Maine Fishing Reports

Fishing report for item #69.

Fishing Report:   March 14, 2005

Deep snow and tough travelling on ice took a toll on the fishing pressure the last week. In northern Maine, snow depths have increased dramatically after having a slow start earlier in the season. In the southern portions of our reporting area, especially on the salt water, ice conditions continue to show signs that spring is on the way--eventually!
Today, most of the tackle and bait shops we’ve talked to reported very slow activity on the ice fishing scene, although some of them say that the conditions are just too tough for the average angler to enjoy.
Dan Legere at Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, Maine had an experience last week that shows just how tough the snow has made it. Taking a break for a few days at their camp, Dan and his with wife Penny, got caught in a two-foot snowstorm. The road to where their vehicle was parked became flooded with water from an ice jam, and according to Dan, was impassable.
“Penny and I tried to get back to our vehicle but our snowmobile just couldn’t make it--the road was actually a river! We spent another evening at camp and decided we had to get back to the shop. Again, the road hadn’t frozen enough to hold our sled, so we had to leave it there in the woods and walk quite a distance out to the plowed road. Now we’ve got to go back sometime next week and try to recover the sled, but the new couple of feet of snow may make that quite a challenge.”
“We’re covered up here right now, with about as much snow as we’ve ever had. There are very few people out fishing because of the conditions, but we do have a strong recommendation for those that love to catch landlocked salmon through the ice. Chesuncook Lake is the place to be. We’ve had a lot of parties come back from there who’d handled 15 to 20 fish a day. The natural reproduction rate in that lake is so good that the lake is actually overpopulated with salmon--just like it’s happening with togue in a lot of other Maine lakes. The limit on Chesuncook has been increased to three salmon per day and there’s a slot regulation, allowing that three salmon between 14 to 18 inches may be kept, but only one of the salmon may exceed the 18 inch limit.”
“This regulation is intended to reduce the amount of small salmon in the lake, but protect the more important adult broodstock. This lake also has some nice white perch, so you may have a nice mixed bag. One warning, bait shops are scarce in that area. You’ll need to pick up your live bait in Millinocket or come here to Greenville. Our shop is only open Thursday through Sunday, but we get here at 5am to allow the fishermen to get out on the lake in good season.”
At Kittery Trading Post, Dave Ganter in the fishing department reports that while interest in open water fishing is increasing, ice fisherman still have some great opportunities for bass, pickerel and panfishing, as the bite really picks up as perch get ready to spawn and the bass become more active.
“Most of the ponds still have great ice depths to well over a foot. But you want to watch out for places where moving water may have washed away some of the ice--places like under bridges, inlets, outlets, and off points that have a current.”
“Bass, pickerel and yellow perch should be in the shallow areas, from three to ten or twelve feet deep. Live shiners work well on pickerel and bass and will also attract perch, but a better choice for perch would be worms or live meal worms or other grubs.”
“For white perch and crappie, you need to seek out deeper water. The white perch are apt to be a foot or so above the bottom in 25-35 feet of water. Small shiners work well as do little jigs tipped with worms or mealworms.”
“Crappie are different. Although found in areas of the lake that are deep, crappie suspend off bottom and are usually in the 15-25 foot depths over water that is from 30-40 feet. As the season comes to a close, some of the crappie can be found in more shallow areas. Fish with tiny shiners or small crappie jigs. One thing, when jigging for crappie, movement of the jig should be kept to a minimum. They will actually take a jig that is just hanging there.”
“For pickerel, weedy areas with a channel or along the weed edges are best. Light wire leaders and good-sized shiners fished mid-depths will do the job for pickerel.”
Dave says that bass are a very valued sport fish so if you’re looking for some fish to eat, a good thing to do for the resource is to release your bass and keep a mess of perch, pickerel or crappie for your eating.
Chad Woodward, also at Kittery Trading Post’s fishing department just got back from a few days fishing for steelhead trout in New York’s famous Salmon River. “It was a great trip. We strictly fly fished, and I was lucky enough to hook ten big steelhead. Those people that have fished for these scrappie fish know why I only landed three of them. They jump and fight like crazy!"
Tiny nymph flies called Copper Johns were working the best for Chad. He said that red was the best color, especially in the periods of low light. Number 16 and 18 seemed to produce the best luck.
This writer will also be plying the New York waters for steelhead soon. We’ve arranged for our party of six anglers to fish with two guide boats on the big, brawly Niagara River near Lewiston, right on the Canadian border. We should also be catching some big lakers, probably a brown trout or two, and some walleyes. This river is not for the faint of heart or for a beginner to be out in a boat. We chose to go the guide route for just these reasons. Although we’ve specialized in whitewater river fishing for several years, the Niagara is a far different story, and this time of year, a mistake could surely prove fatal.
Jim Pellerin, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist in the Sebago area, filed this report with us: “Although the ice is still likely to be with us for quite some time, I am sure those anglers that like to dip smelts in the spring are starting to feel the itch. Over the years, smelt dippers have lost opportunities for this traditional spring fishing activity, and it is important for them recognize why. There are two primary reasons for the increased closures of streams to spring dipping: (1) to protect smelt populations for use as forage for other sport fish, i.e. landlocked salmon, and (2) to address increasing public relations and landowner issues. Even though bag limits are in place to restrict harvest, fishery managers are still very concerned about possible impacts from spring dipping activities. Think about it, smelt are one of the few important inland gamefish that is not well protected during its spawning cycle.”
