Mark Latti
Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
mark.latti@maine.gov
207-287-6008
pager 818-9617
fax 207-287-6395
284 State Street
41 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333
For Immediate Release
January 31, 2006
January 31, 2006 Ice Fishing Report
Region A- Southwestern Maine
Ice conditions have not changed much on small to medium sized ponds in
Cumberland and Oxford counties. However, the ice in York County is
highly
variable and on some waters like Little Ossipee, conditions have
deteriorated. Areas of open water and thin ice offer highly variable
conditions on the larger, deeper lakes in the Region. Still, there is
no
significant ice anywhere on Sebago Lake.
Angler activity increased last week, particularly over the balmy
weekend.
In addition to the unseasonably nice weather the fish were also biting
well.
Jim Pellerin observed a good mix of fish being caught on Kennebunk Pond
(Lyman), including a 5 pound largemouth, as well as rainbows, browns,
and
brook trout in the 12 to 17 inch size range. Jim had also heard
reports of
larger rainbows being caught.
I recently spoke with an experienced York County angler who has been
very
successful catching rainbows during the winter months, and for the most
part
he doesn't use tip-ups; using a jig rod he fishes small jigs in shallow
water (< 10 feet). This method has produced consistent action for
rainbows
during late winter. During our rainbow study we have observed much
lower
winter catch rates on rainbows than during the open water fishing
season.
We believe this difference is a strong reflection of angling technique
and a
strong tradition of fishing with tip-ups, and the notion that larger
bait
produces larger fish, a combination that doesn't necessarily favor
angling
success when targeting rainbow trout. Based on our study results to
date,
rainbows have a strong preference for insects over fish, so think small
when
fishing for rainbows.
Deer Pond in Hollis was also producing well over the weekend, with one
angler group landing 6 legal size brook trout in one hour. This water
is
stocked with brook trout and some browns, and offers good fishing
throughout
the winter.
Variable ice conditions has not discouraged fishing on Little Ossipee
Lake,
where we continue to get positive reports from salmon anglers. We also
received our first report of a 6-pound brown trout being caught. This
fish
is likely one of 50 hatchery brood that were "retired" to Little
Ossipee
Lake.
Sunday I fished Tacoma Lakes (Litchfield) for black crappie and
experienced
consistent action for the better part of 3 hours. However, my trip
would
not have been nearly as productive if I had not been jigging with small
(1/2
- 2 inch) jigs. There were times when the tip-ups worked well, but
when
flags weren't going up, you could still maintain good catch rates by
working
a jig. Sometimes the crappie would hit high in the water column, other
times they wanted to pick it off the bottom. subtle jigging motions
were
more productive than aggressive jigging ( and this is usually the
case).
Usually, early morning and late afternoon are the best times to target
crappies. Crappies are excellent eating (in fact I'm having some for
lunch)
and occur in many area waters, including most of the ponds in the
Newfield
area, Mousam Lake (Acton), Little Ossipee Lake (Waterboro), Lake
Arrowhead
(Waterboro), Sebago Lake, and Virginia Lake (Stoneham) to name a few.
-Francis Brautigam, Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region B - Central Maine
As has been the situation for most of this winter, ice conditions
around the region remain variable. Caution is still the byword. On
some of
the waters I've been on, there has been as much as a foot of difference
in
ice thickness in different parts of a lake. We've had reports of
several
close calls recently, and one of an angler going through the ice at
Three
Mile Pond. Be extra careful about inlet and outlet areas, narrows,
weed
beds, rocky areas and structures like bridges. All have the potential
to
have reduced ice depths or deformed ice.
Despite what might be called varying success, anglers in Region B
haven't 'thrown in the towel'. It appears that most are willing to
spend
whatever time is necessary to catch that lunker, or even one or two
small
ones. Most of the lakes and ponds in the area seem to have at least
one
angler trying his or her luck. The weather forecasters are calling for
'reasonable' winter conditions for the rest of the week with continued
snow
flurries. Some have predicted another bout of rain for the weekend,
but we
all know how changeable Maine weather is.
