Moosehead Lake Region Fishing Reports

Moosehead Lake Region (Region E) Fishing Reports

Information Hearing

The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife will be holding a public hearing on its antlerless deer permit proposal at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13, at Greenville High School, Pritham Avenue, in Greenville.

Immediately after that hearing, the department will hold an information hearing regarding fishing regulations on Moosehead Lake.

April 24, 2009

Open Water Fishing Preview

After a long and successful winter of ice fishing in the Moosehead Lake region, we will soon hear the delightful words, “ice-out!” and the angler will find a variety of opportunities.

Snow melt and spring run-off are changing angling opportunities daily.  Many of our ponds and lakes still are covered with ice, but shortly after ice out they will produce some of the fastest fishing of the open water season. The region has a variety of fish species for anglers to pursue and various types of angling techniques are necessary to bag your quarry.
 
Consider how lake trout fishing strategies change with the season.  Lake trout typically seek a constant water temperature between 40-52 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lake trout can be targeted between the surface and at depth of 15 feet at ice-out.  In mid- to late spring, anglers will need to get down to deeper water around depths of 30–50 feet as water temperatures increase.

Lake trout primarily feed on small fish, but can be taken with heavy jigs or cut bait and are also caught by trolling large spoons and lures.  Anglers can find some fast fishing on Moosehead Lake, First Roach Pond and Lower Wilson Pond if they are targeting lake trout this spring.

Spring also is a good time to find landlocked salmon cruising the shallows and the mouths of tributaries.  Salmon are looking for a feed of smelts as they begin to congregate in preparation for their annual spawning runs.  Gray Ghosts, Black Ghosts, Mickey Fins, and a variety of other smelt imitation streamer patterns can be deadly this time of year.

Among of the Moosehead Region’s salmon waters to try this spring are Chesuncook Lake, Brassua Lake, Moosehead Lake and First Roach Pond.  There also are  good opportunities to catch landlocked salmon on some of our local river fisheries like the Roach River, Moose River, East and West outlets of the Kennebec River, and the West Branch of the Penobscot.

Many of the season’s largest brook trout are caught along the shore as water temperatures begin to increase.  Even the most novice angler can find brook trout that will take an assortment of flies, lures and bait.  Make sure to check the law book to determine which fishing gear is allowed on bodies of water you plan to fish.

Once we begin to see an increase in water temperatures and a decrease in stream and river flows, we will begin our annual spring stocking of legal-size brook trout.  These brook trout are stocked in easily accessible waters through the region to create “instant fishing” opportunities.  Many of these waters are stocked on more than one occasion to distribute the catch among anglers and to ensure fishing success longer into the season.

List of Spring stocked brook trout:

Bennett Pond, Parkman; Big Wood, Jackman; Doe Pond, Monson; Drummond Pond, Abbott (family fishing area); Fitzgerald Pond, Big Moose Township; Gravel Pit Pond, Little Moose Township (family fishing area); Hebron Lake, Monson; Kiwanis Park Pond (Dunham Brook), Dover-Foxcroft (restricted to anglers under 16); Moose River, Jackman; Parlin Pond, Parlin Pond Township; Piscataquis River, Dover-Foxcroft and Guilford; Power Trout Pond, Little Moose Township; Prong Pond, Beaver Cove Township; Sawyer Pond, Greenville; Shadow Pond, Little Moose Township; Shirley Pond, Shirley; Snow’s Pond, Dover-Foxcroft; Spectacle Ponds, Monson; West Outlet Kennebec River, Sapling; and Whetstone Pond, Blanchard Township.

Regional fisheries biologists rely heavily on voluntary information to evaluate the success of the region’s fisheries.  The number of waters biologists are able to sample in a season is very low when you begin to consider the number of waters managed by the Moosehead fisheries staff.  In the Moosehead Lake Region, three fisheries biologists are responsible for the management of 592 Great Ponds (greater than 10 acres) and 686 ponds less than 10 acres, along with 4,125 miles of stream habitat located in 125 townships in Piscataquis and Somerset Counties.   So providing voluntary catch information as a voluntary record-book keeper or by filling out survey cards at access sites is one of the most important contributions an angler can make to the Fishery Division’s fishery management program.

Information on where and when you fish, along with the number and sizes of fish you catch, provides the IF&W Fisheries Division with the information needed to help evaluate strategies such as stocking allocations and regulation changes. Since the bottom line of the success of any fishery is how well it provides to the rod and reel, this information is essential for making sound fishery management decisions.
 
The voluntary fishing record program has been one of our more successful endeavors and continues to provide useful data to state fisheries biologists.  Any Moosehead region angler interested in providing this information or knows of any other anglers who might be interested in maintaining a voluntary fishing record book and would like to become a member of this program, please have them contact me, Stephen Seeback, at 695-3756.

If you fish other regions of the state and would like to get involved in this program, please contact the regional office of the region you do most of your fishing activity.

