work. Lake fishing intensity slows down as surface water temperatures rise, so we've suspended our angler interviews for the next couple of months. Liz Studdert, who has been checking the Richardson Lakes and Mooselookmeguntic Lake for us, saw some nice fish this spring, particularly in Mooselook. Lots of salmon but also lots of large brook trout, up to 4.5 pounds. She also saw a 5 pound brook trout from Richardson Lake, which is unusual - that one may be a drop-down from Mooselook. Speaking of brook trout, Steve Kasprzak reports good fishing for wild brook trout in Rangeley Lake, and I've had similar reports from other anglers. How long has it been since there's been a wild brook trout fishery in Rangeley? Maybe we can dare hope that our modest stockings of Kennebago strain brook trout in the lake, combined with stream restoration efforts in South Bog Stream, are paying off in wild brook trout.
Dave Boucher and Dave Howatt also finished up bass sampling on the Androscoggin, and we're set to begin sampling trout and salmon lakes throughout the region. We usually wait until the warmer part of the summer to sample these waters. If we conduct water quality (water temperatures, oxygen levels, etc.) during the heat of the summer, it gives us a good idea of the worst conditions that these coldwater fish experience and if water quality is ok in July, we can assume that it's generally ok throughout the year.
Another change this time of year is that we're beginning our stream restoration and monitoring work. Much of this work is, frankly, quite tedious - endless measurements of depths and rock sizes. But, it's necessary to monitor these changes on an annual basis to determine whether our stream work is doing what it's supposed to do. And so we thank the volunteers who help us gather this information, tedious or not.
Finally, Ethan Tracey and Troy Thompson are sampling streams in the Aziscohos area this week. Their work, funded by a grant from NRCS, is part of the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture effort to determine the distribution and abundance of brook trout in streams throughout Maine. Another crucial aspect of their work is that they document all species of fish they sample, not just brook trout. They also do water quality, document fish barriers, and report on stream condition. This work, which is being conducted by several such crews throughout the state, will continue into 2008.
-Forrest Bonney, Regional Fisheries Biologist
Last week we said goodbye to a great sportsman and friend, Wiggie Robinson. He was the quintessential traditional Maine sportsman and gentleman. I’ve known Wiggie for many years having met him early in my career in the Moosehead Lake Region. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to work several sportsman shows with Wiggie over the past few years. We worked at a fly-fishing show in Danbury, CT a few years ago and Wiggie was the highlight of the show. I don’t believe he had ever been there before, but by the end of the second day, it seemed everyone at the show was looking for Wiggie. His friendly, gregarious nature was infectious and he was a great ambassador for the State of Maine.
I had many conversations with Wiggie regarding fishing. He had a vast knowledge of many of the waters in my region. I was amazed by some of his stories. Wiggie once told me about a remote pond in my region he fished in his younger days. I had the chance to visit that pond a few weeks ago and as I hiked the new trail, I was thinking of Wiggie’s recount of his route. He would hike into one pond where he had a canoe stashed then paddle across two ponds, carry his canoe though the woods to a larger lake then paddle up the lake and finally portage his canoe uphill to the trout pond. He would then reverse the trip at the end of the day. By my estimation, it was about 6 miles each way and the terrain is very rugged. The next day, he did the same trip. The fishing was good and Wiggie loved to fish. A few years ago, I visited the Ragged Stream smelt run while staying at Chesuncook Lake in the spring. The stream was open to smelt dipping at the time and I wanted to check it out. It was pitch dark but I could see the lake was down and it was difficult to get down to the stream due to the fragmented ice on the banks. There were a number of people standing around waiting to dip smelts. In the distance I could see a small fellow gliding up and down the glare ice banks like an otter, obviously catching smelts and putting them into a bucket. I asked the warden, “Who’s that kid?” It was no kid. It was 80 year-old Wiggie Robinson. They say it’s not the years in your life but the life in your years. Wiggie lived it right.