Lately, I've seen some nice brookies and splake from Minnehonk Lake.
I will admit that I haven't seen as many as I would have liked, but the
fish
were all in really good condition. The same goes for the salmon and
brook
trout at Parker Pond. The regulations on Parker have returned to a
January
only, 2-trap season, so by the time you read this, the season there
will be
history, but this information bodes well for the spring.
One young angler started his season off in a way he'll remember for
the rest of his life. Seven year-old Gerald Winslow was fishing with
his
mom, dad, brother and other family members out on Maranacook Lake on
opening
day. To everyone's delight, he hooked a big one. With some assistance
from
the adults, he iced a 38-inch, 17-pound togue! Great work Gerald! I
can
only imagine how happy is about that. Must have taken a few days
before he
lost his grin over it.
Now, I know of certain other anglers who have fished Maranacook hard
for a
long time in search of just a fish like Gerald caught. They will, no
doubt,
continue that search with renewed vigor. In the past there were some
decent
togue taken from the lake. No doubt there are more where Gerald's fish
came
from.
I have worked with two school groups over the past month. I spoke to
the
Mt. Vernon 2nd grade class in early January as part of their 'Fishing
for
water quality' project. On the 12th, kids, teachers and parents met
for a
morning on the ice at Flying Pond. While ice conditions were less
than
stellar, with about an inch of slushy and water over the hard stuff. We
managed to ice several yellow perch and two pickerel in the span of a
little
over two hours. Even though the fishing was a tad slow, it was a
beautiful
morning and all had a good time, with quite a bit of hot chocolate and
muffins being consumed.
I also spoke to the Whitefield 4th graders about fish and other topics
concerning the aquatic world. They have a terrific project going on
where
they have hatched out brook trout eggs and are rearing sac fry to
fingerlings. They are going to analyze the water quality and
conditions in
a local brook. By doing this, they'll know when the fish can be
stocked
there. I promised to go with them when the big day arrives.
-Robert Van-Riper, Fisheries Biologist Specialist
Region C - Downeast
2006 will long be remembered as the year the January thaw lasted almost
the
whole month of January! Even the old-timers remark that they have never
seen
a year with so many days of above-freezing temperatures and as many
rainy
spells that have taken a toll on lake and pond ice, creating numerous
areas
of open water and treacherous ice conditions. As we approach February,
anglers must use extreme caution if they travel and fish on the ice.
West Grand Lake opens to fishing this week on February 1. Warden
Brad Richard of Princeton reports that high flow discharges at the dam
have
created enough current that there is open water far above the dam with
no
ice along the shores. Normally, anglers have traveled up the lake along
the
icy shores above the dam, but alternative areas to access will be
required
this winter. Pressure ridges have formed, representing another danger
area.
Based on our sampling last fall, the outlook for salmon is good, with
fish
in some of the best condition observed in the past 30 years.
Togue are biting well at many of our lakes. Give togue fishing a
try; you may like the action and the size of your catch. Although often
caught on bait and tipups, togue catchability improves if you jig for
them.
Proven producers are leadfish, Swedish pimples, chartreuse Weeping
Willows,
and airplane jigs, all commonly tipped with a piece of cut bait. Most
anglers prefer fishing from 25'-60' depths, although togue are
sometimes
caught in just a few feet of water. Lakes that are producing good
catches of
togue this winter are Beech Hill Pond in Otis, Phillips Lake in Dedham,
Green Lake in Dedham, and look for West Grand's togue to provide lots
of
action for fish from 18-23".
Judging by angler reports and by our fall trapnetting, the smelt egg
transfers carried out by our staff have quickly improved smelt
populations
in lakes like Beech Hill Pond, Phillips Lake, Tunk Lake, and Alligator
Lake.
When we determine that a lake's smelt population has seriously
decreased, as
happens naturally from time to time, we respond by moving millions of
smelt
eggs into that lake for 1-2 years. The results are normally very
positive in
drastically improving numbers of smelt, and within 1-2 years anglers
and
biologists note improved growth of salmon and/or togue. Smelt transfers
have
been one of our most important and effective fisheries management
tools.
