Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

May 5, 2008 

“Why does it always have to rain on the weekends?” That was the comment we received from many of the bait and tackle shops we contacted for this report. These people all said that the rain and cold not only cut down on the amount of anglers out, but also dropped water temperatures enough to shut off some of the fishing. But this week’s forecast of warmth and sunlight has many of these same people very positive about their predictions from trout and bass, to flounders and stripers.   
   
“There’s two distinct groups of fresh-run stripers that come into our shores and rivers each spring and one group has finally started to get a lot of attention, both for the size of the fish and the quantity,” reports Mike Ferry at Kittery Trading Post’s fishing department.
   
“The small schoolie-sized fish have always been an attraction, especially for fly fishermen because they are feeding on small baitfish that fly fishermen can easily imitate. The second group is comprised of much larger fish that are keyed in on herring, most notably alewives and blue-backed river herring. These baitfish can be as long as a foot and often weigh over a quarter pound. They are striper-candy to fish from six pounders to ‘oh-my-gosh’ sized female stripers.”
   
“The herring runs started last week in some of New Hampshire’s rivers, notably the Cocheco River in Dover. In Massachusetts, herring have been noted in the mouth of the Merrimack River and are in a lot of the rivers south of there. Maine’s river herring are sure to be in rivers from the Salmon Falls River (a border river shared with New Hampshire) and moving into rivers north of there as the season progresses). The big stripers will no doubt be on their tails within a few days and may be as we speak.”
   
Mike says that no doubt about it, best bait is a live or chunk alewife or river herring, but these fish when on the blitz are apt to hit baits that imitate the herring. Surface poppers can provide some spectacular hits as well as swimming plugs, rubber shad lures and bucktail jigs. Fly fishermen have to go big and flashy to get these big fish’s attention.
   
“On some days, it’s easy to catch alewives or river herring and on days when they are in a panic-survival mode, they will not hit a lure. Tiny jigs in the 1/32-ounce size will work as well as the Sabiki-types of bait rigs. Some anglers swear by just fishing the bait rig slowly while some of the jig users will aggressively pump their rods.”
   
“A live bait pen is ideal for keeping your herring alive but some fishermen also find using a stringer for their bait will work, making sure to hook the fish by the hard mouth plates and not the soft tissue. Some fishermen just catch the live bait as needed, but that’s taking a chance that the bait will be too scattered and in a panic when you need one the most.”
   
“Cast nets and gill nets are another way to gather alewives and herring, but most states have regulations regarding this method. In freshwater angling in Maine, keeping live fish on a stringer is not allowed. Massachusetts had a moratorium on catching herring in 2007 and chances are that will be carried over in 2008. New Hampshire’s rules prohibit taking of alewives and river herring on Wednesdays and do have a special inland netting permitting process. So it’s important to know what you’re doing before you do it!”
   
“Hotspots for getting a big striper during the herring runs include the waters below the Rock Dam in Lawrence, Massachusetts, all the tributaries of New Hampshire’s Great Bay where the water below the head-of-tide dams seem to be the best bet. Most of Maine’s coastal rivers below the head of tide dams will hold fish, with the Saco River being one of the best bets.”
   
“Medium to heavy spinning gear is ideal for this type of fishing with reels with the bait runner system being a big plus. If you’re fishing from shore, a rod of eight feet or longer can give you much better control. When boat fishing, long rods are not that important and actually can be a deterrent to good fishing.”
           
“Line sizes from twelve to twenty pounds will work. Shore fishermen should tend towards the more heavy lines as they have more chances of dealing with line cutting structure and bringing a large fish ashore.”
   
“Lure casters should try to use sizes that approximate the size of the baitfish present. Watch for surface action and cast to the feeding fish.”
   
Ferry says that the appropriate sized circle hooks when bait fishing are very important to the harmless release of stripers not kept. “The right size depends on the size of the live or chunk bait you’re using. It’s smart to ask before you purchase hooks.”
   
Maine: In the Sebago Lake Region, the word is great salmon fishing. Carroll Cutting at Jordan’s Store in East Sebago was actually weighing-in a fish as we talked to him. His store collects weights and scale samples for the regional biologist’s information. We had a chance to chat with Lee Hamlin of Porter, whose salmon was on the scales that just noted five pounds on the button. The fish was a long one, 26.5 inches.
   
“You know Bill Day?” Lee asked me. “Yup, kind of,” we answered as we’ve only talked to Bill on the phone when he was at Cutting’s store. Lee and Bill are fishing buddies and between them they caught over 300 landlocks last year from Sebago Lake!
   
“Wadya catchem on, Lee?” “Just a smelt,” he answered in a typical Mainer modest answer.
   
Cutting said that they had weighed quite a few salmon in the five to seven pound range. Most of the fish are being caught at the mouth of the Songo River and are now also being caught over at some of the sandbars where smelt are gathering.
   
