Massachusetts Fishing Reports

Fishing report for item #160.

Fishing Report:   June 6, 2005

The warm weather of this past week finally broke the spell of cold
and rainy days, and both fishermen and fish responded well. In some of
the northern areas, fly hatches started the ball rolling for the fly
fishermen that were on the rivers and lakes. Water levels had started to
recede on a lot of the rivers that were previously not fishable. Lake
fishermen found that the salmon and trout could still be caught on top
as well as down deeper. Bass fishermen were also happy, as the delayed
bedding of the smallmouths had made it tough earlier.
In the past, it was presumed that catch-and-release fishing of bass
while they were bedding had no adverse effect on them. Recent studies
have shown that this isn't all together the truth. Dave Ganter, at
Kittery Trading Post's fishing department is an avid smallmouth
fisherman. In addition to this, he does a lot of snorkel diving and has
plenty of time to observe these fish. "Personally, we don't like to fish
for smallies when they are on the beds but we're not telling you not to
do this. We are asking for fishermen to be aware that the constant
catching of the same bass will, in time, cause some trauma and if a
bass, especially a male bass that is guarding the nest of hatched fish
is removed, you can bet that extreme mortality happens to the hatchlings."
"Don't use multiple hooked flies or lures," Dave advised. "Cut off
or pinch your hook's barbs down for easier release. And never use bait
during this period. There's no need for it as the fish will attack
almost any lure and in most cases, the use of bait for bass fishing
during the spawning period is not legal."
Paul Garland, of Hot Spot Outfitters in New Durham, NH says it quite
eloquently: "These are the fish of our future. Treat them like they are!"
NEW HAMPSHIRE: In Pittsburg, the most northerly town renowned for
its sporting opportunities, Cindy Caron, at Tall Timber Camps on Back
Lake, was very enthusiastic about the fishing, especially with the onset
of better weather. "John (her husband & a NH fishing guide) had an
incredible couple of days fishing on the Trophy Stretch of the
Connecticut River. They were fishing mostly streamer flies and caught a
lot of nice brook, brown and rainbow trout as well as some landlocked
salmon. The river levels are finally ideal for wading, and John said the
conditions were ideal. They had caught one big brookie of over four pounds."
"John also fished the Androscoggin River near Errol a week ago and
had some good action, mostly on nymph flies. The water was a bit high
then but we just checked with the dam water control people and learned
that this coming week the water flows in the Andro are going to be ideal."
"The ponds and lakes also really perked up. Here at Back Lake, there
were a lot of those big brook trout caught from a recent stocking but
the hatches haven't really started yet. The water temperatures are cold
for this time of year," she ended.
We are happy to welcome Alan Nute, at A.J.'s Tackle in Meredith, to
our contact list. A.J.'s is right in the center of the Winnipesaukee,
Squam Lakes Region and has plenty of information: "On Winnipesaukee, the
salmon and trout are starting to go down but in the morning, before the
boat traffic gets too active, you can still take fish on the surface. My
suggestion is to fish your deep lines down 30 to 40 feet but still keep
some lines on the surface. At Squam Lake, the salmon have been a bit
larger and they are still hitting on the surfaces. Soon, when the
thermocline sets up, most of the trout and salmon fishing will be in
that level."
"Smallmouths are definitely hitting well while the white perch may
be at the end of their spawn but it's a good time to try for them around
the Weirs and Paugus Bay. Smaller lakes in the region are producing some
fantastic white perch fishing," he ended.
Jim, at Martel's Bait on Lake Winnisquam, reports that the white
perch are still running in the Winnipesaukee River but it was slowing
down. "The rainbows and salmon that were in the river apparently have
dropped back into the lake. We're still seeing some big lakers caught
but they have gone deep. The biggest one of the week, a nine pounder,
was caught down 35 feet."
"We've got lots of stripers, up into the Great Bay waters and their
tributaries, in the Little Bay and Dover Point area, the Piscataqua
River and out on the ocean. Along with the stripers, there's been some
awesome cod fishing not that far out. Many of the larger cod are not on
the ledges but on the deep, mud or gravel bottom. Our Kyle Walsh and
fishing Captain Nick Cyr landed a bunch of cod to 42 pounds while
fishing within sight of the Isles of Shoals."
