Editor’s note: The freshwater fishing reports are provided weekly by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Region A Southwestern Maine

When we told our seasonal summer help that the job comes with some great perks, Greg Massey our rainbow trout study census clerk, didn’t realize just how great the perks could be. Between angler interviews at Upper and Middle Range Ponds, Greg has the opportunity to fish and has landed many nice browns and rainbows this year, but nothing that compared to last weekend when Greg landed his personal best. While trolling a small shiner behind three colors of lead core over 40 feet of water, Greg landed a 28-inch, 9.5-pound trophy brown. Greg also landed some three- and four-pound browns, and two 17-18 inch rainbows. Greg was just a little excited, and he wants to get the 9.5-pounder mounted.

There are some fantastic, “undiscovered” river smallmouth fishing opportunities on our larger rivers, like the Androscoggin. These rivers receive very little fishing pressure and offer a quality outdoor experience. Case in point, I recently took my 12-year-old daughter smallmouth bass fishing on the Androscoggin River near Livermore Falls. We only fished for about 1 hours, because, well you know how your own children can be – first they’re too hot, then they’re hungry, and then their bottom is sore from sitting on the canoe seat – despite these “issues,” we had a pleasant trip, catching over a dozen smallmouths up to 15 inches long. My daughter had lots of bass and the action was steady. There was an abundance of adult dragonflies and caddisflies on the surface and the bass were all too eager to take small floating stick baits. The fishing was great, the scenery was pleasant and yet we were the only two fishing on a Saturday morning.

… It is the great variety and quality of our fisheries, from our inland to our coastal waters, that makes Maine such a fun place to fish…

Francis Brautigam, acting regional fisheries biologist
Region B

Central Maine

A common occurrence for fishery biologists in the summer are investigations concerning the fishkills that are noticed by anglers, boaters, property owners or any number of water enthusiasts. Although fish die all times of the year, we investigate nearly every fish death that is reported to the regional offices. Time is of the essence in these cases as the fish need to be recently dead or dying to be of value to our fish pathologist, Dr. Russ Danner. Last week a call came in from district warden Chad Abbot who reported there were dead brown trout at the old Hills Mills dam site on the St. George River. After first notifying Dr. Danner’s office, I went to the site fairly quickly. Prior to leaving the office, I called some anglers I knew who fished the river and received some updates on the fishing and what they may have observed at the site. Luckily, one angler who lives there, Jack Tibbets, was able to assist in the so-called forensic work that needed to be accomplished, and he also keeps good notes on fishing activity in that area.

When I arrived at the river, I took a water temperature at the rock ramp dam on the outlet of Sennebec Lake. The temperature was 79 degrees. I looked in the pool below the rock ramp and did not observe anything unusual. I next went down to Jack’s house and we walked to the old Hills Mills site, and he indicated to me where he thought the dead fish could be located. I crossed the river, found a fish skeleton with a tail still attached that indicated it was a brown trout. Two more dead fish were located, but the fish were so deteriorated, a pathological examination by Dr. Danner was impossible. After taking a temperature at the old dam site (78 degrees), I spoke again with Jack.

Jack indicated that a few days earlier, he observed that some anglers were catching brown trout with worms and releasing them back to the river. With this information, I had enough evidence to predict fairly accurately that the brown trout had succumbed to stress related to handling by anglers and the warm water temperatures.

Fishery biologists regularly use a reference book by Crossman that is loaded with research on the biology of fishes. In the book it stated, “optimum temperature range for brown trout is said to be 65-75 degrees.” Last week, air temperatures early in the week were in the 90s, so it is pretty accurate for us to state that during the day the river temperature was in the eighties, due to the fact that it flows from the surface water of a lake. That is habitat that is very marginal and stressful for brown trout.

In the initial report, Warden Abbott indicated there was some pooled water that had a sheen or oily film on its surface. Upon reaching the site, I noticed the pools and I observed a common iron forming bacteria collection in some pools away from the main flow of the river. The reference I can use to describe that states “that iron forming bacteria are typically aerobic organisms, widely distributed in nature, and commonly observed in most water habitats.” The sheen and the slimy scum observed associated with the iron forming bacteria is the by-product of the activity of the bacteria and has not been solely attributed to fish die offs.

William L. Woodward, assistant regional fishery biologist
Region D

Western Mountains

There are two important sources of flow information that stream anglers should be aware of. First is the Flow Phone, which provides recordings of current flows for the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Dead river drainages (as well as lake and impoundment levels). The number is 1-800-557-3569. This information is provided by FPL Energy Maine Hydro and the Kennebec Water Power Co. The second source of flow information is the USGS web site, http://waterdata.usgs.gov/me. I use the “recent daily” flows format to track flows after rain events at monitored sites.

The Androscoggin River Trek to the Sea is underway. This event celebrates the clean-up of this large and scenic river system. The water is now clean enough to support coldwater fisheries, and we stock 6,000 brown trout annually from the New Hampshire border to Rumford as well as a smaller number of rainbows. Growth rates are phenomenal, and anglers report catching fish of both species up to 23 inches long and several pounds in weight. With the support of the local anglers, we recently imposed restrictive regulations designed to maintain and protect this quality fishery.

I spoke to several intreped Canoe Trek participants in Gilead on July 11 about the fishery as they prepared to paddle to Bethel in pouring rain. Weather has typically been much nicer, however, and paddling the river is a great way to spend the day. This annual canoe trip breaks the 170-mile-long river down into manageable daily sections. Over a period of 21 days, paddlers can join the group as it advances down the river. The trek will extend through July 25. For information, visit the Androscoggin Watershed Council’s website at www.andro-watershed.org.

Forrest Bonney, regional fisheries biologist

Copy the Story Link