“The salmon should start this week to move over here on the northwestern shore of the lake. There’s three smelt brooks that should be having smelt runs this week and the fish will congregate off the mouth of these brooks and out on the sandbars.”
   
Cutting also told us that he’d talked to one angler that had fished Trickey Pond in Naples and had caught three splake and two smallmouths. He also noted that one of his regular fishermen had been fly casting from shore at the Muddy River (Sebago Lake tributary) and had landed a really nice salmon and had hooked another one.
   
At Naples Bait on Long Lake in the Sebago Lake Region, Dave Garcia was complaining that his turkey hunting season had lasted only 15 minutes. Even though he’d shot a 20 pounder that had a ten-inch beard, he thought he was cheated because he loves to go so much.
   
“This is the week to be on Sebago Lake,” Dave enthused. “There’s going to be a record number of record-sized salmon caught. Streamer flies and sewed-on smelt are what are working. The fish are right in tight to the shore and the bars. Along with the salmon, we’ve seen some great togue (lake trout), fish in the 10 to 12 pound range. They are mixed right in with the salmon.”
   
We asked Dave how the fishing was on Long Lake. “Nobody is fishing here yet with the fishing so fantastic at Sebago. It’s also been good at the Songo Locks as there’s quite a few salmon coming in from the lake and the state has stocked some quality brook trout there.
   
“Our rivers have been extremely high here but they are dropping fast. In the next couple of weeks we should see some excellent river fishing and the state’s stocking program will be in full swing.”
   
Dave had fished a bass tourney over the weekend at Norway Lake. “The bite was very slow. We were all working on largemouths and the only way I could catch a couple was to throw big black spinner baits with a thumper blade. The water temperatures had dropped with the rain and shut them off.”
   
Dan Legere at the Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville emailed us this good news: “I haven't heard from an official source yet, but it's very hard to find any ice left in Moosehead Lake. The smelt were just starting to show-up in a few streams when it turned cold again. The next warm spell we have will kick-off the runs.”
           
“Smelt primarily gather in three areas on Moosehead. North Inlet at Lily Bay, the mouth of the Roach River where it enters Spencer Bay, and the mouth of the Moose River in Rockwood.”
           
“At First Roach Pond, the smelt don't enter any stream, opting to spawn along the huge gravel bar on the south end of the pond. Lakers and salmon prowl the gravel bar especially at dawn and dusk while the smelt are present. Every spring some whoppers are boated here. For a small fee, South Inlet Campground allows boats to launch right at the gravel bar.”
           
“For fast landlock action, Chesuncook Lake, off the Golden Road, is the place to be. In particular Caribou Lake, which is connected to Chesuncook Lake, where Ragged Stream enters. There is a tremendous smelt run in the stream and a great gathering of wild landlocked salmon, no stocked fish here. You'll find a gravel launch on the Golden Road a short distance from the mouth of Ragged Stream.”
           
“Find a stream entering any lake where the smelt gather to spawn and you'll find game fish gathered for a banquet of baitfish as well,” Dan ended.
          
Scott Davis, Fisheries Specialist in the Region B-Sidney office sent us this message regarding the Shawmut Tailrace: “At one time the tail water below Shawmut Dam on the Kennebec River was one of the most popular brown trout fisheries in the state. It was not that long ago when one could count 20 or more anglers during any summer evening downstream of the Shawmut Dam.”

“The tailrace area is easily accessible for wading anglers from both the Benton and Shawmut sides of the river. Two boat launches provide access to this portion of the river. One is located in downtown Fairfield in front of the Community Center. The other boat access site is an unimproved launch located in Shawmut just below the dam.”
   
“The popularity of the fishery grew out of an initial planting of brown trout in 1983. The intent of that stocking was to initiate and maintain a fishery for larger, older-aged brown trout, thus allowing the brown trout angler an opportunity to do battle with a big fish. In the years that followed, the river met those objectives. The browns flourished and some grew to several pounds.”

“At any one time there might be three- to five-year classes of fish living in the reach. Word spread through out the angling community and Shawmut gained its reputation as a quality fishery.”

“Prior to 2001, it was not uncommon to see many large brown trout sipping on the surface of the river, as mayfly or caddis hatches emerged from the bottom of the river.  The evening light triggered the feeding activity, and darkness would only intensify a feeding frenzy on the surface. Many anglers would leave the river prior to nightfall, but those who fished into the wee hours were sometimes rewarded when large brown trout took their fly.” 

“What has happened to this well-known brown trout fishery since then?  Some recent history will tell the story.” 

