Region A Southwestern Maine

Many area anglers are reporting excellent fishing for brown trout up to five pounds. One angler who regularly fishes Little Sebago Lake has taken several three- and four-pounders and has yet to take a brown less than 17 inches long.

Greg Massey, our rainbow water census clerk, personally has taken several browns between four and five pounds from Upper Range Pond, as well as some two-pound rainbows. Streamers and sewn bait fished within 15 feet of the water’s surface are effective presentations this time of the year.

I would like to acknowledge Massey of Mechanic Falls for his commendable act of good will last week. Massey and a friend took the initiative to clean up the Little Androscoggin River between Welchville and Auburn. Massey, an avid fisherman, couldn’t bear to see this popular fishing reach “trashed.”

Massey collected 21 large-sized garbage bags of trash. His act of good will is deserving of praise, and his action may have gone a long way toward preventing a landowner from posting his property. By the way, the rainbows are biting well on the Little Androscoggin, with exceptional catches reported last week.

We’re asking anglers to help us monitor and evaluate the performance of rainbow trout stocked in our study waters (Little Androscoggin, Middle and Upper Range Ponds, Crystal Lake, Overset Pond, Long Pond in Denmark, Lily Pond, and Jaybird Pond). We would like to recruit anglers who regularly fish the aforementioned waters to maintain personal fishing logs by providing information on your catch and time fished in Department-issued books. If you would like to keep fishing records for us, please contact Jim Pellerin at 657-2345 (ext. 111).

Because of dam reconstruction activities, Mathew Mills Pond in Berwick will not be stocked this year.

Francis Brautigam, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region B Central Maine

The regional fishery staff recently completed a spring trap netting operation at Kimball Pond in Vienna. This operation is part of a multi-year brook trout study. The first few years of this study evaluated two wild strains of trout, the Kennebago and Sourdnahunk strains, for the purpose of replacing the older hatchery strain of brook trout. Results from this five-year study indicated that the Kennebago strain trout would better suit the needs of both hatchery production and the angling public. Anyone interested in the results should request a copy of “Comparative Performance of Two Genetic Groups of Stocked Brook Trout in Maine Lakes,” March 2001, written by Forrest Bonney. It can be obtained from the Department office in Augusta.

Based on these results, the Kennebago strain trout are now used in the hatchery system as production fish. Since there were some concerns, the older Maine Hatchery Strain of trout was not abandoned. The latest work at Kimball Pond began in 2002 and is being conducted to evaluate the differences between the Kennebago and Maine Hatchery strains. This spring’s trap net work was an attempt to determine the number of each strain of trout that survived last fall’s stocking.

All the trout are permanently marked by removing a fin (a different fin for each strain) before being stocked.

When the fish are caught in our nets, we apply a temporary mark and release them back into the pond. After the netting operation is complete, a population estimate can be made by comparing the number fish with temporary marks and the number without a temporary mark.

The number of trout from each strain that survived the winter was surprisingly low. Fifteen hundred of both strains of trout were stocked Nov. 15. Results from the spring trapnetting indicate a total population of 701 brook trout from the 3,000 stocked the previous fall, which is a 23 percent survival rate.

The difference between strains was also surprising. The Kennebago strain has a survival rate of 32 percent (estimated population of 485), while the survival rate for the Maine Hatchery strain was only 14 percent (estimated population of 216).

Why was the survival of these fish so low? As with most biological systems, there are combinations of many factors influencing trout survival.

As you probably remember, this past winter was very cold, with ice developing early and remaining later than usual. This situation may have been responsible for poorer water quality, thus affecting survival.

Another interesting factor that has been more evident in recent years is the increase number of loons in Maine. A quick literature search reveals loons consume up to 2.5 pounds of fish per day. For the 15 days of the operation, we observed a pair of loons each of those days. That could be as much as 75 pounds of trout just during the time we were there! And of course, as is the case with people, loons prefer trout to sunfish.

This study comparing the strengths and weakness of each brook trout strain will continue for another few years. With a better understanding of these two strains, better management decisions will be made to provide better fishing.

James Lucas, Assistant Regional Fishery Biologist
Region D Western Mountains

Stream restoration plans for western Maine took a leap forward last week thanks to the Rangeley Guides’ and Sportsman’s Association. At their monthly meeting on Thursday, they voted to match an anonymous member’s pledge of $5,000 to raise a total of $10,000 for restoration work to be done on South Bog Stream, a tributary to Rangeley Lake. South Bog Stream is the historical brook trout spawning tributary to the lake but has been degraded over the years to the point that there are few deep pools and much of the stream is overwidened and shallow. Additional funding is also available. The Guides previously committed $2,000 toward the project, and Trout Unlimited has contributed $2,200. Before work can begin, we must obtain the required permission and permits and draw up final work plans. Stream restoration projects also involve extensive measurements of the affected stream prior to alterations and several years thereafter to determine response of both the stream and the biological community.

The catch of the week was a brook trout from Mooselookmeguntic Lake that weighed more than six pounds. The fish was 23 1/2 inches long. Deana Bean, our survey clerk, took a scale sample from the fish, which was caught by Jeff Lizotte. By magnifying the scales, we can tell the age of a fish. This fish was six years old, extremely old for a brook trout. The typical brookie caught in lakes is three years old. To put it another way, of the 3,659 brook trout sampled during our statewide study conducted from 1995 to 2001, only five were six years old. More restrictive regulations on Maine’s brook trout waters result in the survival of fish such as this one to trophy size, improving not only fishing quality but the status of our wild brook trout population as well.

Forrest Bonney, Regional Fisheries Biologist