What a weekend for noteworthy weather! Saturday gives us a rainstorm with 50-degree temperatures and Sunday gives us freezing rain, snow, and some wicked sub-zero wind chills. Kind of hard weather to fish in and definitely not the kind of weather that leads to safe ice conditions. Some ponds in southern Maine were reported to have lost as much as 4 inches of ice on Saturday only to regain about 2 inches by Monday. As ice melted from the rain and unseasonable temperatures, fishing holes opened up, shoreline ice eroded, and some areas lost ice cover altogether. The freezing action of the last few days has not been enough to ensure that places that were previously safe are safe once again. Please re-test the ice as you proceed to your favorite fishing hole and be very careful with sleds and ATVs.

Fishing this season seems to be variable and has very likely been affected by the weather. My winter creel census efforts seem to either produce a good number of interviews or none at all on each of my three ponds. During the first ten days of the season I observed a good number of 15-18 inch brown trout on the ice at Norway Lake in Norway as well as a handful of salmon in the same range. Successful anglers are using smelt for bait. One thieving salmon I checked had two bait smelts in her gut and one in her mouth! Hobbs Pond in Norway has produced more browns than Norway Lake, the biggest of which was over 3 pounds. The brown trout fishing at Twitchell Pond in Greenwood isn't exactly fast and furious but given the scarcity of anglers, I have seen a decent amount of success. This pond is one of those scenic types visited by people who wish to get away from the crowds and boy do they ever!

Biologist Jim Pellerin has also reported variable success from his census of three southern Maine waters. Kennebunk Pond in Lyman has produced brown trout in the 17-22 inch range as well as several brood brook trout of 3-4 pounds each. There are still roughly 20 brooders left to catch in Kennebunk Pond! A fair number of 12-14 inch stocked brookies are also showing up on the ice. Little Ossipee Lake in Waterboro is producing salmon 12-17 inches long as well as the occasional brood brookie or brown trout. Anglers at Deer Pond in Hollis have been catching stocked brook trout between 8 and 13 inches long. Successful anglers have been jigging with a worm tipped jig and setting traps baited with worms. For those of you targeting brookies and rainbow trout, consider switching your bait to worms and do some active jigging, success may well be your reward!

Regional Biologist Francis Brautigam reports moderate angler success by those targeting brook trout at the Clemons Ponds in Hiram and Sand Pond in Baldwin. The most noteworthy fish was a very nice 17-inch brookie caught at Little Clemmons that weighed about 2 1/2 pounds. Francis also reports good pike fishing on Sabattus Pond in Sabattus where he caught 10 pike in the 4-6 pound class over 2 days of fishing.

Fishing seems to be hit or miss depending on the day, so pick a nice day, get out there, and keep trying! Enjoy the fishing and your toys but remember, the weather we have had makes for tricky ice conditions. Be safe and have fun!

-Brian Lewis, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region B - Central Maine

Now that most of the improvements have been made to our hatcheries, a result from the Hatchery Bond passed a few years ago is that fishery biologists now have many more fish available for stocking which can improve the coldwater fisheries throughout the State. Many anglers would think this makes our job much easier, just stock more fish! Unfortunately, it is not that easy. For many species like salmon and lake trout, we must consider the environment where they will be stocked since those fish could be in the fishery for 3 to 10 or even more years. We need to consider how these “extra” fish will affect the other species in the water body especially the forage fish. To make more fish available for anglers while over populating a lake and possibly causing an unattractive fishery of stunted fish would not be good management.

There are a couple of areas where the improvements to the hatcheries will greatly benefit anglers. With additional space we can increase the number of rainbow trout stocked. We recently completed a study comparing rainbow trout to brown trout and brook trout, although the results are not yet completely analyzed, I believe there are waters where rainbow trout will provide better fishing opportunities. Another species to benefit will be lake whitefish, currently there is a small hatchery program to raise whitefish, and this program may now be expanded to provide more fish for the lingering lake whitefish fishery in Northern Maine.

Here in Central Maine the most noticeable change in our management strategy is stocking large fall yearling brook trout. These fish are stocked primarily to provide a better opportunity to the winter angler. This is the second year of this program and we are currently stocking approximately 55 waters with these 12-14 inch brook trout. Many of these waters we stock do not maintain water quality sufficient for these trout to survive through the summer. Therefore, our goal is for these fish to be caught during either the winter or early spring.

