Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 1st week of March, 2001

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March 5, 2001

             With one of the season's biggest Northeasters apparently bearing down on us, some of the fishing information was a bit sketchy. But there were some very bright spots in the fishing, especially at Sebago Lake during mid-week.

            John Boland, Regional Senior Biologist for the area, reported that Wednesday there was a lot of action from Sebago's big togue (lake trout). "We had reports of one 10 pounder, two over 12 pounds and one over 18 pounds. To my knowledge, all of these trout were caught on Stinger bucktails tipped with cut sucker bait. The smelt schools have been concentrating--balling up. If you can find these schools of smelt, that's where the big lakers will be. Kezar Lake in Lovell also had an action-packed week with lake trout hitting well. The trout at Kezar range from 16 inches to eight pounds," John noted.  He also said that the ponds in lower York County had really slowed down, as had fishing pressure there.

            One of Boland's compatriots, biologist Francis Brautigam, is working on an interesting study on the Saco River--the interaction between Atlantic salmon and brook trout. "Because in recent years the Saco River Salmon Club has been raising hundreds of thousands of Atlantic salmon fry in their hatchery for stocking in the Saco River Drainage, we are concerned about their impact on the native brook trout in some of the tributaries that support a regionally significant wild trout fisheries. We're wondering if this is reducing brook trout size and abundance. We're working with the U.S.  Fish and Wildlife Service to monitor several of these tributaries over a three to six year period to better understand these interactions and to evaluate if we need to make any management changes," Braughtigam explained.

            Dave Garcia, at Long Lake in Naples, also noted the great action on Sebago last week. "We had a ton of fishermen headed over to Sebago, and a lot of them came back with good catches--mostly lakers in the four pound range. Over at Moose Pond in Bridgeton, the largemouths had turned on, especially at the north end of the pond. A lot of big fish had been caught--and of some note, most had been released, to my knowledge. Those big largemouths are usually females, so when you remove one of them from the population, you are removing the potential for thousands of bass fry. Large sucker shiners were producing the largest bass," Dave explained.

            "Here on Long Lake, we've had a resurgence in the white perch fishery. There were some very good catches just north of Long Point. Jigging with cut bait in 20 to 30 feet of water was productive there," Dave said.

            Carroll Cutting, at Jordan's Store in East Sebago, echoed the two previous reports, and had some details on some of the big togue taken last week. "On Thursday, we had one party come back off the ice with 15 togue. Gerry Ford of Wells had one that weighed 16.96 pounds and told of loosing one larger that wouldn't come up through his fishing hole! On Saturday, David Libby brought in a togue that weighed 17.12 pounds and Bob Reynolds had one that went 12.3 pounds. It was one heck of a week," he laughed.

            Nearby Hancock Pond had been very slow for brown trout so far this ice fishing season, but Cutting explained that was how Hancock is, usually turning-on during the later days of March. "It's apparently started, as a few browns are beginning to be caught there," he reported.

            In Maine's far north regions and especially in the Aroostook County region, March is the time to get out and enjoy some fine weather conditions. With below zero temperatures and windy conditions for most of the winter months, many avid ice fishermen hold off until March. The sun’s warmth and the settled snow and crust can make for an easier day out on the ice. One caveat on the March fishing is that Aroostook County waters only stay open for ice fishing until March 15th, so plan accordingly.

            Jules St. Peter of St. Peter's Country Store at Cross Lake, said that earlier in the season, slush on the lakes had made for tough travelling, but that he expected the conditions to stay good for the rest of the season. "At Long Lake, there's been some huge landlocked salmon. In fact, one weighed 11 pounds while there were a couple that went nine pounds and several over eight pounds. Over on Square Lake, if you could get on the ice, the action was fast on both salmon and brook trout. My family has fished there several days and, we managed to always come back with a nice mix of salmon and trout of average size--from 14 to 18 inches," he ended.

            Information from Maine's Belgrade Lakes Region comes from Craig Bergeron at Saco Bay Tackle. "We had a party come back from fishing for northern pike on Great Pond. Even though the fishing was not exactly fast, they iced pike from two and a half to ten pounds. They were using big sucker minnows on tip-ups," Craig said.

            Maine's coastal ice fishing had taken a big hit when a Coast Guard ice breaker took out some of the ice in the rivers in the Dresden area.  According to Craig, there was only one smelt rental operation still fishing, Chubby Leighton's. This writer had fished the Eastern River in Dresden last week and found the smelt had gotten real fussy. Four of us only managed 50 fish for four hour's effort.

            "This could be the week of all weeks for surf clam gathering," Craig noted. "When the northeaster goes by, there should be a lot of clams washed up on the beaches at low tide. And at the end of the week, the full moon should drop the low tide to the point where people digging or raking the surf clams should encounter some of the best conditions of the year," he forecasted.

            We asked Craig how he handled the shucked surf clams: "Some people clean out the bellies, but I save them for cod and haddock bait. They just love 'em. Then we grind or chop the rest for chowder. It's incredible," he said.