"So far the biggest striper we've weighed was 27 pounds, 44 inches
caught off Newcastle. There's been a lot of 40-inch fish caught, many of
them in the Dover Point area. Frozen chunk bait has been good, as live
bait has been hard to get. There have been a few people netting or
hooking live alewives, and they have had plenty of action. One person
caught a bunch of nice stripers fishing a pink tube and worm rig below
the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth and out in front of the shipyard.
Normally, this time of year we have plenty of live eels for sale but
this year, from so much fresh water, eels are just not available. We
hope people will realize that this is beyond our control," Jason lamented.
Noted saltwater angler and conservationist Richie White of Rye, NH
alerted us to this situation that could affect a lot of anglers and
boaters in the Portsmouth, Newcastle area: "A petition has been
submitted to the state to make all of Little Harbor, not just the
channel and mooring field, a slow speed, no-wake zone. This would mean
small zodiacs and other small boats and fishermen would have to proceed
at headway speed anywhere in Little Harbor. You can write in the next
six days to Robert Ellard Chief Hearing Examiner James Hayes Building 33
Hazen Dr. Concord, N. H. 03305 to express your feelings."
Dave Ganter, at Kittery Trading Post, reported that his friend Chuck
Barstow had been just hammering the stripers in the Piscataqua. Chuck
likes to mix it up when it comes to bait and lures, and recently, he's
been having good luck on big white soft plastic grubs fished on a jig head.
MAINE: Stripers are the talk of the coastline in the Pine Tree
State. Dave Ganter said he had a visit from striper guide Captain Cal
Robinson last week. "Cal told me that the Saco River and Bay area were
just on fire for stripers. He's been using soft plastic baits and said
that it really didn't matter what size or color!"
"Shad are still stacked up below the dam on the Saco River at
Biddeford. Shad flutters and darts are working well. Some of the
fishermen are catching alewives and then using them for striper bait and
it's working."
Garon, at Saco Bay Tackle, echoed Cal Robinson's information, adding
that he'd promised a striper for a meal at a friend's house but ended up
not being able to produce as he'd caught over 30 fish and all were over
the slot limit size and had to be returned! He had several that were
around 36 inches and one that was 38 inches. His best luck was on live
alewives and big Atom Poppers. He catches his live alewives by net or on
a Sabiki Rig, which he also noted the shad at the dam loved."
"Our mackerel are scarce. Some people catch a dozen or two while
others don't catch any. They should show up here in force anytime now,"
Garon said hopefully.
Chris Henson, at Kittery Trading Post, had just returned from a stay
at Grant's Camps on Kennebago Lake. "We hiked into the remote Flat Iron
Pond from Kennebago and had some incredible dry fly fishing. There was a
small hatch of brown drakes going on and all you had to do is drop a
size 16 Adams into a rise ring and you had a nice brookie. We had some
really fat fish up to 18 inches that we hooked and released."
Chris noted that along with the brown drake mayflies, he'd seen some
light colored stone flies hatching on the Kennebago River and that in
spite of the high water, there were some fish working the hatch,
especially in the Steep Bank Pool area.
Dave Howatt, Fishery Biology Specialist in Region D-Western
Mountains filed this report with us: "As long time angler of
Mooselookmeguntic Lake in Rangeley, Dick Green of Topsham, claims, the
best fishing comes after Memorial Day. This is, in fact, true on many of
the waters in the Rangeley area. Over the years, we have conducted
surveys on Mooselookmeguntic Lake that clearly show the trout are biting
best during the first two weeks in June. Brook trout will commonly range
from ten to fourteen inches in length, but many trout will reach over
sixteen inches. Although the salmon fishing doesn't reach its peak until
later in the summer, nice fish in the three to four pound range are
taken in early June."