Our focus for this winter’s creel survey work is to evaluate the effectiveness of this program. We are surveying 10 lakes that were stocked with fall yearling brook trout, included are both large lakes and small ponds. The intent of these surveys is to determine the best use for these large, expensive trout. If you have had good fishing for brook trout this winter, please call the Sidney Regional office, we are very interested in hearing from you.

-Jim Lucas, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region C – Downeast

Extreme caution is the word for anglers who plan to fish Downeast waters this week. After last week’s warm, wet and windy weather, many larger lakes and ponds have opened back up and smaller ponds have lost significant ice. Colder weather this week will help, but angler’s need to continue to be wary until the Artic blasts of winter grip the region again.

For those hardy souls who just can’t stay away from their winter fishing habit, traveling to the smaller ponds is the way to go. At the beginning of last week most waters to the north and just south of Route 9 had 7 to 10 inches of ice and anglers were enjoying some nice catches of brook trout, splake and brown trout. Here are some good bets:

Brook Trout: Jellison Hill Pond – Amherst, Rainbow Pond – T 10 SD, Tilden Pond – T 10 SD, Vining Lake – Cooper, James Pond – Charlotte, Montegail Pond – T 19 MD, Halfmile Pond – Amherst, Keenes Lake - Calais

Splake: Fitts Pond – Clifton, Third & Second Lake Old Stream Ponds – T 37 MD, Lower Springy Pond – Otis, Hosea Pug – T 26 Ed, Jacob-Buck Pond – Bucksport.

Brown Trout: Round Pond – Charlotte, Pennamaquan Lake – Charlotte, Hancock Pond – Bucksport, Great Pond – Great Pond Plt

As always, good luck, have fun and be safe!

-Gregg Burr, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region D - Western Mountains

The weather could have been better over the holiday weekend. Despite last Saturday’s rain many people got out onto the ice. Conditions were wet and slippery with 2 to 3 inches of water on the ice. Most anglers found the fishing slow and difficult with water pouring down their fishing holes. Then on Sunday the temperature dropped from 50°F to 15°F very quickly. The water on the ice quickly froze up and was covered by a few inches of new snow. Traveling conditions on the ice were good, except for a few slushy spots. However, the wind made things less than pleasant and blew throughout the day. A few anglers made the best of it, but still had poor luck landing any gamefish. Monday, the holiday, was the same with a cold wind and slow fishing for the few that were out.

Overall, the winter fishing season seems to be off to a slow start. Fish seem to be biting good on one day and then poorly for the next three or four. Anglers should stick with it, as many of the fish harvested this winter have been of a high size quality. In our creel surveys this winter we have seen some nice fish, including 18” brook trout, 18½” salmon, 22” lake trout, and 19” smallmouth bass from Porter Lake in Strong. Anglers fishing Clearwater Pond in Industry have caught salmon between 14” and 16” long and a number of lake trout over 18” in length.

During the last week, anglers began to catch smelts at Clearwater Pond. Wyman Lake in Moscow also has been producing smelts since the beginning of the season. People should be aware that the daily bag limit regulations have changed. The amount of smelts that you can keep is still two quarts, but only five dozen of them may be kept alive. Any smelts taken over the sixty live limit must be killed at once to stay within the legal limit.

-Dave Howatt, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region E - Moosehead Region

Surfs up!!!!! As we headed into the third weekend of the 2006 ice fishing season, we are experiencing conditions that mimic the end rather than the beginning of winter. On Saturday, traveling conditions on lakes and trails were wet at best. Driving rains left 1 – 2 inches of standing water on ice surfaces, which made for very slippery conditions. However, we received reports from Moosehead Lake anglers and game wardens that ice thicknesses are 12-16 inches in shallower areas of the lake. Individuals traveling on the lake should avoid traveling over deeper basins and always be cautious and remember that lake conditions can change daily.

Anglers are reporting catching some nice salmon on Moosehead Lake, the Moosehead Fisheries staff emphasizes that it is unlawful to remove salmon from the water until February 15. The best way to release these fish without increasing handling stress is to cut the line as close to the eye of the hook as possible. Good handling practices and quick releases will reduce the number of fish being lost before the season opens.

Sebec Lake opened for business on Sunday. Sebec Lake is open January 15^th through March 15^th. Sebec Lake is a very popular winter fishery not only with locals but also with anglers throughout eastern and central Maine. Anglers for the most part exclusively target lake trout with an occasional landlocked salmon adding to the catch.

