AUBURN — Despite fluctuating temperatures and snow and rain combinations this month, there is ice on some water bodies for ice fishing.

But like last year, caution is again being stressed for Maine’s ice fishing season, which technically begins on Jan. 1 on many lakes and ponds. In some waters, trout and salmon caught before then must be released.

But in waters classified as “D,” like Worthley Pond in Poland and Bear and Little Bear ponds in Hartford, ice and open water anglers can try their luck for all fish from Dec. 1 through April 30.

“For the brave souls, there’s been ice since the end of November in the county,” Dylan Larose, manager of Dag’s Bait & Tackle at 559 Minot Ave. in Auburn, said Saturday afternoon.

Larose said the Turner boat launch on the Androscoggin River “is always notorious for getting early ice-up,” and pike anglers are taking advantage of it.

Ice fishing on trout waters, however, hasn’t been as good, because the ice isn’t thick enough yet in many places.

“I guess the basic public just got confident on it this week,” Larose said.

Even still, Larose said some ice anglers have been breaking through the ice while fishing along shorelines in shallow water.

“They know what they’re getting into, and they’re not putting their life on the line,” he said. “If this snow wasn’t happening, we’d be doing a lot better.”

Francis Brautigam, a state fisheries biologist in Gray, agreed.

Until cold temperatures return, and ponds and lakes start making ice again, Brautigam said “folks should stick to the absolutely shallowest and smallest ponds.”

“Even still, I think people have to be really cautious,” he said. “The wardens are warning people to stay off the ice, and this year we really mean it.

“It’s a funny year, because earlier in December, we had a small cold spell and believe it or not, there was an inch or two of ice on a handful of D fishing waters and people were catching trout, and those (waters) set up (with ice) for a few days,” Brautigam said.

Attesting to the fluctuating conditions, Brautigam said Crystal Lake, which is across from the Gray Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife headquarters, was all set up with ice on Wednesday when he arrived for work.

But when he arrived Friday morning, the wind had broken up the ice and reopened part of the lake.

He said fisheries staff on Friday began calling area bait dealers to learn if anglers itching to get out are finding safe ice anywhere.

A Roxbury Pond Village resident said Friday that she’d been told there’s 7 inches of ice around the big islands on the pond, and has seen ice anglers already fishing on it.

When told of this, Brautigam said waters north of the Androscoggin River in Bethel usually ice up faster than waters in his Southern Maine/Sebago Lake region.

“There’s a magic line above the Turner area or Livermore Falls, where it seems like they always get a bit of a jump start on us,” he said.

Like last year, ice fishing season on D waters in Brautigam’s region is off to a slow start due to the lack of ice.

“The last few years, it has been touch and go with ice,” Brautigam said.

He said D waters are “put and take,” meaning they’re stocked with no expectations of fish surviving due to high angler use.

This year the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife heavily stocked D waters, Brautigam said.

“So the opportunity for fishing was pretty good had we had early ice,” he said.

The lack of safe, early ice before New Year’s Day has even prompted some anglers into telling fisheries biologists that they want the state to return to the Jan. 1 start date.

Despite the increased opportunity with D-water angling, Brautigam said he believes few anglers take advantage of it.

Larose and Brautigam said that most ice fishing anglers are so used to ice fishing seasons historically starting on New Year’s Day that they wait for it, anticipating that the ice will be thicker and safer.

“It’s usually safe by then,” Brautigam said. “We have some years when you can get out there and the fishing is so good and the ice is so good.”

Even though that hasn’t been the case yet, Larose said business has been good so far.

Maine’s special regulations for ice and open-water fishing are now available online at www.eregulations.com/maine/fishing.

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