“In 1992, the Kennebec Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited requested a permit from the Department to stock the Shawmut tail water with spring yearling rainbow trout. The primary reason for stocking rainbow trout was to enhance the fishery and give anglers the opportunity to catch another salmonid that would not be as difficult to catch as the brown trout.  The Department approved the permit and the TU chapter purchased 1,000 rainbow trout from a private hatchery and planted them below the dam in 1992.  In 1995, the stocking of rainbow trout was increased to 2,000 to equal the number of brown trout being stocked.”

“The genetic strain of rainbow trout that were utilized from 1992 to 2000 didn’t perform well. In short, they didn’t show the potential to produce a significant recreational fishery compared to the brown trout in terms of both size and catch rate. Also, the rainbows did not show much of an ability to survive into their second year after stocking.”

“In 2001, the Department took over the rainbow trout stocking program with a different strain of rainbows called the Eagle Lake strain.  This new strain would be utilized in an experimental performance comparison between rainbow trout and brown trout. Results from this report were compiled in Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout Field Comparisons by James Pellerin, (Fisheries Final Report: Series No. 07-1). Other data has been obtained from voluntary angler booklets.”        

“Longevity characteristics observed in voluntary angler data indicate that the Eagle Lake rainbow trout utilized in the study show better long-term survival (called ‘hold-over’) than did the private source strain. However, neither strain of rainbow held over as well as the brown trout.  The rainbows did not contribute many large fish to the Shawmut fishery.”

“From 1993 to 2000, prior to the MDIF&W stocking of rainbow trout, rainbows made up 27 percent of the total salmonid catch, compared to browns at 73 percent. In terms of larger fish (16 inches or greater), only 16 percent of the total rainbow trout caught exceeded 16 inches versus 41 percent of all brown trout caught.”

“From 2001 to the present, the brown trout fishery has significantly decreased, with smaller and less brown trout being caught than in previous years. During the same time period and after the Department started stocking rainbow trout, rainbows made up 61 percent of the total salmonid catch whereas brown trout made up 39 percent.”

“Composition of the catch also has changed significantly. In the years prior to 2001, voluntary angler data shows the bulk of the catch was made up of brown trout.  To view the changes, please view this fishing report on the Web site at www.maine.gov/ifw.”

“Essentially, we have lost a good proportion of our larger and older salmonids at Shawmut, both rainbows and browns.  The loss in size quality in the brown trout fishery has been particularly striking. This decline in the brown trout fishery has generated some concerns regarding future management strategies at Shawmut.”

“The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has a policy of considering public comment on significant management proposals.  As such, interested citizens and anglers are being asked to consider the following:
• Are anglers satisfied at the present time with the fisheries at Shawmut?
• Should MDIF&W take steps to restore the fishery to its pre-2001 condition?
• What management strategies do you think the MDIF&W should take to manage this fishery?”    

“A public meeting to discuss potential management strategies for Shawmut was held on Wednesday, April 30 at the IF&W Sidney office at 270 Lyons Road in Sidney. Your comments and concerns are welcome and can be e-mailed to Scott.Davis@Maine.gov and Robert.Vanriper@Maine.gov or mailed to the address above.”

In coastal Maine, Peter at Saco Bay Tackle reports that although there’s been a few holdover stripers being caught in the Scarborough Marsh, he hadn’t had any evidence of new fish yet in the Saco River or thereabouts. “We do have some shad, from what we heard and probably have herring, but there’s so much water running that it’s hard to tell. Some of the offshore party boats have had some great luck, especially Timmy Tower’s Bunny Clark. They already have landed two codfish over 40 pounds and are also doing well on the haddock.
   
New Hampshire: Kyle Walsh at Suds-n-Soda Sports in Greenland reported that he’d fished the Lamprey River tidal area in Newmarket and it appeared that there were quite a few alewives there. No stripers had been taken. “We’ve heard of a couple of stripers taken in Dover (Cocheco River) but we haven’t been able to confirm that. We do know that there’s a good run of alewives there.”
   
“They are picking away at a few flounder from the shore and jetties but it hasn’t been that steady. We get a lot of flounder fishermen in here but not too many of them give with much information.”
   
“The huge codfish that move inshore could come any time now. For the last few years there’s been more and more people who have found these fish and now it’s easy to locate because of the fleet of boats.”
   
Trout fishing has been quite good. There was a kid’s derby at the Exeter Reservoir last weekend with some really nice rainbows stocked there. We’ve had some people come in here that have fished it this morning, showing us trout close to two pounds. Also, the Winnicut River has been pretty steady with very pretty brook trout. Some of the other streams and rivers have come up too high for good fishing.”
   
“Great fishing, lousy weather,” were Alan Nute’s first comments when we phoned him at his AJ’s Bait and Tackle Shop in Meredith at Lake Winnipesaukee. “This week the salmon turned on to lures and anything that was predominately white was a good choice. Top Guns, Mini Guns, DB Smelt, Guide’s Specials – all were working well.”
   
