Get ready for serious trout and salmon fishing

By Dick Pinney

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    As usual after the Labor Day weekend, fishing pressure drops off dramatically. One of the reasons is that many fishermen also hunt, and several hunting seasons open up in September. But there were some happy anglers in both saltwater and fresh.

    MAINE: Dave Garcia at Naples Bait & Tackle on Long Lake in the Sebago Region was one of those happy fishermen. Dave had just returned from a trip to New York's Lake Ontario, where he had his first experience tangling with the lake's huge king salmon. "We were fishing with Gerry's Charters out of Henderson Harbor. Using dodger-squid combinations with downriggers over a hundred feet down, the kings were more than I had bargained for. The first fish that I handled seemed to be okay after making a sizzling first run, but soon I found out that wasn't the end of the story. When Gerry finally swung the fish onto the deck in his big net, my arms were burning. In two days fishing we had ten kings, all over twenty pounds. The experience was all that I could ever have hoped for."

    "If you want to catch some king salmon, we heard that the Salmon River in Pulaski was just full of them, more than usual and earlier than usual. So many fish that the locals were saying that it was going to get tough to catch any in the lake as they were all in the river. This river can be fished in many places from shore or you can hire the services of a driftboat guide. That first trip to the big lake sure won't be our last."

    Dave had fished a bass tourney on Long Lake this weekend, taking second place and the lunker prize. His catch contained the lunker largemouth that was five pounds plus three smallmouths that were three pounds or larger.     "There was a bit of a cold front so the bite was tough--you had to downsize your lures. Most of our luck came on smallish jig and pig rigs and small Hula Grubs. Our usual Senko worm rigs were dead."

    "My son Tyson fished the ABA tourney over at Arrowhead Lake and he took first place and lunker prize. His lunker was also a five-pound largemouth. Tyson's win put him in the Champion's spot on the Maine ABA Trail. Guess I taught him too much," Dave laughed. (Our congratulations go to them both. Dave has been a contributor to this report for over a decade.)

    Dave added that he'd taken a photo of a huge black crappie brought in by a woman angler that had caught the fish at Turtle Cove at Sebago Lake. The fish weighed three and a half pounds and took a small shiner beneath a bobber.

    Carroll Cutting at Jordan's Store in East Sebago is singing the praises of Sebago Lake and its obvious comeback of the landlocked salmon. "There's not a large amount of them being taken but those that have been brought in here for photo taking are the picture of health. They are fat and beautiful fish. We've had reports of several salmon over four pounds and even some over five pounds."

    "The last newsletter from the Sebago Salmon Association reports that an increase of about a thousand landlocks to be stocked next year may be in the works. And there is a lot less criticism about how our state fisheries biologists have handled this salmon and smelt situation."

    "Even though we're blessed with a tremendous amount of really good smaller lakes and ponds in our region, Sebago is the main engine to the economy here and since the fishing pressure had dropped off, the economy has suffered. But things are looking up and Sebago Lake is going to gain back its reputation as the home of the landlocked salmon," Cutting said.

    "Our two best salmon fishermen, Willie Wilkins and Charlie Frechette have been doing most of their business in about 25 feet of water. There's so many smelt that they move off the big schools and seem to have more hits when they do this. They are mostly fishing sewed on live bait."

    Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist in the Moosehead Region filed this report: "Can you feel it? It's in the air. It's time for the playoffs. No, not just for the Red Sox, but for the open water-fishing season. The first of September is the kickoff to some of the best fishing of the year. The rain from last week and the cooling temperatures should stir the juices of any avid angler, not to mention the trout and salmon."

    "This year we have more storage available in First Roach Pond than any other fall in recent history. This means there should be very good flows in the Roach River for the entire month of September. We made a small increase in flow a little ahead of schedule on September 1st in response to the heavy rains from Katrina. We anticipate making a gate adjustment at the dam to release around 200 cfs on Sept 6th. If all goes according to plan, we will adjust the gate in the middle of the month to ensure good fishing flows for the rest of the season to empty First Roach Pond by October 15th."

    "Anglers can also look forward to an increase in flow at the East Outlet and the Moose River as fall drawdowns kick into gear. We are optimistic about the salmon fishing this fall in the Moosehead tributaries and the East Outlet. Reports from anglers around the entire lake this summer indicate that the salmon are in very good shape and full of smelt. We spent a night on Moosehead Lake with the hydroacoustics boat in August and we were encouraged with the number of smelts we were able to capture with our trawl. We were only able to catch a few dozen smelt last summer, but this summer we caught over 400 smelt and with less effort. Hopefully, these are all good signs that salmon and togue growth will improve."

