Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 1st week of April, 2001

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   April 2, 2001

            Today's report will be a bit abbreviated, as snow, ice, flooded streams in the southern areas and just plain cold weather brought most fishing activity and catches to a standstill. There were a few exceptions and some great predictions for the future. The areas that did have the most fishing activity and some limited success centered around Maine's Sebago Lake and New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee.

            In the Sebago area, Dave Garcia at Naples Bait on Long Lake, reported that fishing on the causeway at Long Lake had produced a few average landlocked salmon and one outsized brown trout. The salmon were taken from the culverts and bridge area where the current had attracted them. They were caught on live smelts. The brown trout, a six-pound beauty, was caught on a nightcrawler below a bobber right at the ice line.

            "Surprisingly, quite a few people were out, and we did a brisk bait business. The snow cover here is about three feet deep, so it's really hard to get to a lot of the places with some open water. There were a few boats reported fishing at the mouth of the Songo River and some shoreline activity at the Crooked River and Songo Locks, but catches were few and far between. I think you'll be able to get a boat out onto the lake in front of the Songo sometime around the 20th, but until then, opportunities are going to be limited," Dave lamented. Dave had just returned from a week's fishing in Florida, staying and fishing with one of his staff members, Wayne Davis. They had caught close to twenty species of fish, mostly fishing the piers and surf.

            Carroll Cutting at Jordan's Store in East Sebago, said they had very little activity this weekend, with the best fishing not coming from Sebago, but from Lake Auburn, where some nice lake trout, browns and salmon are caught along Shoreline Drive in the rim of open water. "They're fishing with live bait and bobbers. Some fly fishermen, after lake trout, cast big marabou streamers, let them sink to bottom and strip them in.  Lake Auburn's salmon are beautiful fish, so this area is getting some appreciable early season fishing pressure," Cutting said. His estimate on ice out on Sebago, "July 4th!"

            Chief Sebago Fisheries Biologist John Boland reported that some salmon had been caught at Panther Run in Raymond and at the Songo Locks. "The salmon were from 17 to 19 inches long and not too fat. I'd have to describe them as in fair condition. The brooks are low and fishable here but you just can't get at most of them because of the snow depths. Our stocking schedule has been set back a good two weeks because of this," John said.

            In New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee area, there was enough open water opportunities at the rivers and river mouths, but the fish were not cooperating that well. Bill Martel at Martel's Bait in Laconia, reported that as we spoke, there was a boat and a canoe fishing the mouth of the river right below his shop. "The fellows in the boat had taken two pretty good lakers right there yesterday, but I don't think they've done much yet today. Yesterday, there was at least one salmon caught from the river up by the Spa at Church Street Bridge. There's quite a bit of open water at the Weirs Channel, but there is really no good place to get a boat in yet. There were quite a few anglers there. It's a hot spot for both salmon and rainbows. On Lake Opechee, there's a small amount of open water below the dam at Lakeport and at the outlet, but few fishermen. I haven't seen these type of winter conditions here for our April 1st opening day in 40 years," he ended.  (Bill has been in the bait business in that same spot for over 70 years, so he knows of what he speaks!)

            George Taylor at Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury, had several people return from fishing the Alton Bay and Wolfeboro Bay areas at Winnipesaukee. There was only a limited amount of open water at Alton, just at the bridge. The river was completely ice free but few, if any, salmon had been caught.  At Wolfeboro, there was open water under the Smith River Bridge, but again, very slow fishing and few anglers.

            Dan Legere at the Maine Guide Sport Shop in Greenville, reports that the brook trout cycle at Moosehead Lake was probably at its peak, so he's looking for a great year with bigger than average fish. "Last ice fishing season, the snow and slush prevented a lot of the normal brook trout catching, as you just couldn't get at the shoreline places where brookies usually hang out. So there's a lot more fish available for spring fishing which will open here on May 1st. These trout will average from 16 to 18 inches--big brookies from anyone's perspective. Best fishing will be soon after ice-out, whenever that might come. You need to fish very close to shore and among the boulders. The five-pounder here on my wall came from casting a fly into shore in shallow water as we cruised slowly along, dodging the boulders," he reported. "Early on, the brookies and salmon will be at the river mouths--the Moose, East Outlet and the Roach are good bets. As the season progresses, the fish will move into the rivers," Dan concluded.

            Fisheries Biologist Jim Pellorin reported that they are anticipating that the five-year rainbow trout experimental stocking program will fill a niche for anglers in Maine. "If you fish in southern Maine, this could improve your fishing quite a bit in marginal ponds and rivers. With rainbows, we believe that we can extend the fishing season and provide better catch rates and give a lot more opportunities to anglers," he said.

