Maine Fishing Reports

Fishing report for item #385.

Fishing Report:   Fishing pressure remained quite light this week as a lot of anglers turned to other fall pursuits and the hurricane offshore had saltwater anglers concerned enough to stay off the water.
Because the weather for the week was unseasonably warm, the water temperatures warmed a bit in inland areas, setting back the trout and salmon fishing and also discouraging migrating trout and salmon from ascending their spawning rivers.

FISHING IN MAINE: At River's Edge Sports in Oquossoc in the Rangeley area, Ken Lemke reports that the water temperatures in the Kennebago and Cupsuptic Rivers had gone up to 64 degrees and the water levels had dropped considerably after the rise from the last big rains. "We need more rain and soon if we're going to have the good fall fishing. Some of the pools on the Kennebago are actually barren of fish. They're draining water from Aziscohos Lake so the Lower Magalloway River there has some fish in the pools, and the fishing is good but that river is the exception. The drawdowns have been timed from 8am to 8pm, making for some good daytime conditions."
"Out on the lakes, the fish haven't come up on the surface because of the delayed cooling. They are still fishing down 35 to 55 feet with downriggers and leadcore line. One boat recently caught three nice salmon on Rangeley Lake-19, 20 and 21 inches. They hit streamer flies fished clean off downriggers. Over at Mooselookmeguntic Lake the conditions are the same except there's a lot more fish being caught-mostly undersized salmon but some exceptional fish, both brookies and salmon are possible. A six pound, four ounce landlocked was taken there recently. Most of the downrigger- caught fish are coming from sewed-on bait and DB Smelt lures, but the guys fishing bait are being plagued with having to constantly change their baits because of a lot of hits from small fish," Ken warned.
Dave Ganter at Kittery Trading Post's fishing department reports that Bill Coit, who guides mostly fly fishermen in the saltwater, has been having some great luck fishing from the Piscataqua Rivermouth southward to the Rye area. "Like we reported last week, there's a ton of small baitfish in the shore areas and even the larger stripers and bluefish are working them, making conditions really good for fly fishing. People working topwater lures and soft plastics such as Sluggos are having a blast on both bass and bluefish."
"Offshore angling took a knock this week as the hurricane scare was enough to discourage most. Even some party boats cancelled trips that could have been run as the slowness of Ophelia coming up the coast was delaying the storm's effects."
Donna, at Kittery Trading Post's fishing department had done some fishing last week on her vacation. "We were surprised to find some stripers in with the bluefish well up into Great Bay and the tidal Lamprey River. Those small alewives that migrate down from fresh water and the baby bunkers (small menhaden-herring) have obviously drawn the game fish up below the dams. There are plenty of good access areas to take advantage of this fishing. In fact, there's a Town of Newmarket boat access right in the good areas to fish."
"Down at the Piscataqua Rivermouth, some mackerel have started to show back up but they are tiny--they're called spikes. They also have the stripers and bluefish working them and offshore the football tuna have been working those schools of small mackerel. The big mackerel and flounder should start to show up anytime now, as the water temperatures drop," Donna suggests.
Captain Barry Gibson of SALTWATER SPORTSMAN magazine and striper, bluefish guide emailed us this report: "Despite the fact that the weather has gone downhill since Thursday, striper fishing this past week held up well in the Boothbay Harbor region. We're still seeing loads of those small (11"-13") bass in the bays and along the beaches, but pockets of keepers can still be found in the rivers."
"On Tuesday, I fished my once-a-week regular client, Wilson Kipp of New Jersey and East Boothbay. We took eight small ones from two locations off the Sheepscot before we found some larger fish in the upper Kennebec. We ended up boating three slot bass to 25" and had innumerable runoffs, as the fish just didn't seem to want to eat. Ditto the mackerel: we chummed them up and could watch them zipping in and out of the slick by the dozens, but they simply would not take a Sabiki fly, no matter how small. I've never seen them behave like this, but there have been so many "meatballs" of small herring in the bays and harbors that the macks are probably stuffed to the gills."
"There are still some sharks offshore, and one party on the charter boat Blackjack caught and released a bunch of blue dog sharks and lost an unidentified shark at boatside that was considerably larger."--Capt. Barry Gibson, Shark Five, Boothbay Harbor; (207) 633-59929; barrygibson6@aol.com
At Saco Bay Tackle, Craig Bergeron is expecting some exciting striper and bluefishing, as the baitfish situation continues to improve with the coming of mackerel back into the area and the current amount of baby bunker and herring. "Fish the beaches early and late in the day for marauding schools of both stripers and bluefish. They are easy to spot--just look for the gulls working. Cast to the edges of the action. Topwater plugs probably will work the best or soft plastic baits except that bluefish will shortly have them in shreds."
Dave Garcia at Naples Bait on Long Lake in the Sebago Region had fished a tourney at Moose Pond in Bridgeton with his son Tyson, who had recently won the ABA Maine Bass Tourney Trail. "We had a great day. Out of fourteen boats we finished in third place at 19.84 pounds, mostly largemouths. There was only about a quarter of a pound between the first and third place weights. At this time of year, it's mostly the real avid and best fishermen that are still active in the tourneys, so it becomes very competitive. The competition is keen and the results are catches that are nearly identical."
"It wasn't until the sun got on the water that the fish began to hit, and they were right up on the shorelines in the warmth. We did all our business on small jig and pig rigs in crawfish colors."
"The salmon fishing over on Sebago is surprisingly good, with the four pounders not being that uncommon. Most of the action is coming about 25 feet down and streamer flies are producing as well as sewed on bait and lures. Here on Long Lake, we have a lot of salmon that don't average as large as those Sebago fish but we do have a lot of big brown trout and they will become more active as the water temps drop. Fish for them off outlets and in running water."
In the Moosehead Lake area, Penny Legere at Maine Guide Fly Shop says that the best fishing of the season is at hand, with water flows starting to becoming ideal and trout and salmon moving into the rivers. "Nymphs and streamers seem to be working the best. Over at the Moose River, some fish have started to move in and that is picking up. Danny (her husband-guide) has been fishing the Upper West Branch of the Penobscot, and they have been experiencing some great fishing. The West Branch below Rip Dam has been good all season long so that is also a good bet. The Roach River is running at 225 cfs and will do that for some time. There's some nice trout and salmon and fishing conditions are ideal. At the East Outlet (Kennebec River), we've heard that a large water release may have started and the amount of that release will dictate how the fishing will be. If there's too much water then wading becomes a problem."
"We haven't heard much from some of the local trout ponds, but usually those ponds come to life late in the season and can provide some exceptional fly fishing."

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