He was very interested in fisheries management and had a great understanding of all the issues. I remember one letter I received from Wiggie regarding slot limits several years ago. Wiggie did not like the new trout slot limits and was particularly bothered by the regulation that only allowed two 12 inch fish with only 1 fish over 14 inches on a few splake waters that were open during the winter. Wiggie wrote that most of the fish were over 14 inches and therefore anglers could only keep 1 fish. I responded to Wiggie giving him some background on the genesis of the regulation and the effort to standardize regulations statewide. In closing, I told Wiggie that I wished all my letters were complaining that the fish were too big. We always had a good laugh over that together during our future discussions. Wiggie was the type of gentleman that you could disagree with over an issue but still be best of friends. I always appreciated that quality.
I have many other stories and fond memories of my friend Wiggie. I will miss the "Baron of the West Branch" and I will think of him often, especially when I travel to the shadow of Mount Katahdin, pick a maple syrup out of my fly box, and fish many of the “secret” ponds we shared in the Moosehead Lake Region.
-Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist
It's that time of the year, and anglers fishing the back-country ponds are reporting some dramatic green drake hatches. It is truly something to behold when at just about dark, the sky becomes filled with large, dancing mayflies, and although trout may go on a feeding frenzy, it doesn't mean they are easy to catch. Sometimes there are so many targets on the water, a fly cast by an angler can be lost in the crowd! In and around the Baxter Park area, some impressive brook trout have been reported the last few weeks during "the hatch", some up to 5 pounds!
One of the strongest advocates for wild brook trout resources in the Katahdin Region has passed away. Wilmont "Wiggie" Robinson died in his garden at his camp on the West Branch of the Penobscot River, in the presence of Katahdin. Over the years it was always a pleasure to be in his company, as the fellow new more about how to catch brook trout than anyone I know! Whenever we had work on one of the ponds in the Katahdin Region, we would always stop in on the way out and visit. Most always Wiggie would treat us to some of his delicious trout chowder, wild mushrooms and his famous stories from around Katahdin Country. Fond memories of a true gentleman. We will all miss him.
After nearly 35 years of dedicated service to the anglers of Maine, Mike Smith has hung up his waders. Mike retired on June 30, 2007 as the Regional Fisheries Manager for the Penobscot Region. In addition to directing day to day fisheries management activities in Region F, Mike initiated a number of fisheries projects over the years, including a 10 year study on landlocked salmon at West Lake in T3 ND, and 20 years of work on white perch populations in Maine. Mike's most ambitious project was his leadership of the smallmouth bass recovery at Spednic Lake. Anglers throughout the Penobscot Region should give Mike a big thank you for his devoted service spanning three decades.
-Nels Kramer, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
The restoration of Nadeau Lake, Fort Fairfield, took a step forward this week as Davis and Northrup Contracting broke ground near the outlet of what was formerly a Great Pond. In 1971 this Aroostook County lake was drained so that a mining company could extract marl, a natural substance that would later be used as a liming agent for the region's agriculture industry. During the next 30 years severe environmental disturbance occurred at the former lake and its outlet to Limestone Stream. A small lake that had a large wetland complex surrounding it, reportedly had large brook trout and no other species of fish. As the outlet was deepened by as much as 12 feet, brown bullhead, white sucker and several minnow species gained access to the few, small remnant ponds. Later, smallmouth bass invaded the Limestone Stream drainage after being illegally stocked at Durepo Lake in Limestone.
The work currently in progress involves a water control structure that will restore the historic water level of the lake and block upstream movement of all fishes. This management step will allow a reclamation of the pools that currently exist at the site that will remove all fish species. The final step in the restoration process will involve the reestablishment of brook trout using fish from a nearby wild source.
During the past seven years several State agencies, conservation groups, and private corporations have participated in the restoration of Nadeau Lake. Significant habitat improvements for brook trout have been accomplished during this time. Maine Council of Trout Unlimited, The Trout and Salmon Foundation (Chicago, IL), and McGillan Inc. of Fort Fairfield are a few who have provided volunteer and monetary support to achieve these improvements. In the end, the angling public will have permanent, guaranteed access to a good sport fishery for wild brook trout.
-Frank Frost, Regional Fisheries Biologist