- Stephen Seeback, Fisheries Biology Specialist, Greenville

January 15th, 2009

The ice fishing season is in full swing in the Moosehead Lake Region as the cold temperatures firm up the ice on the lakes and ponds in the area. While anglers must always take care while traveling on the ice, most areas up this way are safe with 12-16 inches of ice. The snowmobile trails in the Moosehead Lake to Jackman area are in great shape thanks to the cold temperatures and fresh snow.

Corey Hegarty of Sally Mountain Cabins in Jackman reports that the fishing on Big Wood Pond and Little Big Wood Pond has been terrific so far this winter. Anglers are catching nice colorful splake in the 16-17 inches range along with salmon mostly in the 14-16 inches range but with a few as big as 18 inches. It sounds like the smelts may be biting too for the anglers that know where to jig on Big Wood Pond. Corey reports that the cusk fishing on Little Big Wood Pond has been really good with one lucky angler getting a 9 % lb fish. That will make enough chowda' for the rest of the winter!

We checked a number of anglers on Moosehead Lake this weekend. The anglers in the Rockwood area were picking up a number of the smaller togue that are available for harvest. We also saw a few brook trout on the ice this weekend. January is typically the best month of the ice fishing season for catching brook trout. Folks are still just getting their ice shacks out and we anticipate the fishing activity to pick up over the next few weeks. Don't forget that the 2nd annual Moosehead Lake Togue Derby is scheduled for Jan 30-Feb 1. Be sure to pick up your tickets at Indian Hill Trading Post, Kineo Flies, Moosehead Bait and Tackle, Northwoods Outfitters, or the Chamber of Commerce's Visitor Center. Derby ticket sales end at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 31. There will be lots of great prizes including $1,500 for the best togue.

Some young anglers were taking advantage of the good weather to fish Drummond Pond in Abbot. This pond is open to fishing for children under the age of 16 in the winter months and is right on Rte. 15, so access is easy. We stocked this little gravel pit pond with fall yearling brook trout and a few retired broodstock brook trout this fall. There are also a few pickerel and perch in the pond which helps to keep the flags flying. We want to thank the local folks that keep the parking lot plowed so the kids can have a nice place to get out of the wind and fish. Attached is a photo of some very successful Guilford/Parkman anglers with a nice pickerel and brookie from this past Saturday. Nice catch!

May 12, 2008

This spring we used trapnets to capture and mark wild brook trout in Secret Pond, a 14-acre pond located in Greenville, to obtain data on the population dynamics and to evaluate the regulations on this small trout pond. Secret Pond has a special slot limit regulation where all trout less than 6 inches and longer than 12 inches must be released alive at once. This regulation is designed to bolster the number of brook trout greater than 12 inches to produce a better quality fishery.

From April 30 through May 8, we fished 2 trapnets in two different locations for a total 378 net hours. We applied a temporary upper caudal fin clip then we released 161 brook trout, which ranged from 5 to 16 inches. The brook trout averaged 11.3 inches in length and 8 ounces in weight.

The number of recaptured fish from the 10-day netting operation provided enabled us to estimate the abundance of the brook trout population in Secret Pond. The population estimate of brook trout was approximately 321, about 23 brook trout per acre. We plan to estimate harvest and use on Secret Pond this summer by counting anglers and relying on voluntary angler and voluntary box data.

To get a grasp on the relative success of the region's fisheries the Moosehead fisheries staff relies heavily on voluntary information. These records influence our management strategies such as including stocking and regulations. This information provides us with a general knowledge of the fishery and allows us to monitor various management plans and help determine their success. Your contributions as a voluntary record keeper or by filling out survey cards at access sites are a valuable asset to the Region's fisheries staff. So next time you use an access site that has a survey box, we encourage you to take the time to fill out a survey card. Also, if anyone is interested in becoming a Record Book Keeper don't hesitate to contact the Greenville Headquarters to obtain a Personal Fishing Record Book.

Annual spring stocking of legal- size brook trout is in full swing. Hatchery staff will be stocking these trout in easily accessible waters through out the region to create 'instant fishing'. These waters are stocked on more than one occasion during the spring to insure fishing success longer into the season. Some of these waters would provide no fishing without a stocking program. Region E waters that receive catchable trout in the spring include: Fitzgerald Pond, Big Moose Twp.; Whetstone Pond, Blanchard Twp.; Hebron Lake, Monson; Shadow Pond, Greenville; Shirley Pond, Shirley; Gravel Pit Pond, Little Moose Twp. (Family Fishing Area); Drummond Pond, Abbot; Power Trout Pond, Little Moose Twp.; Spectacle Ponds, Monson; Long Pond, Long Pond Twp.; Doe Pond, Monson; Sawyer Pond, Greenville; Bennett Pond, Parkman; Prong Pond, Greenville; Big Wood, Jackman; Parlin Pond, Parlin Pond Twp.; West Outlet Kennebec River, Sapling; and Piscataquis River, Dover-Foxcroft and Guilford.