            Although wild rainbows and some escapees from New Hampshire's rivers that flow into Maine have been around for years, the majority of the waters slated for stocking have never seen a rainbow trout.  Selected for rainbow stocking are: Lilly Pond in New Gloucester, Long Pond in Denmark, Jaybird Pond in Hiram, Overset Pond in Greenwood, Little Androscoggin River in Oxford, Mechanic Falls, Minot, Poland and Auburn, Kennebec River in Fairfield, Upper Androscoggin River in Guilford and Bethel,  Swift River in Rumford, Crystal Lake in Gray, Upper and Middle Range Ponds in Poland, Lake George in Canaan and Megunticook Lake in Camden.

            Stu Bristol, from Lyman, is an outdoor writer and avid fishing and turkey hunting guide. He also has been known to haunt the sea-run trout waters at Ogunquit nearby his home. He reports that finally the ice has gone from many of the best salty trout areas, but says that because of the high flows of freshwater into the estuaries, fishing at all but dead low tide is just a waste of time. "When the tide drops, the fish concentrate and are a bit more vulnerable. But the knock on this is that the freshwater coming down is very cold, colder than the saltwater. So at low tide, even though the fish are there, they are very sluggish. You'd better be very patient," Stu instructs.

            Northern New Hampshire is still in the depths of winter. "We've got up to eight or nine feet of snow here in the woods," reported George Malloy at River's Edge General Store in Berlin.

            "There's still a lot of ice fishing going on here for panfish, even though the trout and salmon lakes are closed as of April 1st. We had a beautiful four-pound rainbow come out of Cedar Pond in Milan on Saturday. Josh Greska of Berlin caught the fish. He was jigging a small 3M Gold Rapala tipped with a worm. The river (Androscoggin) is starting to open up. We had a couple of anglers in here that had taken six nice trout between them, four browns and two rainbows. They were all in the 14 to 15 inch range.  Believe it or not, we've having a hatch of little black stoneflies on the river at Wheeler Bay, and we've seen quite a few fish rising to them. The river is very low and they've drawn the lakes way down in anticipation of a big runoff," George said.

            Above Berlin, in New Hampshire's northernmost town, Tom Remick at TR's Bait recommends the stretch of the Connecticut River just above the town of Pittsburg. Huge brown trout are caught there each year in the early spring, mostly on live bait and minnow type lures.

            At Nute's Trading Post in Wakefield, Tink Nelson reported that fishing activity was at a virtual standstill, but did have some suggestions for having a crack at some big brown trout. "We've seen some really big fish taken from below the dams on the Salmon Falls River. Casting live or sewed-on minnows catch just about all of them. The riverbanks are tough right now. Slipping down the icy banks and into the fast water could be fatal. Don't take any undue chances and go prepared with the best safety equipment," he warns.

            Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett, Massachusetts reported that Charlie Rupp of Malden had caught some nice browns and rainbows from Waldon Pond in Concord, where a foot of ice was still supporting some good ice fishing. Charlie caught the trout while jigging a small silver Phoebe Lure.  John Tansey of Medford got real lucky at the culvert at Horn Pond in Woburn, when an eight-pound Atlantic salmon grabbed his brown Rooster Tail spinner. Pete says the water is high and still a bit dirty there, but the fishing has been holding out. Pete DesRoches of Somerville had a nice mess of trout and smallmouths from Fellsmere Pond in Malden. He was fishing small pin minnows as bait. At Towners Pond in Melrose, open water fishing for pickerel and largemouths had produced some big fish. Jig-n-pig combos and Pork-Os were the hot baits there.

            Saltwater anglers who braved the rough seas and cold temperatures were rewarded.  Dave Ganter at the Kittery Trading Post's Fishing Department, said that Captain Tim Tower's party boat, the Bunny Clark, had fished the weekend and catches of groundfish were good. Dave had also talked to fishermen returning from Jeffrey's Ledge who had some outstanding luck on haddock, a species that seems to be in the midst of a great recovery. Dave recommends making reservations for party boat fishing well in advance, as he says that Tim Tower is now booked solid for some of his trips.

            Craig Bergeron at Saco Bay Tackle, said that hen clams had come ashore along the beaches in his area in unbelievable amounts. He'd just finished  helping his dad clean a catch of several gallons. He's also had reports from party boats as far north as Newburyport, and the news is universally good for groundfishing.

            At Surfland Bait and Tackle on Plum Island, Kay Moulton reports rumors of some cod being taken off the surf there, but nothing had been confirmed. She also noted that a lot of codfish were being caught from Walsh's Party Boat out of Lynn. They've been fishing the Stellwagon Banks areas.    

Past Fishing Reports 2001

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