Maine Fishing Reports

Fishing report for item #75.

Fishing Report:   March 21, 2005

Apparently a few days of sun put a fire under the ice fishermen’s fishing urges, as they were out in force in many of our region’s lakes. In New Hampshire, a lot of bait dealers ran out of live bait and had one of their best weekends of the season. Maine’s fishermen were also out in force, with bass, pickerel and perch the most common fish in their catches.
At Kittery Trading Post, Dave Ganter in the fishing department was trying to “clear the deck” after their busy Fishingfest weekend, but he still had time to produce some fishing news. “Don’t put away that ice fishing gear yet,” he told us. “There’s a short window of opportunity right now until the season closes to get some of the best action on bass. For most of the season, ice fishing for bass is hit-or-miss. Right now, they start to get really active, in spite of a still heavy ice and snow cover. It’s probably a factor caused by the length of the day and the angle of the sun--or photo period, as it’s called. Whatever causes the bass to go on the feed, they do and it’s a blast, especially for kids.”
“We preach catch and release when ice fishing for bass, as every bass taken out of the water this time of year is a factor in the spring breeding season, even the male fish. The females are full of spawn and it’s obvious why they are important, but many people don’t realize that it’s the male fish that stay and guard the nest of baby bass against predator fish. Catching and immediately releasing the bass without any excess handling doesn’t hurt them, and it’s a great thrill to see a big bass coming up into the hole.”
“Bass will be in shallow water with depths of about six to twelve feet being a good bet. Live minnows or smelt work well. Light leaders and small hooks will increase your catch.”
“If you want to catch some fish to eat, set your tip-ups for bass and then go into some deeper water and jig for perch. A piece of cut minnow or perch eye on a small jig will do. Also, if you catch any pickerel on your bass rigs, they are great eating if you know how to handle the bones. The easiest way is to fillet them and with skin side down, crisscross the fillets with shallow cuts just down to the skin, slicing the bones into small pieces. If you fry them flesh side down, the bones will shrink and are not objectionable.”
“White perch can also become really aggressive this time of year. Ask your bait dealer to point you to a white perch spot and you’re apt to come home with a mess of the best eating and fun-to-catch fish. Ask for specifics such as how deep, what kind of bait and lure and a back-up spot if the first one doesn’t produce,” Dave suggests.
Chad Woodward, at Kittery Trading Post, wanted us to note that New England Paddlesports Show 2005 will be held at the University of New Hampshire Field House in Durham, NH from Friday to Sunday, April 8th-10th. “Fishermen are more and more turning to kayaks and canoes. Some of the angler-friendly kayaks come complete with rod holders and other accessories made exclusively for fishing and are much more stable than some of the more traditional kayaks. Ocean going kayakers are having a blast in our local waters going after striped bass. It’s a fast growing sport.”
We talked to the people at Eldredge Fly Shop in York about the sea-run trout fishing. The word is that the fish have mostly retreated to the deeper holes and have shut down a bit. One of the people behind the counter said that he and two other fishermen had recently fished the tidal waters at the Presumpscot River, and although they’d seen several trout (brookies), they were unable to coax them to hit a fly. After the snowmelt goes and the water starts to warm a bit, you can expect some pretty good action.
Dave Garcia, at Naples Bait on Long Lake in the Sebago Region, was just back from Florida, where sea trout, red fish and other species made quite an impression on Dave and his son Tyson. “It was great to get into some of that southern fishing, but it’s also good to get back here. We had a tremendous amount of ice fishermen enjoying the good weather last weekend. Most of the action was on bass, pickerel and panfish, although there were some quality splake taken at Trickey Pond (Naples). These fish were averaging 12 to 18 inches and were caught mostly around the shoreline. Sebago Lake togue fishing was mixed, with some anglers disappointed while others picked up some nice fish. Thompson Lake in Oxford (artificial lures only, one salmon limit) has been producing some good fish. Most of the anglers there are using small white marabou jigs--quarter and eighth ounce. Apparently, they mimic the small smelts there.”
Dave’s forecast for ice-out on Long Lake is about April 15th, while he thinks Sebago’s ice will go about a week earlier.
“The new blue color Northland Airplane jigs have been hot here for lakers,” reported Carroll Cutting at Jordan’s Store in East Sebago. “Greg (Cutting’s son) and two of his friends caught six decent fish (one was 6.5 pounds) out over 120 feet of water on Sebago. They were tipping the jigs with cut sucker. All of the fish were bulging with smelt, a very good sign for the smelt recovery here.”
“As the sun warmed the snow, travelling with ATVs and snowmobiles became tough, as the machines were breaking through the crust. There’s about six to twelve inches of snow. Greg was driving his ATV and had to put on the chains to get off the lake. There’s still 15 to 18 inches of ice, but it could go fast,” he warns.