“The water temperatures really dropped this weekend with the rain and cold. This morning was 41 degrees while last week had climbed into the 50’s. It was enough so the bass moved back out from where they had been in close to the shoreline.”
   
“The salmon have been sticking together in size groups, it seems. One day you’re apt to get into fish that are three to close to four pounds, while that same spot the next day may produce fish in the 14 to 16 inch size and no larger ones.”
   
“The salmon fishing has been so good that we haven’t talked to anyone that has targeted the lakers, and we know they are there and there are plenty of them. The only lakers that have been caught have been caught by salmon fishermen.”
   
“This week the salmon fishing should shift to the northern end of the lake – Center Harbor, here in Meredith Bay, Paugus Bay. And anyone looking for rainbow trout should concentrate on brook mouths or even up into the brooks. The sucker runs are on big-time and the rainbows are right with them feeding on the sucker eggs. We’ve seen some real quality rainbows up to over three pounds caught right here at the inlet at Meredith Bay. Night crawlers are working for them.”
   
“This should be the week for the white perch run to start over at Melvin Village. There will be some huge fish and lots of people after them,” he ended.
   
Paul Garland at Hot Spot Outfitters in New Durham says that crappie and panfishermen should be on the lookout this week for some good fishing. “We’ve got so many good crappie ponds in this area that there are too many to mention, but there’s some easy ones to fish, including Great East Lake, Horn Pond, Milton Three Ponds and Balch Pond, all border ponds with Maine.”
   
“Great East is a great resource. Much like Lake Winnipesaukee, it has a mixture of good trout fishing, including lake trout, browns and rainbows and plenty of bass and crappie. Fish the shorelines right now for the trout, deeper for the lakers and in the back bays for crappie, which should be starting to bunch up as the water temperatures rise this week. Both Great East and nearby Horn Pond have excellent State of Maine boat ramps but you can launch and fish these border ponds with a license from either state.”
   
Bill Martel at Storey’s Sport Shop in Laconia says that the white perch had invaded the Winnipesaukee River at the shop last week but now the water temps had shut them down. “We did have some catches of huge white perch last week and one angler landed a four pound smallmouth right from our docks. There’s a few salmon and rainbows being caught in the river but it has slowed a bit. Smelt runs should be really turning the fish on this week here on Lake Winnisquam.”
   
“One fisherman was in here this morning and said that he watched a group of rainbow trout mixed right in with a school of suckers, but couldn’t get them to take anything. They’re probably stuffed with sucker eggs and can’t eat another thing,” Bill laughed.
   
Tom Caron at Tall Timber Lodge on Back Lake in Pittsburg reports that the lake iced-out quite early – April 28. “The lake has seen at least one stocking, but fishing pressure is light and we haven’t heard of much success yet. Some of the outer ponds have also been stocked and we’d think that this week the fishing should really pick up.”
   
Massachusetts: Kay Moulton at Surfland on Plum Island says that the only stripers she has heard about are mixed in with the shad at Rocks Village in Haverhill, well upriver from her shop. “The river is running high and dirty. We know that there’s a herring run here and that there are probably plenty of herring below the dam at Lawrence and there also could be some stripers there but there is also high water there.”
   
No sign of flounder or mackerel in her area yet.
   
Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett fished for groundfish on Chuck Destefano’s Skip-a-Dory on Saturday. “We ran all the way to Stellwagon but the fish were small there. We started back in, trying several places and finally caught up with some decent cod in the ten-pound range at Presidents Roads. Out on Stellwagon we did pick up some decent wolf fish along with the cod.”
   
“This week the flounder should really start to turn on. We should see plenty being caught at the Sugar Bowl in South Boston and the number 6 can off Fawn Bar. They are also going to be scattered all over Boston Harbor.”
   
“Holdover stripers are still hitting at the Amelia Earhardt Dam and the Charles River Locks. Rubber shad are still the best bets there.”
   
“Freshwater bass really started to pick up last week with good fish being taken at Horn Pond in Woburn and the Mystic Lakes. Both Spot Pond in Stoneham and White Pond in Concord have been doing well with the trout. Inflated crawlers seem to be the best bet this week.”

Because of the inherent time restrictions of gathering fresh, up-to-date information, editing and producing this report in a timely manner, occasional errors or marginal information may slip by us. We try our hardest to provide accurate information. We urge readers to use this report as a tool to increase their fishing pleasure and not to rely on as their sole resource.  First or second hand information is offered by fishing guides, commercial fishing charters or party boats, bait and tackle dealers, well known successful anglers and state and federal fisheries and natural resource law enforcement officials. We also welcome and use reports forwarded to us by fishermen that use this report. (Thank you, Dick Pinney Kittery Trading Post Fishing Report Editor.)

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