    "In two weeks we will begin a cooperative study with biologists from Florida Power and Light (FPL) to locate togue-spawning shoals in Moosehead Lake. We will have several trapnets set around the lake to capture togue in their pre-spawning mode from mid-September to mid-October. We plan to insert radio tags into 30 fish and monitor their movements until they spawn, generally around the middle of October. If you should happen to catch one of these "robo-fish" with an antenna sticking out the side, we would encourage you to release it. There's plenty more where that one came from."

     "We would like to express our appreciation to FPL and Kennebec Water Power Co. for supporting this effort with funds and manpower. We are fortunate to have such a good group of dedicated folks working for these companies in the Moosehead area."

    In the Rangeley Lakes Region, Rusty Harvey at River's Edge Sports in Oquossoc reports that the lake fishing has picked up considerably since the weather has cooled and that there are some really nice trout and salmon entering the rivers.

    "Last week, Ray who works here caught two four pound salmon on Rangeley Lake and some other real nice fish. His best luck was down 40 feet. We guided several days last week on Mooselookmeguntic and had a lot of action--mostly small fish but some decent salmon and brookies in the mix. Our action came from 20 to 45 feet and there was no real pattern. We were using sewed-on bait and DB Smelts and Top Guns. One fisherman was in here that had hooked and lost a huge salmon on Richardson Lake--it got tangled in his downrigger cable and broke off. This fish hit a DB Smelt in the Guide Model colors--fluorescent orange with black spots on the front and a copper back. There were a lot of real small salmon being caught in Richardson this year but not many of those huge lunkers that can be caught there."

    "The rains have brought some huge fish into the rivers. One party that was being guided above the Steep Bank Pool on the Kennebago had caught and released a salmon that was 25.5 inches long and a brookie that was 22 inches! There's also been some big trout and salmon reported at Upper Dam and the Rangeley River."

    Dave Ganter at Kittery Trading Post's fishing department said that he wanted to alert the late season trout fishermen that like to fish Maine's big rivers that this is the time of year that the big brown trout and rainbows can really come out to play. "On the Kennebec River and several other rivers that have a spawning run of alewives and/or river herring from the ocean, now is the time that their young-of-the-year fingerlings migrated downriver to the sea. Fishing can be spectacular when the young herring appear, causing those big trout to loose some of their caution. Swinging two to three inch white or silvery streamer flies in the currents can bring smashing strikes."

    "One of the most active places for this is below the Shawmut Dam in Fairfield. There's plenty of water for canoes or drift boats and a lot of shore fishing opportunities. Depending on the amount of flow, waders will want to be cautious, as water releases can be dangerous. Felt or spiked wader shoes are a must and it's a good idea to strap on an inflatable PFD."

    "This downriver migration of the baby baitfish isn't just a freshwater phenomenon. Recently, right here at the Piscataqua Rivermouth, some of the best fishing along the coast has been happening for both stripers and bluefish. The high tides and outgoing tides, especially in the evening, have seen big schools of baby bunker and herring showing up and the blues and stripers have been going nuts on them."

    Captain Barry Gibson of Saltwater Sportsman magazine and Shark Five out of Boothbay Harbor reports: "Striper fishing continues to provide great sport in the Boothbay Harbor region, although an influx of small (11" to 14") bass into many of the top-producing spots has frustrated area guides. In some cases, 20-fish trips have been comprised of 15 or more "rats" and just a couple of slot fish between 20 and 26 inches. Popham Beach, known for consistently giving up bass in the mid-30-inch range, has been the more notable victim of the swarm of small ones. Oddly enough, the upper Kennebec River has been seemingly immune. I took two trips there this past week to spots above Bath, and took 11 fish on each -- almost all slot fish or slightly higher, and only a couple high-teen sub-legals -- and no sign of the teeny-tinies. Dave Morel (former associate publisher of Saltwater Sportsman who now works for Power & Motoryacht) and Andy Correa of Bath (and that beautiful Correa gold jewelry) fished with me on Thursday. We had a great day, with fish on 12-pound spin to 26 inches. Still a few bluefish in the area, but the offshore tuna and shark scene has been quiet. That may pick up shortly with cooling water temps."