Region A- Southwestern Maine
Last year around this time mild winter weather conditions had created lots of open water on our most southern lakes and ponds, and many ponds in York and Cumberland counties were ice free (or nearly so). In addition, early season flows in 2006 were unusually low, offering unusually good fishing conditions for early season stream fishing… But not this year.
While the 2007 hard water fishing season got off to an unusually late start due to delayed ice formation, the now unusually cold late season weather suggests ice-out will not arrive early this spring. The “Big Bay” on Sebago Lake even set up with ice, just in time for spring thaw… As mother nature transitions from winter to spring, we remain hopeful that a limited snow pack and no significant precipitation in the near future will maintain the seasonal flow conditions in area streams and rivers for early season anglers. These conditions, if they persist, will provide good stream fishing conditions for the start of the open water season.
Streams and rivers usually offer the earliest open water fishing prospects, and that appears to be the situation this year. Unlike last year, boat fishermen will likely have few opportunities on April 1. Typically, early lake fishing opportunities are limited to shore fishing, where shore anglers target the melting edge water around lakes or at lake inlets and outlets.
Popular and very productive lake-side fisheries exist on Auburn Lake (salmon, togue, brook trout), at the Route 302 causeway between Long Lake and Bay of Naples in Naples (browns, salmon), the “heath” at the southern end of Thompson Lake in Poland (salmon), the mouth of the Songo River in Casco where a small boat can be floated in Sebago Lake (salmon and togue), the confluence of Sebago Lake and the Muddy River off Route 114 in Naples (salmon), and the trestle bridge located in Standish, where the Sticky River flows into Sebago Lake. Sebago and Auburn Lake will offer some good prospects to catching salmon weighing up to eight pounds. Long Lake and Thompson will offer good early season fishing, but for smaller sized salmon, particularly on Thompson, where the smelt population experienced a sudden decline in 2006.
Cumberland, Androscoggin and York Counties are the focus of early regional stockings, with streams and small ponds first to be stocked. The Presumpscot River (Windham), Pleasant River (Windham), Little River (Gorham), Mill Brook (Westbrook), Ogunquit River (Wells), Merriland River (Wells), Great Works River (Berwick), and the Mousam River (Sanford) are some of the first streams stocked. Staff at Dry Mills Hatchery, New Gloucester Hatchery, and Casco Hatchery will be assisted by volunteers from various fish and game clubs in York County.
Stocking will move northward in keeping with the normal progression of ice melt and the thawing of our waterways. Anglers should check out the Department’s website www.mefishwildlife.com for last year’s stocking report, which may vary some from year to year, but will provide a good indication of where and when the fish are stocked. We will also try to keep anglers posted as to the progress of ongoing stocking in weekly fishing reports, which are also available online.
A number of flowing waters in southern Maine are stocked in the fall with larger size fall yearling trout and offer a good opportunity in the spring to catch larger hold-over brook & brown trout. These waters include, the Salmon Falls River below South Berwick Dam (browns), Mousam River below Route 1 in Kennebunk (browns), Ogunquit River below Route 1 (browns), Saco River below Skelton Dam in Dayton (browns and brook), Saco River – Bonney Eagle Bypass (browns), Saco River, below Hiram Dam (browns), and Pleasant River – special management section in Windham. A number of lake inlet streams also can provide some great early season fishing for larger fish stocked in lakes, including Panther Run off Mill Street in Raymond (salmon), Sebago Locks in Casco (salmon), and Pump Box Brook below Route 11 in Shapleigh (browns and brook trout). Some of the largest spring-caught trout are taken below dams at lake outlets. Trout commonly drop out of lakes and may be taken during early spring at the base of outlet dams.
Many regional lakes experienced reduced fishing pressure and harvest last winter, in large part due to unusually late ice-up. Furthermore, 5000 additional fall yearling brook trout (12 – 14 inches long) were stocked out last fall in regional lakes and ponds. Reduced fishing pressure and increased fall stocking should translate into some better early season open water angling opportunities. Ponds offering excellent prospects for early spring brook trout action include: Otter Pond #2 (Standish), Worthley Pond (Poland), Littlefield Pond (Sanford), and Knight’s Pond (S Berwick), Round Pond (Lyman), Barker Pond (Lyman), Thomas Pond (Casco), Keoka Lake (Waterford), and Wilson Lake (Acton).
Salmon are the fish of choice for many traditional early spring anglers who like to troll, and once area waters are clear of ice my picks for good salmon action include: Auburn Lake (Auburn), Trickey Pond (Naples), South Pond (Greenwood), and Bryant Pond (Bryant Pond), Moose Pond (Bridgton), Thompson Lake (Otisfield), Panther
Pond (Raymond), and Sebago. Based on an angler survey conducted in 2006, the catch rates on Sebago were only slightly less than those recorded in the late 1980s, when the salmon fishery was considered to be at its peak. In 2006, we had several ardent Sebago anglers report some of the best salmon fishing they had ever experienced on Sebago, a testament to the gains that have been realized in rebuilding this once very popular fishery. While fishing Sebago and its tributaries anglers are again reminded to kill any northern pike that are caught. Northern Pike are very active and spawn during ice out, frequently traveling into inlets in search of spawning habitat.
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