Pickerel, perch can be hooked in warm water Salmon lurking in cooler areas

Editor’s note: Fisheries biologists for the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department compile weekly freshwater fishing reports. The complete reports are available online at www.state.me.us/ifw/

Downeast

Here we are, midsummer in Maine. You’re on vacation and are at your lake cottage, camp, campground in Acadia, or just plain want to take the children fishing where everyone can have action. Where do you go? Remember that at this time of year, lake and pond surface water temperatures are very warm and have driven trout and salmon to deeper depths. So fishing for these species takes specialized gear and much time and patience. That is why in the heat of the summer months, I advise concentrating on the warm-water species such as pickerel and perch.

My first choice for adults and children alike is chain pickerel fishing. Pickerel are smaller members of the pike family that get up to 5 pounds in Maine waters. These fish are aggressive predators that typically hide in the weed beds waiting for unsuspecting frogs and small fish. They will readily take a surface lure and literately explode across the water to get it. The best way to fish for these toothy fighters is to use plastic grass frogs, torpedoes, hula poppers, and rubber weedless flukes, cast and twitched along the edges of weed beds and lily pads. Remember when doing this to approach weed beds quietly as pickerel spook easily and will bolt, leaving you in their wake if disturbed by a noisy boat of fishermen.

My second choice for action is white perch fishing. Correctly termed as the fish delicacy of Maine, this schooling species shows its whereabouts at this time of year by hitting the surface, feeding on insects and small fish. This species ranges in size from 7 to 13 inches and up to 11/2 pounds. Angle for this fish by either trolling or still fishing.

White perch hang in tight schools and can be located by seeing their surface activity or by trolling and finding pockets of them. Once located, anchor and fish with worms, small minnows, or small plastic grubs, tangled and twitched in 5 to 40 feet of water. Remember to vary the depth of your baits to find at what level the school is hovering.

Perch will move up and down the water column looking for food and will stay at a certain depth once they have found food. Start fishing at 2 to 4 feet off bottom unless you see them hitting the surface, in which case, cast to them and retrieve.

– Gregory Burr

Moosehead Lake region

While interviewing Moosehead Lake anglers this past weekend, Jay Seyfried encountered several parties that reported really slow fishing. There was a common thread to these reports; all of these parties were fishing from shore in water that likely was no more than 10 to 15 feet deep. Parties out fishing in the lake were having reasonable success, considering the season. Lake trout were showing up most consistently in the catch, but lake anglers were also boating a few salmon and brook trout as well.

Fishing from shore can be very productive for both salmon and brook trout during May and June, when the water is cool and cold-water species are active at all depths. However, in July and August warm water temperatures limit salmonid activity to only occasional forays to the surface and into shallow shoreline areas. With the exception of very early in the morning and later in the evening, during the summer months folks along Moosehead’s 200 miles of shore are advised to put on a bathing suit and soak up some sun -don’t forget the sunscreen. For the most part you will be more successful at catching a tan than at catching fish off a dock.

That isn’t to say all summer shore fishing cannot be productive. Last Friday, Jay and I did some water-quality work on one of the smaller lake trout waters in the Moosehead Region. After completing temperature and oxygen profiles from the surface to the bottom, we motored back to our launching site along one of the shores, rather than down the middle of the pond. Much to our surprise, we discovered an angler fishing from shore in a location quite remote from any of the access points.

I cut the motor and we paddled to within casting distance in order to talk with him. I asked if he had much luck fishing from that spot. He replied that he often caught some nice trout, and even occasionally a togue, throughout the summer. Jay and I looked down into the water. Although we were less than 50 feet from shore, we could not see bottom in water that was so clear we had just observed a secchi disc (an 8-inch diameter black and white disc) down to 32 feet. Needless to say, the bottom dropped very steeply away from the shoreline.

According to our temperature profile of that pond, at 15 feet the water was 72 degrees Fahrenheit, but at 25 feet it was 60 degrees. Therefore at his secret hideaway the angler had access to cool water, and his reward was success at both fishing and catching.

The moral for shoreline anglers: find a dropoff where you can cast into cool, deep water … or go get some suntan lotion.

– Paul Johnson

Penobscot Valley region

Salmon and lake trout have remained active at depths shallower than usual for this time of year. Cooler temps and extra water have also rejuvenated many trout streams after a brief warm spell in early July. Trout ponds in Baxter Park and other high altitude areas have come alive after warm temperatures in early July started abundant insect hatches to occur.

One warden reported that there were so many trout jumping for insects on Sourdnahunk Lake that the surface looked like continuous rainfall over most of the lake. Most anglers were not successful in catching trout during this feeding frenzy, and the warden also commented that there were so many boats on the lake it looked like a marina. The trout that were caught ranged from 12 to 14 inches in size and were quite fat. Other similar reports have come in from other trout ponds in that area.

As reported last week, largemouth bass were discovered in Nicatous Lake during a scuba diving survey of bass spawning activity in that lake. This discovery has helped to answer a question of why the smallmouth bass fishery has not been doing well in Nicatous Lake. Bass tapeworm was found in Nicatous bass in 1998. The tapeworm severely affects the ability of bass to reproduce successfully. It was noted in the 1998 bass survey that there were many bass nests built but there were few, if any, fry on these nests.

The discovery of largemouth bass, which is a result of an illegal introduction, answers the question of where the bass tapeworm come from. Much has been said and written about the dangers of illegal introductions as they relate to competition between native species and the introduced species. An unseen but often more destructive effect of illegal introductions is the spread of diseases and parasites. In many waters the introduction of the bass tapeworm has not had a major effect on the bass population. However, in other waters, there has been a significant reduction in the bass population following the introduction of this parasite.

Bass tapeworm was not found in the St. Croix River drainage until an illegal transfer of infected bass was made from Lower Unknown Lake in the Machias drainage to Upper Chain Lake in the St. Croix drainage in the early 1970s. The parasite is now spreading through St. Croix lakes.

? Mike Smith