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

Region A Southwestern Maine

Here we are in the midst of summer, when warm surface temperatures typically require the use of more technical fishing strategies to reach deeper dwelling trout and salmon. In spite of these mid-season angling challenges, I recently received some of the best fishing reports from Sebago Lake that I’ve received so far this season. Anglers targeting salmon are commonly reporting catches of three and four salmon up to 21 inches long. One angler reported releasing two 20-inch salmon, while another landed eight of varying lengths, including several 3-pounders.

Some anglers are even reporting good success fishing with sinking fly line, others are fishing three-to-seven colors of lead core. “Mooselook wobblers” continue to be a very popular and productive salmon spoon and the “Shoals,” as well as the west shore of “Raymond Neck,” are popular fishing destinations for both salmon and togue this time of the year. Sebago’s togue anglers are also reporting some good catches, although the fishing has been somewhat spotty. Our Sebago Lake census clerk (Jesse Millen Johnson) checked one boat this past weekend that had landed eight togue up to 22 inches long.

Jim recently spoke with a nonresident angler that reported the wild brook trout fishing on some of the region’s small to medium sized streams was slower than in years past, although wild brook trout of excellent size quality (up to 15 inches) were reported in streams like the upper Crooked and the Shepard’s Rivers. The drought over the last couple of years is likely responsible for these observed declines in catch, as opposed to over-fishing. Some of our recent stream sampling results are consistent with angler reports of fewer wild trout. Critical summer flows in many of our better trout streams are maintained by the discharge of cool groundwater, not surface runoff from periodic rain events. Those trout fisheries associated with streams that are heavily reliant on groundwater input will not likely improve until mother nature cooperates by providing much needed precipitation, particularly in the spring and fall when the landscape conditions increase infiltration into the groundwater table.

I previously reported that the presence of northern pike in Sebago Lake poses a risk to fisheries in “upstream” Long Lake and that we were exploring available technologies to exclude northern pike from the Songo Locks. The Songo Locks operation allows boat traffic to pass between Sebago and Long Lake/Bay of Naples. This is a very popular boating route and is heavily used during the summer boating season. After contacting numerous experts, including private consultants and biologists with the USFWS, there appear to be few proven and reasonable methods to effectively deter/exclude notherns from passing through. Most existing fish exclusion devices have been developed and designed for specific “migratory” fish. Some devices work on some fish but not on others. Little research appears to have been devoted to northern pike, and the only technology found that could be effective is not only very expensive, but requires an electric current to be passed through the water. Given the high level of public use at this site there is a high level of risk associated with the exclusion device and this option likely represents an unacceptable level of risk. However, the good news is we still have only confirmed one northern pike in Sebago Lake. While we expect others are present there is still no evidence of successful natural reproduction. Anglers fishing Sebago Lake are encouraged to harvest any northern pike caught and contact our regional office (657-2345).

Speaking of illegal introductions and exotic fish … this week Jim and Scott Davis (Sidney Regional Office) are testing the use of SCUBA to verify an illegal stocking of black crappie in Worthley Pond (Peru) and Big Concord Pond (Woodstock). We have reasonably good reports that crappies are present in both waters. In the past we have had difficulty capturing crappies in other waters during the summer using conventional sampling methods. SCUBA has been successfully used to characterize bass populations and may hold promise for investigating reports of illegal stockings of crappies. Divers will be towed behind a boat on a specially deigned board, allowing the diver to steer underwater. The number, and even the relative size of the target fish observed, can be recorded by the diver using “clicker-counter” devices mounted on the board. We’ll let you know how this method works out.

Francis Brautigam, acting regional fisheries biologist
Region B

Central Maine

I have worked in the fishery division for over 30 years now, and over that time, I have observed many changes that affected the way we manage our fishery resource.

When this department was created by the legislature, it was stated: “There is established the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife to preserve, protect and enhance the inland fisheries and wildlife resources of the State; to encourage the wise use of these resources; to ensure coordinated planning for the future use and preservation of these resources; and to provide for effective management of these resources.”

While keeping that criteria in mind, think about whether this department is providing anglers with the most opportunities for the type of fishing they want, while ensuring that these fish resources are going to be here for generations to come. And before answering that, think about two changes that occurred which dictate the way we operate.

• Exotic species introductions: When I started my career in Machias (a short one due to a stint in the army), I learned very quickly that some fish species were not put there naturally, but by inconsiderate individuals. In the Rangeley area I really had my eyes opened by the influx of yellow perch in prime brook trout habitat. In this region, I have seen the northern pike wreak havoc with many fisheries that are now totally changed from when I first came to the region.

• Access: The public access we have to many of Maine’s 6,000 waters and 31,000 miles of rivers and streams in this vacationland we call home has been limited in some areas, and prevented in others.

Both access and exotic species have changed how we manage waters. Are these changes for the better or do we just sit and accept the inevitable?

People who move fish around illegally believe that if we move this fish to this water, our fishing will be better. The myth that people speak about public access is that if we close an existing launch or prevent the opening of a new one, we will keep our lake pristine and the water to ourselves. We now are faced with a choice to live with that, or we can attempt to change it. If you re-read the beginning of this report, you can see that we will be challenged to fulfill the mission that the legislature mandated to us many years ago.

William L. Woodward, assistant regional fishery biologist
Region D

Western Mountains

Two public hearings were recently scheduled to consider proposed regulation changes for a number of waters in western and central Maine. A hearing will be held at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 11 to consider regulation changes for the Rapid River, Kennebago Lake, and Long Pond (Twps. D & E). A second hearing will be held at the Skowhegan Community Center at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 14 to consider regulation changes for the Kennebec River, Embden Pond, Horsehoe Pond (East Moxie) and Long Pond (Belgrade).

All of these proposals are important to anglers who fish the individual waters, but two in particular deserve discussion and explanation. Smallmouth bass that were illegally introduced into the Umbagog Lake in the 1980s have more recently migrated up the Rapid River and Pond in the River where they threaten a world-class wild brook trout fishery. We recognize that it will be impossible to extirpate this species, which is now established in thousands of acres of water within the drainage and which has high reproductive capability. However, we have proposed a suite of regulations intended to facilitate harvest of bass while affording additional protection to brook trout, including the use of artificial-lures-only in Pond in the River and closure of certain areas of the pond and river to protect brook trout during periods of stress related to reproduction and water quality. Even prior to the public hearing, the artificial-lures-only proposal was broadly panned. Other aspects of the proposal have been received more favorably.

The second proposal that has elicited a great deal of public interest is one for the Kennebec River. Water quality has improved in this large river to the point that we now routinely stock the lower sections – primarily with brown trout – and there is an increasingly-important component of wild fish in the upper reaches. Growth rates are exceptional and we wish to promote the development of a quality fishery by imposing restrictive regulations that encourage survival of trout and salmon to large sizes. Thus, we are recommending higher length limits and artificial-lures-only restrictions for the tail waters (below the dams) while leaving the flat water (reservoirs) general law. We held four public informational meetings to explain these proposals.

The majority of those attending the meetings supported the proposals, but there were some anglers who would prefer to ‘keep things as they are.’

Anglers interested in the fisheries in any of these waters are encouraged to attend the public hearings and be heard.

Forrest Bonney, regional fisheries biologist

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