New Hampshire Fishing Report

Fishing report for item #115.

Fishing Report:   May 9, 2005

Fishing pressure was extremely scattered in many of our reporting locations, except for the more northern areas that weren't effected much by this weekend's northeaster.
Good news from the Rangeley Lakes area, where the ice went out of Rangeley Lake on Saturday and Mooselookmeguntic Lake on Thursday. At River's Edge Sports Shop in Oquossoc, the report was "lots of fish and lots of big fish," with Rangeley Lake providing more action which is typical of both lakes.
Rangeley Lake seems to produce larger fish, and this season so far is proving that. Landlocked salmon of five pounds, eight ounces and one of five pounds, nine ounces are leading the records so far. There's been a lot of big brookies, with fish in the three pound plus range being common. Trolling streamers along the ice edge was red hot until the ice went out completely, and now the best fishing seems to be located at Greenville Cove, which is on the opposite end of the lake from the sports shop.
Some of the local trout ponds have been producing well with the famous Quimby Pond being no exception. River's Edge guide Ray Soriano hit Quimby (fly-only) on one day and did extremely well, while the next day drew a blank.
The rivers in the Rangeley area are running too high for good fishing, with the lower Magalloway being the sole exception. That river is providing some good fishing.
In the Moosehead Region, Penny Legere at Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, said that the rivers were running at a tremendous rate and that her husband, Registered Maine Guide Dan Legere, had taken his first party of the year out this morning. He was fishing the East Outlet for landlocks and brook trout. Penny said that there was some fishing going on over at First Roach Pond but aside from that, fishing pressure was light.
Dave Ganter, at Kittery Trading Post's fishing department, had some good news about striped bass. "They've started to show up--not big fish but some fun fish in the 14 to 16 inch range. There had been a few of these schoolies at the mouth of Spruce Creek (which runs right past Kittery Trading Post's parking area!), and I've also heard rumors of stripers in some of the other local coastal streams."
"Along with the stripers, there's been some shad being caught at the dam on the Saco River as well as reports of stripers. Those shad are a blast to catch, and this is a must-go sport for me which I enjoy each spring. Shad are great fighters. Because they are so bony, most people catch and release them, but there are a few that value shad roe. It's a delicacy according to those that seek it."
"You can catch shad on lure or fly, but we've never heard of a shad caught on bait. Shad darts a special jig in weights of a quarter or eighth ounce are one good bet and there's also a lure called a Shad Willow that will produce hits. One very simple rig that we've heard will catch shad is simply a number four to six gold hook with a good sized red bead strung in front of it. Some of the people that cast shad darts will rig one of these gold hook rigs as a dropper."
"Shad are also an excellent fly fishing target but we'll warn you that you'd better have plenty of backing behind your fly line as some female shad can run to eight pounds and will empty your fly line in seconds. That's why they're often referred to as 'Poor Man's Salmon'."
"Fish a small bucktail-type of wet fly--short shank number four to six hook. Red and white or chartreuse and red or orange are good patterns to start with. You can either weight your fly or fish with split shot above the fly but you need to remember to fish deep and to fish slowly. Shad will hit a wet fly that is just swimming in the currents, with no retrieve at all. Patience is the key to this fishing," Dave warned.
Ganter also mentioned that he'd heard from some Downeast fishermen that the salmon fishing was very good since ice-out--the method so far working was trolling streamer flies on the surface.
The word from the Sebago Lake area has been good. Dave Garcia, at Naples Bait Shop on Long Lake, said he'd heard so much about the fishing on the Songo Locks that he grabbed a fly rod off the rack. Armed with a black ghost streamer he spent some time trying to entice the fat salmon that were being caught. "I rolled two salmon and never got a hook into either fish."
"The salmon we've seen have been very fat--full of smelts. This is going to be the prime week for fishing the Songo River as the smelts are dropping back. The fishing in the Crooked River for both brookies and salmon up from the lake usually starts around May 15th, so this coming weekend could also be prime time for the rivers."
"Out on Sebago Lake, especially at the mouth of the Songo River, some especially nice togue (lake trout) have been being caught. These fish are averaging around four pounds and are very fat and in great shape. The fish are being caught in depths from 20 to 50 feet down, mostly on live or sewed-on bait."
Dave said that 20-plus anglers braved the weekend's weather for a bass tourney on Sebago Lake, with the winning catch running over 21 pounds--mostly big largemouths. There were quite a number of big smallies being landed--fish to well over three pounds.