"Quimby Pond in Rangeley is another water that has its brook trout
fishing action peak during the month of June. This pond is famous for
its caddis fly hatches that occur at the end of the day. The average
trout will run about 13 inches, but anglers can expect about 15% of the
catch to be 16 inches or longer."
"Bass fishing is also starting to pick up with warmer water
temperatures. For smallmouths, anglers should try Ellis Pond in Roxbury,
Clearwater Pond in Industry, Mount Blue Pond in Avon, or the
Androscoggin River in the Canton area. If largemouths are what you're
looking for, try Crowell Pond in New Sharon, Norcross Pond in
Chesterville, or Wesserunsett Lake in Madison. These waters should all
provide good action for respectable sized bass," he ended.
"This morning, two boats that have gone out already came back in.
One boat had four nice salmon and the other had three," reported Rusty
Harvey at River's Edge Sports in Oquossoc, in the Rangeley area.
"All of these salmon were caught on top, trolling a streamer fly
called the 'Sneaker'.There's been a lot of fish caught on DB Smelts
fished about 18 feet down. The river conditions are slowly getting
better and some of the smaller ponds in the region have been on fire,
especially Quimby."
Penny Legere, at Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville in the Moosehead
Lake Region, is excited about the prospects since a few warmer days
showed up. "The water is still high but dropping. It's ideal for drift
boating but wading still can be tough. The Roach River has been
especially good, with both brookies and salmon-quite a few larger fish
on average than usual. Danny (her guide-husband) is fishing the East
Outlet right now and has been doing quite well there lately in his drift
boat."
"Moosehead Lake appears to have turned the corner on its smelt and
salmon recovery. The salmon and togue (lake trout) being caught are in
very good shape so it looks like the smelt are doing a lot better."
In the Sebago Lakes Region, Dave Garcia at Naples Bait on Long Lake
is happy. "Things have really turned on with the good weather. Up in the
Gilead area, where the Wild River dumps into the Androscoggin, one of
our customers reported that the fishing has been fantastic. He caught
brookies, browns and rainbows. There were good hatches going on, but
this guy was a spin fisherman and caught most of his fish on small
silver spinners. Yellow Hornberg flies were also working for the fly
fishermen."
"At Pleasant Lake in Casco, the salmon fishing has been great, with
one giant of over seven pounds taken. It was caught on sewed on bait.
Here on Long Lake, the bass fishing has been hot, and the white perch
are schooling. They are also schooling at Pleasant and Panther Pond in
Raymond."
MASSACHUSETTS: Captain Billy Brindamour of Hampton, NH returned from
a deep-sea charter aboard Ricky LaPierre's Yellowbird. "I've never seen
any better haddock fishing, even in the good old days," Bill enthused.
"I came back with 25 haddock, some nice cod, wolfish and cusk. Everyone
on board had plenty of fish with nobody complaining!"
Billy, at Surfland Bait & Tackle on Plum Island, reports that the
stripers have been hot, with a lot of fish in the upper 20 to mid 30
inch range. Clams and cut bait are accounting for most of the fish taken
from both shore and boat. Mackerel have been very spotty. The Merrimack
River is still running very high.
Pete Santini, at Fishing FINatics in Everett, had this report:
"Boston Harbor is living up to its reputation as having the world's best
flounder fishing, just ask the Bruce Rowe party from Epping, NH. I had
the pleasure of guiding them last Friday in Boston Harbor and these boys
caught some corker flounder, one of them was pushing two feet.
Chincoteaugue Rigs with seaworms and Double Strike Chum (with corn) did
the trick. We had a couple of cod to eight pounds in the mix as well.
Bass are inhaling chunks and clams off the Rte 99 Bridge and at Revere
Beach. Incoming tide is best at Revere. Guys are picking away at some
big bass off Nantasket Beach drifting live mackerel. Steve Ruggiero of
Billerica picked up some 37-inch bass trolling a Santini Tube on two
colors of leadcore line at Faun Bar. Loads of cod still at Graves Light
and there were some bluefish in Gloucester this past weekend. Don't
forget the www.stripershootout.com is less than two weeks away--June 17
& 18!"

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