            While on the clam subject, New Hampshire's recreational digging produced some crowds Saturday on the Hampton clam flats, according to Captain Bill Brindamour, whose shuttle boat services the clam diggers. "There were well over 200  people out on the flats and almost every one of them had full buckets when they left. We did time one digger and from the time he stepped off the boat 'til the time he came back with his ten-quart limit--it was 55 minutes. Although that isn't typical, limits are still available with a little effort. People need to be reminded that in the cold weather, clams will drop down into the sand and mud. You need to dig from 18 to 24 inches," Bill explained.

            Jim MacKenzie, at Suds-n-Soda in Greenland, NH reported that smelting was still going strong on the Great Bay's tributaries, singling out the portion of the Squamscot River in Stratham off River Road as being the best spot. "My brother Howard caught over 100 smelt on Saturday. He's done well almost every time. We're just hoping that the extra high tides of this storm don't break up the ice. This could be the end of it," Mac said.

            "Pleasant Lake in Deerfield has been the hot spot lately for freshwater fishermen coming in here. This lake is managed for brown, rainbow, brook and tiger trout, and also has some decent white and yellow perch, pickerel and bass. Rainbow trout have been making up the majority of the trout catches there lately," he noted.

            "We're hearing some great reports about the open water fishing on the Lamprey River in Newmarket," said Chris Henson at the Kittery Trading Post's Fishing Department.

            "The stretch of river below Wiswall Dam (off Wiswall Road) is being managed for winter fishing by a joint effort of New Hampshire Fish and Game and the Great Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU). TU has been buying and stocking lunker rainbows in this stretch, and the fishing has remained excellent, with a lot of fish going up to 18 inches. With the warm sun, early small black stoneflies have been active and hatching, and fly fishermen have been taking advantage of this using number 16 stonefly nymphs. The majority--probably all of the fishermen there, are practicing catch-and-release fishing, so the opportunities haven't been reduced because of the fishing pressure," Chris noted.

            He added that the local ice fishing had slowed, and many customers were looking towards more open water opportunities.

            "We've seen a big slowdown around here," reported Tink Nelson at Nute's Trading Post in Wakefield. "Several of our most productive waters have experienced fishing pressure and results drop quite a bit in the last few days. On the brighter side, we're expecting some of the best crappie fishing of the year in the next couple of weeks. We like to suggest Balch Pond, Belleau Lake and Province Lake, all border ponds here in Wakefield. But you need to know that in these lakes you're limited to only two lines. We're working with some of the Maine officials and hoping that this will be changed shortly."

            "Another great crappie pond is Pine River Pond, also in Wakefield. This pond has some public access, but it's a big place and you have to do some scouting to find the crappie. Your best bet is to check the depth maps of this lake. Crappie always seem to concentrate in some of the deep spots," Tink ended.

            Bill Martel at Martel's Bait in Laconia, said that the local fishing derby for kids, produced by the Belknap County Sportsmen's Club and held on Lilly Pond, had over one hundred kids and their adult companions vying for some prizes. The weather cooperated and loads of perch and a few outstanding pickerel thrilled the crowds.

            On Lake Winnisquam, Bill reported a six pound rainbow trout had been caught up in the northern, narrow portion of the lake, where a lot of fishing action always is centered. He also noted that Winnipesaukee lake trout fishing had been on and off, with good ice conditions still holding. Perch action on Paugus Bay had been concentrated on the south side of the bay, with  outstanding white perch scattered in the catches.

            George Malloy at River's Edge General Store in Berlin, reports some good fishing still going on there. "Christine Lake in Stark has seen some large brown trout caught lately. Last week a five and a half-pounder and a three and a half-pounder were taken. Jericho Lake here in Berlin has been producing some pretty good northern pike. And our open water fishing on the Androscoggin River has picked up a little as the sun warms. Brag's Bay in Errol has produced the steadiest action there. Live shiners and nightcrawlers are always the best for winter-open water conditions," he recommended.

            Here’s a late-coming e-mail from fishing legend Pete Santini of Fishing FINatics at Everett, Massachusetts:  "I fished yesterday at Fellsmere pond in Malden. I caught a brookie, a rainbow and a bass, all on small pin shiners. Wright's Pond in Medford was really hopping on Saturday with bass, pickerel and huge crappie. Horn Pond in Woburn was slow--a couple of rainbows on crawlers under the ice but the culvert is open there, and you can cast and try for those big salmon with live shiners or spinners. Warner's Pond in Concord has been good for bass."

            "On the saltwater scene, the Walsh's Lynn party boat did very well off Stellwagon on Saturday on codfish, and a few cod are being caught off the shore at Marblehead and Nahant on clams  and herring.  Winter flounder is closed until May but yellowtail flounder is still open. They have to be 13 inches. Yellowtails are just as tasty as the black-backs. You can catch them from Lynn Marsh Road, off the Sugar Bowl in South Boston and at Castle Island here. You'll pick up a few cod as well."

Past Fishing Reports 2001

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