-Rick Jordan, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region D - Western Mountains
The sterling weather seemed to nudge lots of folks out of the house and
onto
the ice last weekend. Business was brisk on all four waters we
surveyed, and
our "drive-by" observations showed the same on many smaller ponds in
southern Franklin County. Unfortunately, fishing success wasn't as good
as
the weather. Action was generally slow during both days, but a few
anglers
scored at Webb Lake (brown trout), Porter Lake and Clearwater Lake
(togue
and brookies), and Wilson Lake (brookies, salmon and white perch). At
Wilson
Lake, Ashley Miller of Wilton iced a great brook trout measuring 18
inches,
while the rest her family contributed a few pickerel to the chowder
pot.
Last week Casey Jackson from the University of Maine provided us with
an
excellent summary of her recent work on the Rapid River. At our
request,
Casey radio-tagged about 75 young brook trout, landlocked salmon, and
smallmouth bass, then tracked these fish throughout the summer and
early
fall. This project was designed to complement similar work completed by
FPL
Energy biologists for adult fish of the same species. Both studies were
part
of a long-term commitment to better understand how and where these fish
interact with each other. We hope to use this information to protect
the
Rapid's wild brookies, which are threatened by the recent colonization
of
bass from downstream Umbagog Lake. Casey's work will likely be
published in
the scientific literature, and we'll make sure the results are
available for
anglers as well. Stay tuned.
-Dave Boucher, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region E - Moosehead Region
This week I'm able to bring you some first hand fishing information
from a
few of the lakes in the Moosehead Region. Cooler temperatures last
week and
a bit of snow on the ice surface allowed us to safely travel around the
lakes without risk of burning up the sliders on our snowmobiles.
Unlike the
last couple of weekends when traveling conditions were questionable,
this
weekend we were able to check large portions of Moosehead Lake,
Chesuncook
Lake, and Sebec Lake.
On Saturday and Sunday our staff encountered many parties fishing on
Moosehead Lake. Although many anglers had fished earlier in January,
we
encountered several that were just putting out ice shacks or fishing
for the
first time due to the uncertainty of the ice conditions. We found
anglers
successful in catching lake trout in the 14 -18 inch range and we
collected
lengths, weights, and stomachs from many of these fish. Steve Seeback
and
Albert Hall traveled to Chesuncook on Sunday. They reported that use
at
Chesuncook was very low as they only encountered seven parties on the
lower
part of the lake. The word from Sebec is that there were many anglers
out
and they were catching some nice lake trout and a few salmon are
showing up
as well.
A few notable fish were observed on the ice this past weekend. While
checking Chesuncook Lake, the guys measured a large lake trout weighing
12 ½
lbs. This fish was a "leftover" from a stocking in the early 90's.
On
Sunday we observed several nice brook trout on Moosehead Lake. One of
the
trout was a 5 ½ lbs. brook trout that we collected and radio tagged
last
fall. The trout was caught by Ken Snowden of Greenville, Maine. We
were
fortunate enough to get the radio tag back and the trout is headed to
the
taxidermist.
There are two waters in the Moosehead Region that open this week.
Lobster
Lake and Allagash Lake are open for the month of February. If the
fishing
at Lobster holds true to form anglers can expect slow fishing but stand
a
chance of catching a nice salmon or lake trout. Allagash Lake can
produce
some good fishing for brook trout and lake trout for anglers heading
into
the Allagash Waterway.
-Jeff Bagley, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region F, Penobscot Region
Ice fishing activity in the region is still significantly restricted
by poor ice conditions. There have been several reports of open water
on
area lakes normally frozen solid during this time of year. The average
temperature in the Bangor area has been 8° above normal for the month
of
January. Rainfall has been 1 1/2" above normal for the month and
snowfall
has been about 10" below normal since December 1, 2005.
Pleasant Pond in Island Falls has had decent ice conditions and has
supported a good, consistent fishery for nice salmon and brook trout
for
most of the season. Ice conditions on East Grand Lake have been
marginal
during the first part of the month but the lake was in good shape for
snowmobile travel during the annual ice fishing derby held in that area
this
past weekend. Several area lakes are included in the derby and some of
the
winning fish were taken from those lakes. The largest salmon, 23" 4lb.
