Finally, fishing heating up

Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

E-mail this story to a friend

One of Maine's largest migrations is on the move right now -- but it goes largely unnoticed except by the few who man the gates.

Tackle shop owners, guides, fishermen's wives and lodge owners see it on a daily basis, but most are stuck in the workplace, oblivious.

You might see them on the highway as you head in to work. Their gear usually gives them away. A green canoe strapped to the top of a pick-up truck. A spinning rod silhouetted in a car window. A fishy bumper sticker on the back of a station wagon. The rattle and pop of a trusty aluminum jon-boat as it hops down a pitted dirt road. The smell of bug spray, grubby hands, the whirring of line as it peels off a reel.

It's the fishermen -- and they're fleeing to water.

Some head north, along the Moosehead Trail, into big woods country, where the trout are still wild, and native, the lakes ringed with cedar and pine and the people as sparse as the bucktail on your grandfather's flies.

Others seep westward, toward the purple-green mountains and trout ponds of the Rangeley Lakes region, or Downeast, disappearing into the woods, then reappearing as specks on the big lakes.

After almost a month straight of rain, the weather has broken, spring has come and gone and summer fishing season is here.

Now's the time to sample Maine's fishing at its very best. Bass are on their beds in many places, and the explosive surface fishing that accompanies the spawn is well under way.

Trout and salmon are as active as they'll be all season -- and hatches are thickening by the day. The Kennebec River has received its first charge of stripers -- and while most are small -- they're plentiful, and willing.

Here's the latest from state-wide tackle shops, for anglers headed north, or south, for the weekend:

Mike Holt, at Fly Fishing Only, reports that Tuesday was the first day that wading has been possible at Shawmut Dam in several weeks. He cautions that levels are still high, but fished in the morning and hooked four trout in just a couple hours time.

While fishing, he noticed that the dam workers were setting the flashboards, which means water levels will likely stay consistent, barring any dramatic weather changes.

He reported the water at 52 degrees, which he says is still a bit cold for strong hatches and hungry trout. 56 to 58 degrees is ideal -- and with warm weather upon us, it won't be long now.

Farther afield, the Pine Tree Store in Grand Lake Stream, Downeast, reported excellent fishing and stabilizing water levels. Salmon were rising in the evenings to light hatches of blue-winged olives and Hendrickson mayflies, though streamer flies still offered the most consistent action.

"We've been selling lots of Barnes Specials, Black and Gray Ghosts and Colonel Bates streamers," said the Pine Tree Store's Kurt Cressey.

"Bring plenty of bug dope, and a good selection of cigars," he added, chuckling. The fish are biting he says, and so are the black flies.

Bass are just starting to arrive on beds, and smallmouth action has been outstanding. He reported that one man, fishing from Chet's Camps on Big Lake, hooked and fought so many bass that he was forced to return to camp to ice down his sore elbow.

Numerous 50-plus bass days have been reported in that region.

The Maine Guide Fly Shop also had glowing reports. Penny Legere reported that water levels on local rivers were still high, but that the Roach River in Kokadjo had been fishing well -- and that numerous 3-pound-plus fish had been reported.

Hatches are still sparse in that country, but bright sun and warming water should spur activity soon.

Legere also added that Moosehead Lake was producing nice catches --Êand that Bob Lawrence, head guide from Lawrence's Camps in Rockwood, had been enjoying especially good fishing thus far this year.

In Rangeley, Sam Vaccaro, from the Rangeley Region Sport Shop, reported that action has picked up again, after a rain-induced lull since ice-out.

"We've seen lots of nice trout and salmon caught the past few days," he said. He mentioned reports of nice brook trout being caught in Mooselookmeguntic Lake on streamers and sewn smelt, trolled slowly, 10 feet down on sinking lines over about 40 feet of water.

Likewise for Rangeley Lake, where anglers have landed numerous nice salmon in the 5-7 pound range recently.

He reported that water levels reached wadeable levels in most places Saturday, and that warm weather jumped surface water temperatures from a chilly 45 degrees earlier in the week to 60 degrees this past weekend. The few who've braved the Rapid River of late have done well, he says.

Striper fishermen should enjoy excellent fishing this week, with more, and bigger fish hot on their heels. From southern Maine, reports are of hordes of stripers swarming rivers like the Presumpscot in Portland and Falmouth, the Saco, and more recently, the Kennebec. Stripers have been caught in good numbers at the mouth of Cobbossee Stream, in Waterville and Winslow below the dams, and up and down the river where structure will hold them.

Dave Sherwood 621-5648

dsherwood@centralmaine.com