Bait fish shortage vexes state

Head onto the ice at many of the state’s iced-in lakes – especially those that hold landlocked salmon – and you’re likely to hear the same question from desperate anglers.

“Got any smelts?”

For much of the ice fishing season, the bait fish favored by salmon (and salmon fishermen) have been in short supply. Very short supply.

John Boland, the director of fisheries operations for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, says he has heard reports of smelts selling for $8 to $10 a dozen.

In a typical year, they retail for $5 to $7 a dozen at most bait shops.

But this year, Boland will tell you, hasn’t been typical. Smelts are scarce … especially in the 180 or so lakes where commercial bait fishermen are allowed to set their nets and keep eight quarts.

Boland and the DIF&W have taken steps to help commercial bait fishermen, bait shop owners … and anglers, while taking care not to upset the ecological balance by allowing an excessive harvest of smelts.

Boland said he, Deputy Commissioner Paul Jacques, and Director of Fishery Program Development Peter Bourque met with representatives of the Maine Ice Anglers Association about a month ago, and began working on the problem.

The state’s priorities when it comes to smelt are well-documented, Boland said: First and foremost on that priority list: Smelts are to be managed as a forage fish. The second priority dictates that smelts are to be managed with hook-and-line anglers in mind. Third on the list is managing for commercial utilization.

Boland stressed that the short-term solution reached by the department – 15 more lakes were opened to commercial smelt-fishing for the next two months only – fits within those departmental priorities.

“Usually, what happens is because of the cyclical nature of these smelts, there’s a handful of waters of the 180 or so statewide that are producing,” Boland said. “This year, that didn’t seem to be the case. A lot of the old standbys weren’t producing.”

Smelt populations and smelt fishing vary from lake to lake and year to year. The DIF&W hopes to get a better handle on that cyclical nature by re-examining their management plan for smelts in the months to come.

The DIF&W move has been criticized by some who feel that ice anglers are being given preferential treatment that others – some fly fishermen in particular – wouldn’t get.

“Just because it looks to some folks that we’re opening up waters and catering to the ice fishermen, it’s not as simple as it seems,” Boland said.

While ice anglers may notice that smelts will be a bit easier to find … and perhaps even a bit less expensive … Boland said the DIF&W isn’t finished with the issue. The department will examine the smelt situation further after the ice fishing season is over.

“We’re going to sit down as a division and see how we’re going to manage our smelt waters,” Boland said.

Buck Plummer checked in late last week and passed along a report on the East Grand Lake Snowmobile Club’s ice fishing derby, which was held Jan. 24-25.

Plummer said that despite the conditions – cold, cold, cold – plenty of people showed up to try their luck.

“I don’t think the temp ever got up to zero, but there were 552 tickets registered, which kind of surprised me,” Plummer said. “It kind of held the [number of] kids down a lot. There weren’t a lot of kids out there, and that’s a big part of [what makes the derby special]. We’re trying to get people to bring their kids along.”

Plummer said that the weather and the fish seemed to be in cahoots: Neither cooperated too well.

“There were a lot of short salmon taken and cut off in the holes, but good salmon and togue were few and far between this year,” Plummer said. “Who knows why?”

Plummer said the anglers who did show up offered up plenty of weather critiques.

“The fellas that came, they braved [the cold weather]. I guess that’s being diplomatic, saying they braved it,” said Plummer, who noted that plenty of anglers griped about the frigid temperatures.

A few of the many winners: Grand prize of $1,000 went to Jason Howland. Young Greg Foster caught the day’s biggest salmon – a 3-pound, 6-ounce fish – and won the boy’s youth prize, along with the first-place overall prize … and he also had his name randomly drawn in the “registered fish” contest.

Another youngster – Mikayla Lowell – landed the biggest togue of the derby. The 8-pound, 14-ounce fish garnered her both the $75 top prize and a savings bond for the youth category.

Other category winners: Pickerel, (tie) Chris Sisson and Denis Bedard, 2 pounds, 6 ounces; cusk, Graig Hill, 9 pounds, 9 ounces; brook trout, Brian Mannette, 1 pound, 51/2 ounces; white perch, Marc Paradi, 1 pound; whitefish, Michael Gain, 1 pound, 81/2 ounces. And from the North Lake weighing station, Aaron Bedard got credit for a 2-pound, 9-ounce pickerel and Allen Grant landed a 1-pound, 61/2-ounce white perch.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.