We would like to apologize to our Moosehead Lake Region Voluntary Record Book Keepers for not receiving their voluntary fishing record books as of yet. There have been some unforeseen circumstances regarding postage. Voluntary fishing books will be sent out A.S.A.P., once postage has been received.

-Stephen Seeback, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region F, Penobscot Region

The Region F fisheries staff will be conducting creel censuses on Cold Stream Pond (Enfield), Upper Jo Mary (TAR10 WELS) and Pleasant Lake (Island Falls) during the 2006 ice fishing season.

Again this year, anglers on Cold Stream were pleasantly surprised opening weekend by the abundance of brook trout caught. Since access was very limited in the lower basin due to the lack of ice, the upper basin of the lake saw the bulk of the fishing pressure. The majority of fish caught by anglers on Cold Stream were recently stocked fall yearling brook trout.

In spite of the downpours on Saturday and the cold icy weather, anglers that were out found some pretty good fishing. Anglers checked on Upper-Jo Mary found slow fishing but there were several brook trout in the 12" to 14 " range along with a few 14" to 18" salmon caught. Pleasant Lake the anglers found better fishing. Although fishing was slow, there were some nice brook trout 13" to 15 " and up to 2.5 lbs range, along with a couple 18" to 21 " salmon with the heaviest weighing 3 lbs. The best of the waters checked by regional staff was Cold Stream Pond. Several nice lake trout were observed in the 18" to 24" range and weighing up to 4.5 lbs. The largest salmon observed was around 23" weighing in at a little over 5 lbs.. Brook trout observed were between 14" to 18" and they certainly were nice colorful fish.

We have had reports this past weekend of some pretty good fishing throughout the region, including brook trout fishing on West Lake, Duck Lake, Middle Ox Head Pond, and Lower Togue Pond. We received reports of several nice landlocked salmon being caught on Pleasant Lake (Kossuth), Scraggly Lake (T7R8 WELS), Deering Lake, East Grand, Seboeis Lake and East Musquash. A few lake trout are being reported from Schoodic Lake, Pemadumcook, East Musquash and Millinocket Lake. Splake fishing has been reported as good on Endless Lake, Seboeis Lake and Cedar Lake. Schoodic Lake is also producing a great hook and line fishery for smelts.

Due to last weekend’s rains and the freezing of standing water on the ice, anyone going on to the ice needs to use extreme caution, especially when traveling near outlets, any inlet, around points of land and islands. The light covering of snow on the ice gives a false impression that the ice is safe. Use extreme caution when going on any ice covered body of water.

Make sure you get out and enjoy all that Maine has to offer and remember you ice creepers!

-Brian Campbell, Fishery Biology Specialist

Region G – Aroostook County

Weekend checks of anglers on area lakes found that the wet conditions brought upon the lakes from the rain on Saturday had created pockets of water on northern Aroostook lakes on Sunday but by Monday these areas had frozen and travel conditions were fairly good. In southern Aroostook, the lakes are pretty much glare ice. The extensive rain has made it difficult to travel on the snowsled trails because of standing water and sledders should use caution in trying to get to any lake that requires extensive travel on overland trails. Several sledders this weekend were stuck in standing water and needed to be pulled out. The rain scheduled for mid-week will add to these problems. Anglers venturing in the back country on the system of private woods roads should likewise be warned of problems due to frozen culverts and water holes from poor drainage. Ice build-up on the under carriage of trucks and sleds may be a real problem until these trouble areas can be remedied. In short, visitors should be wary of travel conditions, whether via vehicle or snowsled, before venturing to remote areas.

Anglers fishing Long Lake had to contend with strong winds and cold temperatures on Sunday and Monday. This kept the numbers down and made tending outside traps miserable. Adding to this discomfort was the fact that the fish were not cooperating and fishing was considerably slower than in past years. The heavy rain on Saturday created murky water conditions in areas of the lake adjacent to tributaries. The first salmon that we measured on Long Lake, however, was a big hook-jawed male that tripped the scales at 7 pounds 9 ounces. With the Long Lake derby scheduled for this weekend, we would especially take this opportunity to encourage all ice anglers to please cut the lines on all fish released without bringing the fish out of the hole. Practicing this means of releasing fish will reduce hooking mortality.

-David Basley, Regional Fishery Biologist