"This is the week to fish the Songo River," urged Carroll Cutting, at Jordan's Store in East Sebago. "We've had fishermen casting streamers or trolling in the river, and they are doing pretty well on the salmon and even an occasional laker. One fisherman who doesn't like to troll had caught and released ten quality salmon in one afternoon. That's pretty special. The biggest salmon we've weighed so far was a 19.5 incher that weighed a hefty 3.4 pounds. Angling pressure has been extremely light because of the weather."
Garon, at Saco Bay Tackle, reported that the Saco River had some schoolie stripers and shad fishing was getting better and better each day at the dam. The Mousam River has been the most productive for stripers and even a few shad. "One day when the weather was decent, the fly fishermen had a blast on schoolies at the Mousam--fish mostly from 14 to 18 inches. White bucktails were doing well. Lure fishermen were having great luck on shiny jigs and small swimming plugs--Rapalas."
Jim Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist in Maine's Sebago Region reports: "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."
"Many people have been out chasing salmon since ice-out, and we have had some reports of excellent success. Our own seasonal 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 to 3 pound class."
"The president of Sebago Lake Anglers Association, Don Sicotte, recently reported, "The mouth of the Songo River 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."
"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 two 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, 14.5 incher! Although a few trout were rising, 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.
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 aggressively feeding again." (Jim's report edited for brevity--thanks!)
In the Granite State, fishing pressure was extremely light, even before the weekend's storm hit. This writer fished Lake Winnipesaukee in Gilford on Friday and while travelling along the west shore from Alton, never spotted a boat out on the lake until we got to Gilford at 8 am!
Out on the lake, the east wind strengthened as the day went on, getting pretty objectionable by midday. We managed one small landlocked salmon and one smallmouth, while getting several other hits on live smelt and shiners. We were trolling and loosing one large fish, species unknown, after a spirited five minute fight.
Jason MacKenzie, at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, reported that the nearby Winnicut River had been stocked recently and some of the rainbow trout were running in the 14-inch range. "Most of the other rivers have been too high for good fishing, although the Exeter River off Pickpocket Road has been okay and there's always some good fishing somewhere on the Lamprey River. Our best local trout pond has been the Exeter Reservoir. Some really big trout have been caught there since the opener."
"It was a washout," was the way George Taylor at Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury described this weekend's fishing. "Only the very hardy were out. Barbados Pond continued to perk for mostly rainbows, and Stonehouse Pond has been excellent for brookies. Towards the end of this week the rivers should be down to decent levels and we're betting that there'll be some very good trout fishing," he ended.
Fred at Martel's Bait & Tackle in Laconia reported that things had slowed on Lake Winnisquam, but that lake trout continued to be caught, especially in the shallows. Bass fishermen jigging lures such as the Silver Buddy had been catching more lakers than bass and the trout were nice size with one of eight pounds weighed.
Paul Garland at Hot Spot Outfitters in New Durham is gearing up for the weekend coming up--the start of the Winni Derby. "We've got entry tickets and plenty of live smelt and shiners and the gear to rig them on. The weather forecast is looking good. We should have an incredible derby," Paul enthused.
Kay Moulton at Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island reports that some new schoolie stripers are in the rivers, and shad are still at Rock Village on the Merrimack.
Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett sent this report: "Stripers fresh from the sea taking rubber shads, live shiners and plugs down in Everett just outside the Amelia Earhart Dam. Jeff Lopez caught bass up to 34 inches from his kayak there. Look for the alewives to start moving through the Mystic and Charles Rivers this week."
"Stripers also hitting chunk bait off the Rte 99 Bridge and off the Rte 107 Bridge at the Lynn Marsh Road in Saugus. "Flounder taking seaworms off Sculpin Ledge and Toddy Rocks as well as off Magnolia. Friend Bruce Munson got a limit there on Wednesday-- fish up to 3 lbs. Codfish steady off North Channel, Graves Light, B Buoy, The Dumping Ground and Tillies. Captain Ned Kittredge of Watch-Out sportfishing had a great day on Friday, with a mixed bag of cusk, wolfish, haddock and cod right on the middle of Stellwagon. Mackerel rumors off Scituate and loads of calamari (squid) down in Newport, RI. Yozuri squid jigs are working the best on the little versions of 20,000 leagues under the sea," Pete ended.

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