Complements of The Kittery Trading Post

Activity for the 2nd week of September, 2001

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September 10, 2001

      As the warm weather winds down and cooler evenings start to push water temperatures into the comfort zones of many freshwater fish, some of the best fishing remain for those that don't put their gear into mothballs too soon. Saltwater fish, especially the large pelagics and onshore migrators know it's time to get serious about putting away some body reserves for the winter, and therefore, are often feeding with abandon not seen other times of the year.

      "Water temperatures are the most important factor in lake fishing," notes Dave Ganter at the Kittery Trading Post. "Although game fish will come out of their comfort zones to feed occasionally, they just can't withstand the too hot or too cold temperatures for long. Another big factor in where the fish are is availability of dissolved oxygen, a necessity of life for them. For the fisherman in the know, these facts can set up a situation where catching fish can be very exciting with a lot of action." 

      "In a lot of lakes that biologists describe as marginal, the oxygen levels are too low along the bottom layer of the lake, where temperatures may be ideal for certain game fish, especially trout and salmon. At the same time, mid-day surface temperatures may be well into the fish's uncomfortable range and intense sunlight isn't appreciated by many of the fish species either. Add these factors up, and you've got your fish pegged at somewhere in between bottom and top. A good depth to start fishing depends on one other thing, the turbidity or color of the water. In murky water, try fishing down only a few feet, maybe ten or so. In clear water, start your lures in the 20-foot range. Keep experimenting with depths until you get a strike and then concentrate on the area," Ganter instructs.

      Dave also notes that the fall is a great time to fish for landlock salmon early in the morning, when surface temperatures are ideal, and baitfish seem to gather on the surface.

      Carroll Cutting at Jordan's Store in East Sebago, confirms Dave's statements. "Each September there has been a few days when early in the morning schools of smelt will gather on the bar right off the Northwest River nearby. Landlocked salmon and an occasional lake trout will be surface feeding on the smelt. It can look just like a bluefish blitz on the ocean. Salmon will be smashing smelt on the surface and gulls and other birds will be working the action. You can have some wonderful fly fishing on days like these," Cutting noted.

      "We're already seeing some of this phenomenon," laughed Dave Garcia at Naples Bait on Long Lake. "Out on Sebago, the smelt have apparently schooled up off the Songo Bar and on other shoals. We haven't heard much about landlocks on these smelt schools yet, but the togue (lake trout) have found them and catches of a dozen or so fish a day are the order. A lot of the togue are suspended well off bottom--a rarity here on Sebago Lake. And there's another group of togue that are on the drop-offs in fairly shallow water, around the 30-foot depths. This is a great time for people to be able to fish for togue with just a spinning rig and live bait. Anchor or drift off the Songo River at the drop-offs and you should be in business," Dave instructed.

      Dave had fished in a weekend tourney at Moose Pond in Bridgeton. "The largemouths were in the shallows, and we were doing quite well on Texas-rigged plastic worms. That lake has some of the nicest bass in our area and is also one of the better small lakes for landlocked salmon," he added.

      Francis Brautigam, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist in the Sebago Region, had been busy sampling small brook trout streams in the area. "In one brook, in just 600 feet, we found over 300 wild brook trout, with several that were fat and in the six-inch and over size. On this particular stream, we found no evidence that the extended drought and low water had produced any negative impacts on the trout population."

      "While sampling the landlocked salmon populations in the Northwest River, we found some very unusual dark blue colored crayfish. We haven't been able to get much information on why this rare color, but it is believed to be genetic in origin," he ended.

      Registered Maine Guide Ray Soriano at River's Edge Sport Shop in Oquossoc, in the Rangeley Lakes Region, reports that some rain and what probably was a small release of water into the Kennebago River had moved a few fish into the river from the lake. "I stopped at one of the pools, and the fish were very evident. I'm not sure how long they'll stay or if more will come in. The river flows are still very low and not conducive to a good run of fish yet," Ray observed. One exception to this was at Upper Dam, where enough water was flowing to produce some pretty steady nymph fishing--weighed flies fished near bottom were working the best.

      "The big lakes continue to produce fish, but they seem to be a bit smaller than they've been. At Rangeley Lake, there's already been some cooling of the surface temperatures and it's still going down. Some of the fishermen have been picking up salmon right on top. And our trout ponds should be fishing really well right now, as fish leave the spring holes and cool areas and start their fall feeding spree," he said.

      Bill Woodward, Assistant Fisheries Biologist in the Central Maine Region, suggests trying the main stem of the Androscoggin River in Livermore Falls, Cobbossee Stream in Manchester, Wings Mills, and the village dam in the Belgrades. Messalonskee Stream in Waterville and the Kennebec River from Skowhegan to Waterville all have dams that will attract fish. He noted that the Sebasticook River has several dams that will be releasing water, giving anglers plenty of opportunities to pursue the many fish species found there.

      Joanne at Legere's Maine Guide Fly Shop in Greenville, had some great news for fly fishermen headed for the Moosehead Lake Region's Rivers: "The water releases at the East Outlet (Kennebec River) are just about ideal at the current rate of 1,825 cubic feet per second (CFS). By Tuesday the flow may be increased to 3,000 CFS. That's a bit high for best conditions. The Roach River flows at Kokadjo are at their normal fall levels of 175 CFS and there are quite a few fish that have moved in. At the West Branch of the Penobscot, the flows have been increased to 600 CFS, and this could provide problems for anglers wishing to float the river. There's enough water to make it look good, but in reality, there are stretches of the river where you can't get a boat down through on this flow. I'd urge anglers headed for the West Branch to make a phone call first to check on flow levels. At Brassua Lake Dam, water flows are running at 400 CFS and that's quite low to produce quality fishing there," Joanne ended.