5oz., and 20" 2 lb. 14 oz., were caught in Deering Lake and the third
place
salmon, a 20" fish, was taken from nearby Brackett Lake. Brackett also
produced the two largest brook trout, 2 lb. 7 oz. and 2 lb. 4 oz. East
grand was close behind with 2 pound brookies. East Grand also produced
the
largest lake trout and cusk entered in the derby. The largest lake
trout
were 32" 10 lb. 3 oz. and 29" 9 lb. 3 oz. fish and the cusk were 10 lb.
and
9 lb. 12 oz. fish.
Schoodic Lake is mostly unsafe for travel on the ice but in areas where
anglers are able to fish, they have reported good catches of lake trout
and
brook trout. The large basin of Cold Stream Pond still has some open
water
and angling activity is mostly restricted to the upper basin and close
to
shore elsewhere. Angler success has been highly variable with some
reporting good catches and others reporting very slow fishing. As it
has
been all season, anglers must use extreme caution when venturing out
onto
the ice.
-Mike Smith, Regional Fisheries Biologist
Region G - Aroostook County
Fishing pressure on back country lakes remains slow through this past
weekend. This may be the result of high gas prices, concern on travel
conditions both on the ice and woods roads, and perhaps fear of thin
ice.
The lakes we have checked this winter i.e. Clear and the Musquacooks,
Long
Lake in the Fish River Chain and lakes in the Houlton area have safe
ice
conditions. Naturally, anglers should give wide berth to inlets and
the
outlet where thin ice may be an issue because of high flows in streams.
The
main bodies of the lakes where we have checked, however, are in good
shape
for fishing.
Road crews for the land management companies have done an admirable job
rehabilitating the roads to move wood products. Water holes have been
drained, and although rough in places, the travel is fairly good.
Travelers
should drive prudently on these back country roads looking out for
rough
spots and remembering that trucks moving wood products have the right
of
way. The weekends that I have traveled to back country destinations, I
have
been concerned on the number of beer cans that seem to be littering the
roadway. Drinking and driving on these icy snow covered roads is an
accident waiting to happen. It is a privilege to be able to use these
roads, please refrain from this abuse, it may save your life.
A few 3 lb. togue were checked on the Musquacook Lakes this weekend.
Staff
is busy filling out three One That Didn't Get Away Club cards this
Monday
morning. One of the lucky anglers may have landed a new world ice
fishing
record landing a 30 inch landlocked on Long Lake that tipped the scales
at
one local market at 12lb 14oz. It will be necessary for the angler to
submit the proper information to the National Fishing Hall of Fame for
their
verification but pending no irregularities, this salmon will dethrone
the
present world ice fishing record of 12 lbs. for a landlocked salmon
caught
on a tip-up. That world record salmon, by the way, was also taken at
Long
Lake in 1990.
To grow to such prodigous proportion, these salmon require a healthy
population of smelts for forage. Just last week the legislative Fish
and
Wildlife Committee entertained a bill to allow the dipping of smelts
from
tributaries to Long Lake located in T17R3 WELS. These tributaries
support
some of the most prolific runs of smelt to drive the forage base at
Long
Lake. We would encourage anglers to contact members of the Fish and
Wildlife Committee to make their feelings known on this bill. Being
only
6000 acres and to provide a fishery with salmon of this maginitude
during
the ice and open water seasons is truly amazing.
Long Lake 2 006
Long Lake 2006 8lb 12oz
-David Basley, Regional Fisheries Biologist
From the Maine Warden Service...The Colonel's Tip
For those of you new to ice fishing - ever wonder how to set your ice
fishing traps with the correct amount of line? Once you measure out how
deep
you want to set your bait, attach an old plastic button to the line by
sliding the line through the button holes before you tie on your hook.
Then
after you catch a fish or rebait you simply reset your line to where
the
button is. The button slides easily should you want to adjust bait
depth.
-Colonel Tom Santaguida, Maine Warden Service
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