“Smelt populations are particularly vulnerable to over-harvest due to their spawning behavior. The concentration of large numbers of smelt, often in very small and shallow stream systems literally makes it ‘like fishing in a barrel’ with limited opportunity for escapement. Dipping activities not only affect the current population, they can also result in future year class failures due to excessive harvest prior to spawning, interference and/or blockage of smelt spawning activities, and increased egg mortality through siltation and direct physical damage due to wading anglers. MDIFW biologists would like to urge anglers to be conscientious of their actions while dipping smelts and to employ some of the following: avoid excessive dipping and scraping of the stream bottom; avoid and/or minimize walking in the lower reaches of streams where smelt spawn; and if you need to cross the stream, take an extra minute or two and cross upstream of known smelt spawning activity. Just remember you could actually be ‘walking on eggshells’ and impacting your future dipping opportunities!”
“The second problem relates to interactions between spring smelters and the general public. Aggregations of smelt-dippers crowding into small areas along streams are highly visible to the public and landowners. Trespass, littering, general land abuse, and disturbing noises or behaviors are often associated with dipping activities. This may lead to opportunity losses through landowner postings, or legislative/departmental closures. Consequently, this user group indirectly affects their own use opportunity as a result of adverse public opinion. Increasing population levels and more development adjacent to traditional dipping tributaries has created more confrontations and additional stream closures. This further aggravates problems at other sites by concentrating more use at areas that remain open.”
“Here again, anglers may occasionally have to police themselves to protect their future angling opportunity. If you see an angler doing something they shouldn't, let them know you have taken notice and report it to the appropriate authority. Also, if you observe some property abuses like litter, ruts erosion, broken fences or other types of property damage, offer to take care of the problem before the landowner has to deal with it, which may mean future posting or closure of the stream to dipping.”
“A few other tidbits of information anglers may be interested in: Although it’s too early to tell just yet, our hatchery staff has informed us that stocking efforts may be slightly delayed this spring due to ice cover on lakes, ponds and high stream flows. We'll keep you posted as the season progresses. Also, a public informational meeting is scheduled for April 20th, 7:30pm at the Naples Town Hall to discuss the Classic Salmon Initiative, which is a cooperative effort between the Sportsmen’s Alliance of Maine and MDIFW to produce better size-quality salmon fishing on select waters throughout the State. The two waters being considered in the region are Kezar Lake in Lovell and Crystal Lake in Harrison.”
“Lastly, the large lake trout (22+lb. lake trout) in the Sebago Derby last week had a BV fin clip. According to our records, that fish was stocked in 1979, which makes it 26 years old!” Jim reported.
In other news from the Pine Tree State, Craig Bergeron at Saco Bay Tackle passed on a few tips for some fun along the coast in the next few weeks. “On Friday, March 25th (Full Moon), the tides a couple days before, during and after moon phases such as full or new moons will be quite low and provide some exceptional opportunities for gathering hen (surf) clams along our beaches. If it’s stormy, the clams often just wash up on the beach, otherwise, you can usually get a good feed of clams by using a thin tined hayfork. You probe the sand in shallow water and when you feel a clam, scoop it up with the fork.”
“A pair of chest-high waders and waterproof gloves and jacket will help keep you dry. Watch out for the surf and the currents. They can make it a bit embarrassing when the current makes you slip and fall or a wave comes in over your boots or waders!”
“Another good pastime for trout fishermen is to target the sea run brown trout locally. The Mousam and Ogunquit Rivers are two of the most popular rivers, but the browns will frequent other streams as well. On a warm, sunny day, look for midge hatches well up into the marsh, close to the fresh water. You are apt to have some fine fly fishing on those warm, late winter days.”
Jason MacKenzie, at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, New Hampshire reports that there are still some diehard smelt fishermen out on the ice at Stratham, on the Squamscott River with a few fish being caught each trip. “A couple of warm days or a heavy rain is going to wreak havoc with that ice, so we’re advising people to get their smelt shacks off the ice, and if they must fish, do it with portable shanties or out in the open. As the season ends, the table quality of the smelt suffer. The spawning process changes the composition of the fish--some people describe them as getting soft or mushy. There’s no sense taking a fish that isn’t going to be eaten,” Jason remarked.
Paul Garland, at Hotspot Outfitters in New Durham, was working with a customer on an ice auger, so you see that late season and tough conditions haven’t slowed all the fishing down. As a matter of fact, Paul reports that fishing pressure on Lake Winnipesaukee was holding steady; with lake trout and cusk being the two most common fish that he’s seeing. “We’re still in full swing here. We have plenty of live bait, and it looks like we’ll have good ice for fishing right up until the end of March, which doesn’t make the prospects for an early ice-out for the April 1st opener look too good.”
George Taylor, at Taylor’s Trading Post in Madbury, says that although there’s about a foot and a half of ice locally, the fishing pressure is way off right now, with no smelt fishing being reported as ice was not good on the Oyster or Lamprey Rivers.

Send to friend

Email the author

Fishing Reports Menu

• Fishing Reports HomePage
  
• Latest Fishing Reports
• Search Past Fishing Reports
• Post a Fishing Report
• Put Fishing Reports On My Site
• Put A FinTalk Link On My Fishing Site