      The freshwater fishing in the Granite State mirrored much of what was happening across the border. "I'm headed for my camp in Pittsburg to do my annual bear hunt guiding, but this is also a time of year when the famous fall brook trout ponds in the Pittsburg area come into their own," reported Steve Courshesne at Steve's Sportsmen's Den in Hooksett.

      "With the fall colors, crisp and placid days, and the incredible colors that the brook trout take on, you can't find a much better place to be. You can find some of the best fly-fishing for fall brookies in places like Round Pond, Big Bog Brook, the Greenough Ponds, and Scott Bog. It's worth your while to dig out these locations from your DeLorme Atlas. Also, in the front of the Atlas is a list of other nearby waters that are managed for brook trout," Steve instructs.

      "The rivers in this upstate area are mostly controlled by dam flows. There's no predicting how they'll be fishing, but the stretch of the Connecticut River below Colebrook always seems to fish well, except for periods of exceptionally high water. Perry Stream and Indian Stream have been nationally famous for their wild brook trout and are still produce some fine fishing."

      Steve also mentioned some outstanding crappie fishing going on in his home area around Hooksett. "Pawtuckaway Lake in Nottingham and Raymond is starting to produce some catches of large crappie, and there's some great largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing to be had there also," Steve noted.

      "We've probably got the largest concentration of crappie ponds in the state, all within a few minutes of here," reported Tink Nelson at Nute's Trading Post in Wakefield. "Including huge Winnipesaukee, where crappie populations are building (they are usually found in the coves), you can count on Province Lake, Balch Pond, Pine River Pond, Belleau Lake, Milton Three Ponds, Willand Pond and Great East Lake to provide you with lots of crappie action. Right now the cooler waters have moved some of the crappie back towards the weed edges and into more shallow water. They'll follow the schools of shiners and minnows, which are also the best crappie baits," he said.

      "There's also an almost untapped trophy brown trout fishery nearby. On the Salmon Falls River, the larger brown trout will start to come out of their summer hiding places and start to think about spawning. Sometimes these outsized browns will build up in the flows just below the dams, while others will seek out tributaries. Here on the Branch River, we get a small run of brown trout that come up the river out of the Milton Three Ponds. Very rarely are these trophy-sized fish ever even fished for, but we've seen them taken that were over five pounds," Tink said.

      George Taylor at Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury, reported that this is the time of year when he starts to see fishermen coming into his shop with a two-fish limit of trout that will weigh over five pounds. "It's already started! There's been more big trout coming out of Barbados Pond than we've seen in a long time, and Stonehouse and Bow Lake are also producing some nice trout--browns and rainbows in Bow and brookies at Stonehouse. The bass and crappie fishing remain steady here on the Bellamy Reservoir. Fishing pressure is quite low, but success is still good," he noted.

      On the saltwater scene, things are equally as optimistic. Wayne Jordan at Captain Cal Robinson's Saco Bay Tackle reports that the offshore shark fishing has really taken off, with catches of several fish a day being the rule. "There's still plenty of reports on mako sharks in our area and giant bluefin tuna are continuing to be steady. Inshore, the mackerel have returned and that's good news. We've been catching stripers on live and chunk mackerel right off the beach--fish to 30 inches. There's also a few bluefish and believe it or not, dogfish sharks right in the same area. The groundfishing continues to be excellent with quite a few large pollock adding to the cod and haddock catches," Wayne added.

      "This is a great time of year for fly fishing for stripers, especially at the outlets of rivers where the young-of-the-year herring are starting to come back down into the salt," reports Chris Henson at the Kittery Trading Post. "The young herring are just the right size to duplicate with a Clouser minnow or Lefty's deceiver. The baby bunker that are apt to be in the coves and along the Piscataqua Rivermouth this time of year also have the stripers pretty interested and make for great fly fishing. And if you really want to wear your arm out for the possibility of a huge trophy striper, then get out along the rocky ocean-side and toss some of those mackerel-sized flies into the surf," he instructed.

      "We are seeing an unbelievable return of both flounder and flounder fishermen this time of year. The interest is high and the catches have been incredible, not just in numbers but in the average size of the fish," reported George Taylor at Taylor's Trading Post in Madbury. "We actually ran out of sea worms for bait this weekend because of so much flounder fishing interest. From York Harbor to Newburyport, we're had plenty of good reports. And by-the-way, we've re-supplied our stock of seaworms, so we are ready for the coming week," George laughed.

      "We've got a few mackerel back here and also the stripers have started to hit again along the shoreline. We had a beautiful 22-pounder in here to weigh, and we've seen a lot of other nice sized fish," reports Kay Moulton at Surfland Bait and Tackle at Plum Island. "The fishing has been a lot better along the beaches and at the rivermouth. The mackerel are not everywhere, but most of the boat fishermen eventually find enough to use for live bait. Bluefish have been in-and-out; much of what they do depends on the wind direction. The onshore winds blow the warm water in and the bluefish usually follow," she observed.  

      Boston Harbor area fishing remained steady. Pete Santini at Fishing FINatics in Everett reports that Faun Bar, Lovell's Island and Nixes Mate, all were hot of big stripers on the Santini Tube-n-Worm, while the shore fishing off Revere Beach, especially in front of the police station was excellent. Clams and chunk herring were working there. There were schools of bluefish that were hitting around the Brewsters and Castle Island, while flounder fishing in the area of the Swampscott Yacht Club had been fantastic, with limit catches of fish up to four pounds taken on Chincoteaugue Rigs baited with sea worms.

                      Past Fishing Reports 2001

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