rumford – Fishing has been great so far in southwestern Maine waters despite the slow start due to snowstorms, high flows and late ice, state fisheries biologist Francis Brautigam said by phone Wednesday afternoon from Gray.

In the Rangeley area, it’s only average so far. The ice left Rangeley Lake last Friday and Mooselookmeguntic Lake last Thursday, state fisheries biologist Forrest Bonney said by phone from Strong.

“We had one report of a nice fat salmon on Rangeley and Mooselook has had some very fast fishing, with anglers catching lots of salmon, but few big ones,” Bonney said. “The smelt runs have been better than we thought, but we’re still about average. I’m not looking for an exceptional year up there. It’s not bad fishing, but it’s running more toward average instead of exceptional.”

Sebago Lake was one of the places to be this year in Brautigam’s coverage area, because the salmon fishery is well on its way to recovery after it and the smelt population collapsed in the 1980s.

“The fishing this spring has been fantastic, with salmon between 3 and 5 pounds commonly being caught and in good numbers,” Brautigam said of Sebago. He caught seven salmon one morning and six on another morning, all weighing between 3 and 4 pounds.

“Carroll Cutting, the well-known proprietor of Jordan’s Store off Route 114, contends the fishing for salmon this spring is the best he’s seen it since the start of his business in the 1940s,” Brautigam said.

When smelt – landlocked salmon’s prime dining fare – and salmon are concentrated along Sebago’s west shore and at the mouth of Songo River, he said it hasn’t been uncommon for skilled anglers to catch from six to 12 salmon this time of year.

But the smelt run, which is well under way, will soon end, which means anglers will have to work harder to find concentrations of salmon.

Brautigam credited the Sebago Lake salmon fishery turnaround to reduced stocking rates, liberalized harvest on lake trout or togue, augmenting the smelt population with smelt eggs, and two summers of steady consistent rain, which brought more runoff and nutrients, more feed for smelt.

Additionally, angler trips had dropped substantially from 52,000 in the 1980s to 23,000 last year, giving fish a chance to grow. He said he’s had a couple of reports of salmon being caught that weighed up to 8 pounds.

“A lot of people are quite satisfied. Up until this year, there was a lot of gloom and doom talk,” but that’s all gone because of the great fishing, Brautigam said.

Other fishing success has been found at at Middle and Upper Range Ponds in Poland and Crystal Lake in Gray. Brautigam said all three are providing good action for rainbow trout up to 20 inches long. He spoke with another angler who fished Collyer Brook last week with small spinner baits and landed and released 15 brookies off Merrill Road.

Additionally, Lake Auburn has been producing togue and salmon, and has a tremendous white perch run that will be starting, if it hasn’t already, in the northern end where The Basin and a small stream connect to the lake, Brautigam said.