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Sunday, June 9, 2002
Fishing lure: The Kennebec
Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||
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Also on this page: FISHING THE KENNEBEC RIVER | |||||||||
SHAWMUT — Jim Thibodeau was making his way along the dirt path that runs beneath the overhanging trees along the Kennebec River. He was watching half a dozen anglers wading in the river, 20 to 30 feet from shore, checking his watch to see if the afternoon fly hatch was near. Thibodeau wanted to make sure he was alongside the others in the river when it did. As he continued along the path, on land that was purchased by the state last fall, a New Hampshire man assessing the river asked Thibodeau about the well-known hatches on the famous fishery, when they would start, how reliable they were. The guide and Waterville native only had to motion to the wading weekday anglers to offer proof of how good the fishing would be when the hatch happened, and the yellow hendrickson flies covered the water like tiny sailboats. "It's a sickness," Thibodeau said with a look toward the anglers. "There's no cure. Only treatment." A native of Waterville, Thibodeau, 60, has spent his life fishing on the Kennebec. Since he started guiding on the river four years ago, Thibodeau said he's seen interest in the stretch of river from Shawmut Dam to Fairfield increase because of the good shore access for anglers, the reliable hatches on the clear water, the excellent trout fishing that is provided by state stocking programs and the fishery's growing reputation. Many local anglers who fish the Shawmut section of the river say it has not reached its carrying capacity. Even while the state considers increasing the number of stocked trout because of the fishing pressure, anglers say there is room for more fishermen on the river. One thing is certain, since the state bought land on the western shore near the dam last fall, the popular fishery shows no sign of falling out of favor. Dan Marra of Waterville learned to fly fish on the Kennebec seven years ago and he's seen more than the bug life and water quality improve in that time. "It's more popular. During peak times, you see 35 to 50 on the water," Marra said. "The nice thing is, there is so much wadeable water, you can have 35 people and it won't feel crowded, not like the Presumpscott. There, people are tramping about, they don't respect that someone else is fishing." These days, Marra is on the river almost every day. He was there Wednesday when he pulled in a brown, but he said the fishing was nothing like the night before, when he caught two 18-inch browns and a rainbow. "With the wind, the hatch was like a blizzard," he said. "The fish I caught were the size of footballs." Generally, brown trout are tough to catch: An ongoing state study shows they may be tougher to catch than rainbows by a 3-to-1 ratio, according to John Boland with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. They're not any easier to catch in the Kennebec. The lure there is in the size of the fish. "To a lot of people, it's very rewarding to catch a 15- to 18- or 22-inch brown trout," said state biologist Scott Davis, who lives next to the Shawmut stretch. Boland said in the Shawmut section of the Kennebec there are many stocked fish that survive into the next season, allowing the spring yearlings that are stocked to grow fat before they're caught. And near Shawmut, Thibodeau said, many anglers throw them back. "I haven't seen a fish kept in years," he said. Some anglers say that's because of the mercury warnings. Because of the presence of mercury in freshwater fish, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife warns of eating more than two freshwater fish meals per month and more than one brook trout or landlocked salmon meal per week. The department also warns that freshwater fish eaten by pregnant and nursing mothers may harm their babies because too much mercury can affect behavior and learning. "I know the warnings were reposted, and last year they were resurfacing. Anywhere in the state, you have to be cautious," said Chris Oaks of Fairfield, a Shawmut regular. What has allowed the fish to grow fat in Shawmut, Davis said, is the vast diversity of insect life. He said since the Clean Water Act in 1972, the water clarity has gradually improved. When the state started stocking brown trout in 1983, the fishery began to take off. Fisheries and Wildlife has stocked 2,000 rainbows and the same number of brown trout in that section of the river each spring for almost 20 years. In the 1980s, Trout Unlimited began stocking rainbow trout in the river. Since 1994, the state has stocked rainbows every year, said regional biologist Bill Woodward. This is another part of the Shawmut fishery's allure. "The rainbows complement the brown trout. The brown are mostly night feeders, they're very skittish. The rainbows are daytime feeders," Thibodeau said. The numbers of stocked fish don't mean a thing, Woodward said. It's the survival of the fish that makes for a good fishery, and in that section of the river, the trout do well, he said. "When we can get fish that are 4-to-5 pounds, we think they're doing all right," Woodward said. The need for the stocking is not because of poor habitat, it's because of what exists in the way of tributaries, where the fish spawn, and in the case of the Kennebec, there are few near Shawmut. Some small brooks feed into that section of the river to provide some spawning habitat and some natural reproduction, but not enough to meet the demands of fishing pressure, Woodward said. The fishermen who flock to Shawmut don't seem to mind it's not a wild trout fishery. Many feel the popularity of the fishery can only increase with the guaranteed access that now exists. Last November, Inland Fisheries and Wildlife purchased 33 acres of property along the western shore of the Kennebec in Shawmut near Fairfield, where some 600 yards of the river is wadable. There is a 25-acre parcel that has 2,500 feet along the river and another 8-acre parcel that is inland. It's one of 62 access sites or pieces of waterfront land the department has purchased in the past 10 years. The purchase assures the river frontage near the Shawmut Dam will remain unchanged for years. And the path along the Kennebec's west shore makes access a cinch. Jay Trebisacci of Westerly, R.I., and Charlie Limalore of nearby Stonington, Conn., were there Wednesday for the first time. They and the three other fishermen in their party were up for the day. They didn't have much luck, but they said they'd be back. In addition, Limalore said the fishery would be even better if there were access on the Benton side, across from the shore-front parcel the state owns. "The fish are jumping more on the other side. A parking lot would be incentive to fish over there. Someone from out of state is not going to park on the side of the road with their truck full of stuff," he said of the busy River Road stretch. Oaks of Fairfield agreed. Shawmut is his local fishing hole, but he said he sees mostly locals on the river. The fact is, he said, to get to the state-owned access, one has to follow a round-about dirt road with no signs on Route 201 directing fishermen where to go. "The locals know about it. But those from out of state have to go through a whole little community to get there," Oaks said. While the access, when found, encourages anglers to fish at Shawmut, what has made the stretch of river a "destination water" is the excellent insect life. Davis, who works in central Maine and guides on the river, said the Shawmut Dam section of the river is unusual because of the abundant insect life, which makes for reliable hatches. Davis said he noticed the change since the time he was a teen-ager in the late '70s and fished the river with his father, a schoolteacher in Massachusetts. "The insect life has become more abundant, there is more species diversity over the years. That has lot to do with it," he said. "The further you come down the river, the richer it is in respect to insect life. It has the ability to grow fatter fish and to a greater size." At the start of June there was the hendrickson fly hatching regularly in the afternoon. That was followed by the alder flies, black caddis, gray caddis, stoneflies and yellow stoneflies, to name a few. A few weeks ago a hendrickson hatch at 3 p.m. was practically orchestrated. On a cold, overcast day, the hatch started slowly, providing a few flies every few yards near the section of the river called "the meadow" that lies beside Goodwin Farm. Within half an hour, the east side of the river near Shawmut Dam was riddled with hendrickson flies - and trout that were rising to feast on them. The feeding frenzy lasted a good half-hour before slowly petering out. But near the Shawmut, there's never long to wait before the next flurry of rising fish. From now until late July, Davis said Shawmut will offer reliable fishing for those who seek the challenge of angling for the wary browns or colorful rainbows. "One thing about Shawmut, you will always find a rising fish," he said. Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at: |
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