The following are weekly fishing reports compiled by Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife fisheries biologists. The complete report is available at: www.state.me.us/ifw/

Penobscot Valley

Last week regional personnel netted one of our so called mystery waters, East Musquash Lake in Topsfield. What’s the mystery? The origin of the self-sustaining lake trout population. Lake trout were never native to East Musquash, nor were they ever stocked, at least not intentionally by DIF&W (It is possible that lake trout were inadvertently mixed in with salmon at the hatchery, but not likely).

One theory is that wild lake trout in Farrow Lake made their way down the outlet to Deadman Stream during spring high-water, then into the East Branch Big Musquash Stream, the outlet to East Musquash Lake. The other is much simpler, namely someone illegally put lake trout in to East Musquash Lake back in the 1970s.

Adult lake trout started showing up in the lake in the early 1980s, and the population has continued to grow. Last week we netted over 20 lake trout from 17 to 23 inches, all fat and in excellent shape. Lake trout are now one of the primary targets for anglers at East Musquash.

I would encourage anyone with historical information relative to the establishment of lake trout in East Musquash to contact me at the Enfield Regional Office at 732-4131 or at gordon.kramer@maine.gov. I would also encourage anglers that are looking for a new togue water to give East Musquash a try.

It is not often that we purposely identify big fish from regional lakes and ponds for the intention of attracting attention to that water body. This is an exception. We have been stocking Billfish Pond, a deep pond in the northeast section of Baxter State Park with wild origin fall fingerling brook trout, and the results have been very gratifying.

Fish up to 5 pounds have been noted in recent years, but there is a problem. Catch rates are low. Trout at Billfish Pond very finicky eaters, and if you don’t give them what they want, no luck! Word of those low catch rates has started to keep anglers away. I would like to change that and encourage anglers that don’t mind a three-mile walk to give Billfish Pond a try sometime this summer or fall. Flyfishers that are willing to go deep and be patient will be rewarded.

Regulations at Billfish are S-4 (no live fish as bait), S-17 (2 trout, 10-inch minimum length limit, only 1 may exceed 12 inches) and S-23 (open Oct. 1-31), artificial lures only and all fish must be released alive at once). Baxter Park has a canoe at Billfish that can be reserved at the Matagamon gatehouse, and the park also takes reservations for a campsite at Billfish.

We are concerned about the low catch and harvest at Billfish, and we are encouraging anglers to keep some of the small to medium sized fish for the pan! Other ponds in the area that have campsites available for rent are High Pond, Long Pond, and the Fowler Ponds, all with excellent populations of brook trout.

– Nels Kramer

Aroostook County

Maine is the only state in the contiguous 48 states that supports natural populations of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) that are closely related to brook trout and lake trout, both of which are well-known sport fish. Artic charr, with common names of sunapee trout, blueback trout or silver charr, are rare – they occur naturally in only 12 lakes and ponds in Maine.

Arctic charr are relatively small fish that prefer colder, deeper water than brook trout and thus are more difficult to catch. Few anglers target them exclusively; more commonly they are angled for secondary to brook trout, as most ponds that support charr also support very good brook trout fisheries.

They exhibit a wide range of coloration: non-breeding color is pale and silver lacking the red/blue spots typical of brook trout; breeding coloration is usually a striking orange/yellow in males. Arctic charr, with common names of Sunapee trout, blueback trout or silver charr, are rare – they occur naturally in only 12 lakes and ponds in Maine.

In recent years, a significant amount of genetic work has been focused on Arctic charr in Maine. Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is currently cooperating with University of Maine researchers studying how the species evolves in different environments. In the past three decades the department attempted to establish additional charr populations to conserve the species in Maine. As a result, two new populations were established.

By taking a close look at these new populations and comparing them to the original stock, we may begin to understand how the species evolves and adapts to a new environment. Other work in the recent past also revealed the uniqueness of each charr population in Maine; the results indicated that each of the twelve populations are highly differentiated from one another and represent important gene pools that deserve independent protection. It is the Department’s focus to conserve these populations while still allowing some angling opportunity for a rare species.

Charr populations typically exist in mountainous areas of Maine, many of which are on public holdings: Baxter Park, State Public Land, or Nature Conservancy. Arctic charr in Maine are very sensitive to introductions of other fish species. They usually do not occur with significant predators or competitor species such as lake trout or landlocked salmon. For example, the Rangeley Lakes region once supported “blueback trout” but were extirpated probably through the introduction of landlocked salmon and rainbow smelt. The 11 natural charr waters open to fishing are listed below for those anglers seeking a unique angling experience in Maine:

Aroostook County: Black Pond, T15R9; Deboullie Lake, T15R9; Gardner Lake, T15R9; Pushineer Pond, T15R9; Hancock County: Green Lake, Dedham; Piscataquis County: Rainbow Lake, Rainbow Twp.; Big Reed Pond, T8R10; Wadleigh Pond, T8R15; Wassatoquoik Lake, T4R10; Somerset County: Bald Mountain Pond, T2R3; Penobscot Lake, Dole Brook Twp.

– Frank Frost

Moosehead Lake region

Over the past two weeks the Greenville Staff has traveled extensively throughout the region. During the week of July 11th we conducted a habitat survey in approximately a 1- mile section of Webster Stream from the outlet of Telos Dam to Webster Lake. We mapped potential brook trout spawning areas based on appropriate substrates, water depths, and velocity. Velocities and depths were measured in these areas under leakage conditions and at a set release from Telos Dam. As part of this survey we also evaluated likely fishing areas throughout this reach.

While conducting our work on Webster Stream we spent an afternoon at Thissell Pond to evaluate the condition of one of two artificial spawning boxes utilized by wild brook trout in the pond. Greenville staff plans on rebuilding one of these boxes later this summer in hopes that the trout will better utilize this box this fall.

After we finished our work on Webster Stream and Thissell Pond we made our way to Allagash Lake via Allagash Stream for a couple of days of field work. We surveyed a small pond, which lies approximately 1/2 mile south of Allagash Lake. As a result of the survey we determined that there were only minnows present in this 5-acre pond. This muddy-bottom shallow pond had a maximum depth of 5 feet. We were a bit disappointed that this was not a sweet little trout pond but the next pond we survey could hold some beautiful trout. That is part of the fun in surveying a never been surveyed pond you never know what you might find.

We would like to thank the Allagash Wilderness Waterway staff for their assistance in the field and for allowing us to use their facility while conducting our work in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway.

– Jeff Bagley