Slow but steady ice-out lagging behind last spring

Sharpen your hooks and sweep the dust bunnies off your outboards. Our lakes have started the process of shedding their winter coats for another round of open-water fishing. The open water is selective compared to the previous year at this time, but it has definitely sparked a flicker of hope after a lengthy winter.

At this time last year, nearly every lake within our state was open for business, and by the first of May, ice-out was complete, as the remaining frozen lakes to the north opened. In Aroostook County, Long Lake cleared free of ice on May 1 last spring. It normally requires another week to excuse its cover.

Echo Lake, Eagle Lake, Jordan Pond and Long Pond on Mount Desert Island abandoned their winter jackets in March last year. Big Lake in Washington County cleared just prior to April, followed by West Grand Lake, which opened up on April 8.

But this spring it’s entirely different. As of April 25, West Grand and Big Lake are still on ice, and when they clear is uncertain. However, long-time sportsman Kurt Cressey, owner of The Pine Tree Store in Grand Lake Stream, has ventured into the land of the unknown and predicts West Grand to clear on May 10 and Big Lake on May 4.

To the south, Sebago Lake was ready for fishing last year on April 29 and the two previous winters the Big Bay never iced over.

This season, those early fishing outings never materialized, but there’s still no cause for alarm. It’s only nature’s way of reminding us it’s still in command and this spring it chose to move spring fishing back to the original schedule.

Ice on the move

On Wednesday, Green Lake in Ellsworth cleared of ice and at the same time frozen cover on Lucerne Lake was showing signs of fatigue. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t free of ice by the weekend.

Beach Hill Pond in Otis is showing an abundance of open water around its edges, but I have not heard any new reports since Tuesday.

Other waters free of ice are: Tunk Lake in Sullivan, Long Pond in T10SD, and Walker Pond in Brooksville, according to Greg Burr, a Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife biologist.

Jones Pond in Gouldsboro is also open, and it contains some hardy brown trout, according to Rick Jordan, DIFW biologist. Presently, Jones Pond harbors an abundance of 2-pound browns, backed up with a helping of 3-pound fish, said Jordan.

On Mount Desert Island, Echo Lake cleared of ice early Monday, and before the end of the day, fishermen were casting lines, according to Steve Strout of Somesville.

“Every year Echo delivers some hefty landlocked salmon and a 5-pouder isn’t out of the question,” said Strout. “Just two springs ago my wife Elna Strout boated a salmon that weighed a solid 4 pounds. The lake also contains some feisty square tails that commonly show up between 12-16 inches in length.”

Southern Maine’s Sebago Lake is fully open as well. It officially cleared of ice on Tuesday, said Carol Cutting, owner of Jordan’s Store in East Sebago.

“According to my records the ice hasn’t stayed in this long since 1972”, said Cutting, adding that spring ice-out wasn’t until May 1.

Chesuncook water down

Up north, the water level of Chesuncook Lake is down. Chesuncook is 20 miles northwest of Millinocket. As of Monday, the water was down 26 feet, where normally it’s only down between 18-20 feet, said Brian Stetson, manager of Environmental and Governmental Affairs for Great Northern Paper Inc. in Millinocket. However, the conditions have definitely improved as the water level was down more than 30 feet on April 16, the lowest Chesuncook Lake has ever fallen, according to Stetson’s records.

The blame rests in a couple areas, one is the lack of rain this spring. The second culprit is a late run off – it never started until the third week of April, said Stetson.

“On a typical year the spring run off begins towards the end of March,” said Stetson. “This is the lowest I’ve seen Chesuncook at this time of year, normally on this date it’s down 18-20 feet.”

Outdoor calendar

On April 30, at 6:30 p.m., the town of Hampden ordinance committee will conduct a public hearing to decide if the current restricted firearms area in Hampden in sufficient. The hearing will be held at the Hampden town office.

It’s almost time for the second Penobscot County Friends of NRA Banquet and Auction. The event will be held 6 p.m., May 5 at the Bangor conference center.

For tickets, call 827-3440 or 941-8575 or visit Van Raymond Outfitters in Brewer or Willey’s in Ellsworth.

Question of the week

The Barnes Special streamer fly pattern derived from experimentation on Sebago Lake. True or false.

Last week’s question: Brown trout and landlocked salmon can resemble each other to a such degree it’s hard to distinguish the two. What’s a sure way to determine the difference between them? The difference in the vomerine teeth and spotted adipose fins.

Terry Farren’s Outdoor Report is published each Friday. He can be reached at 990-8067 or by e-mail at outdoorreport@bangordailynews.net