Friend Arnie Kennerson from Newfields, NH had just returned from trying for one of those big pike in the Belgrade Lakes Region. “We fished Messalonskee Lake and were handicapped by the fact that the lake travelling prevented us from being on the best part of the lake. You want to be in the shallow, weedy bays where the pike are apt to be spawning. We only picked up one 27-incher, but those Belgrade Lakes are not to be ignored. This is the best time of year, and there’s fish that will scare you--over twenty pounds in several of the lakes there.”
Frank Frost, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist in the Aroostook County area, reports that the Fish River Lakes, Long, Square, Cross, and Eagle Lakes closed for ice fishing on March 15th. The opportunity to catch a trophy salmon, trout and togue is good on these waters; many trophy-class fish have been caught this winter. Other Fish River Lakes open until the end of March are St. Froid and Portage Lakes.
“Other reports from anglers indicate the recent low fishing pressure. Drews Lake was busy early, and has since dropped off, but anglers are looking forward to the typically good end of March fishing for white perch, pickerel, splake and brown trout. Glazier Lake, in far northern Maine, has been slow for togue, salmon, and muskellunge. Access to this lake has been good with well-worn snowmobile trails to Connors Cove from the Little Black checkpoint; a trail to the outlet of Glazier Lake is currently being used substantially by anglers beginning their trip in St. Francis.”
“Anglers asking permission for parking can begin their trip from St. Francis. Several trails originate in the area near John's Country Store and a relatively short snowmobile ride of about 10 miles will bring you to the shore of Glazier Lake. For anglers seeking an even more remote fishing experience, Beau Lake lies to the north on the St. Francis River and has a togue population that is lightly utilized by ice anglers,” he ended.
New Hampshire fishermen were out on the ice in force this last weekend, but friend Dave O’Hearn from Exeter announced the end of the much longer than usual smelt fishing season: “A buddy of mine fished Friday night in the Squamscott and got his limit of smelt. I was invited Saturday night. I went down but chickened-out, as I didn't trust the ice. They fished again and did very well. I went to look at the ice yesterday, and it is over for this year. The ice will not support a fisherman. Bring on the stripers and lobsters. And most of all big gobblers.” Dave mused.
From John A. Viar, Fisheries Biologist I, New Hampshire Fish and Game Department Region 2 Office--“SO CLOSE! The Lakes Region's cusk factory, Lake Winnipesaukee, recently produced another near state record, this time for Craig Borgeson of Gilford. His 36.5 inch (actually 2.25 inches longer than the state record!) 11 lb, 0.32 oz. mammoth was just 1.88 oz. shy of the state record (11 lbs. 2.2 oz., Sunapee Lake, 1984). Had this fish been caught prior to spawning (cusk spawn approximately mid-February in the Lakes Region), it most likely would have been the new state record (state records are distinguished by weight).”
In New Hampshire’s Northcountry, Shirley Remick at TR’s Bait on the First Connecticut Lake, says that they had lots of fishermen there over the weekend, with the “First Lake” providing some good fishing for both cusk and lakers and Lake Francis showing some anglers what a good brown trout resource it is.
“One party brought in two beautiful brown trout they’d just caught at Lake Francis. One was 23 inches and was just under three pounds while the other was 22 inches and just a little fatter at a full three pounds.”
“The weather was great, we had more fishermen out here than we’d had all season. This is the time to be up here in Pittsburg,” she noted.
Jim, at Martel’s Bait in Laconia, reports that there had been some lake trout activity on Winnisquam Lake but it had slowed, with white perch starting to get more attention from the fishermen there. “We’re seeing some lakers and cusk from Winnisquam but it’s slowed down. There’s quite a few people we’ve sent over to Winnipesaukee looking for white perch, which are starting to hit over there. Signal Point and Melvin Village areas are both noted for their white perch.”
“Winnipesaukee’s cusk fishing continues to amaze a lot of people, including me,” laughed Paul Garland, at Hot Spot Outfitters in New Durham. “There’s still quite a few smallish lakers being caught, but the daytime cusk fishing is still doing well. There also seems to be a bit of a rainbow trout bite picking up now around the lake.”
“Even though there’s 18 to 24 inches of ice, it seems to be going fast. In places there’s a lot of slush and the going is getting tough for snowmobiles and ATVs.”
Pete Santini, at Fishing FINatics in Everett, Massachusetts emailed us this report: “Just finished up the MSBA show in Kingston. Got several reports on Sunday about stripers being taken at Charles River power plant outlet behind the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. William Silvers caught eight stripers to 24 inches on rubber shad jigs.”
“The big news was the Amelia Earhart Dam in Everett/Somerville. They caught six keepers up to 35 inches on the freshwater side of the dam on rubber shad and live shiners. The stripers congregate there because of schools of spawning yellow perch. Stripers remain in the Charles and Mystic River watershed year round and several were taken through the ice this year on tip-ups and shiners in the Mystic Lakes in Medford and Arlington. You will need a freshwater license to fish in both the Charles and Mystic Rivers.”
“Local trout pond stocking is underway--be careful on the ice right now.”
“The Northeast Charterboat Captains Association will have its annual flea market on April 2nd at the Newbury fire station in Newbury, Massachusetts. It’s located at the junction of Route One and Morgan Avenue. Hours are 7:30am-1pm. Fishing Legend Captain Barry Gibson will be there,” Pete ended.

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