Rivers, streams best bet on first day of open-water fishing

loading...

On Tuesday morning, as is the custom in this neck of the woods, avid anglers will gather up their gear, hop into their trucks and head for a favorite fishing hole.

Yes, it snowed in Bangor (again) on Friday. Yes, it’s going to be a bit chilly all weekend.

And yes, come Tuesday, open-water anglers will celebrate opening day … if they can find some open water.

Brian Campbell, a state fisheries biologist specialist who works out of the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’s Enfield office, chuckled Friday morning at the notion of open-water fishing.

Winter has relaxed its frosty grip near Bangor, and patches of mud vie with stubborn piles of snow in the city’s parks.

Head a bit farther north, however, and you find that spring is a mere rumor at this point.

“There’s plenty of ice,” he said. “I don’t know of any [lake] that’s near to going out.”

Over on Moosehead Lake, where guide Dan Legere keeps track of trends and files a periodic fishing report, ice and snow are plentiful.

“Snowmobiling is still the No. 1 activity,” Legere said in an e-mail earlier this week.

The No. 1 activity? Sure. But that doesn’t mean that avid anglers won’t be looking for some options come Tuesday.

I could suggest that this might be the year to forego that annual search for open water.

I won’t do that for a simple reason.

If you’re like me, you won’t listen. If you’re like me, you’ll be out there … somewhere … trying to trick a frosty fish into taking your fly.

Even if most fishing holes are still frozen over. Even if the fish aren’t likely to bite.

Even if you’re going freeze your fingers … and toes … and complain about it for weeks afterward.

It is, after all, opening day. And there has to be open water somewhere.

Right?

Head east, young man

So, you’re determined to get out fishing on opening day, and you want a few ideas. I spoke with a few fishermen and biologists, put together a list and have two pieces of advice.

First, head east.

Second, look for flowing water.

Of course, you probably already guessed as much, seeing as how all your buddies are going ice fishing on the local lake this weekend (while you decided to stay home to sort through your fly boxes).

Here then, are a few ideas you might consider.

“There’s always Grand Lake Stream,” said Rick Jordan, the state’s head fisheries biologist for the Down East region. “It’s definitely open water.”

Open water? Yes. Fish? Who knows?

Either way, Grand Lake Stream is an opening day hotspot, as anglers typically vie for spots in the popular dam pool. Some years, the fishing is hot. Other years, it’s not.

But that’s all part of the game, isn’t it?

Jordan explained that water at the Domtar-owned dam at West Grand Lake has been flowing pretty heavily for a couple of weeks and may have flushed some landlocked salmon downstream.

Or it may not have.

“The reason people go there [on opening day] is that West Grand is such a big lake, and so many salmon drop out of the lake to spawn, and then they [spend the] winter there,” Jordan said. “If high flows don’t make them drop out of the stream, they’re still there.”

Jordan said he donned a scuba suit and dove in the dam pool about 15 years ago, and was stunned at what he saw on the day before the season opened.

“The salmon were so thick that it was like going through a school of herring,” Jordan said. “There were probably 600 to 800 salmon in the pool.”

While Friday’s flow at the dam was high – 1,870 cubic feet per second as of 11 a.m. – Domtar’s hydro superintendent said that will change in time for opening day.

“Barring any hurricane coming through, we’re going to make two gate changes [at the dam] on Monday, and two more on Tuesday,” Donna Adams said. “I want to try to get them to fishable levels, but I’ve got so much water to move, I’m going to wait until Tuesday [to make final adjustments].”

Jordan said the stream is easiest to wade when the flow is between 100 and 600 cfs. Domtar’s Adams said that on opening day, the stream will be running between 300 and 1,000 cfs.

While popular on opening day, Grand Lake Stream is not the only option for open-water anglers.

Not even close.

Some coastal streams in Waldo, Lincoln and Hancock counties will likely be accessible, and Jordan said he received a report from Mount Desert Island that bodes well.

“The outlet end of Echo Lake has got some open water,” Jordan reported, “and the southern end of Long Pond, which is a 900-acre pond, has some open water, but the shore is still iced in. You probably won’t be able to get a boat in on April 1, but if we get some sun, rain and wind, it might open up enough to get a boat in on that southern end pretty soon.”

Anglers on Echo Lake can target brook trout and an occasional landlocked salmon, while Long Pond fishermen catch salmon.

Jordan says anglers who are willing to put a few miles on their vehicles are likely to find some spots to fish.

“To the extent that people want to drive down Route 9 or Route 1 to the places the large streams cross, there will be some open water,” Jordan said.

Jordan said the West Branch of the Union River off Tannery Loop in Amherst would be a good place to look for brookies. The Route 9 bridges over the Narraguagus River in Beddington, the Machias River in Township 31 and the East Machias River in Crawford could also offer fishing opportunities.

Especially in rivers that hold protected Atlantic salmon, Jordan cautioned anglers to carefully check the fish they decide to keep.

“Once they get onto these salmon rivers, they want to make sure they know the difference between juvenile [Atlantic] salmon and brook trout,” he said. “Salmon have a lot of black spots above their lateral line, and they have a forked tail. Brook trout have creamy spots and a square tail.”

Jordan said that over the past several years, brook trout populations in his region have grown substantially, thanks to three years of consistent water.

“Brook trout populations really blossomed in the flowing waters [in the three years before last year],” Jordan said. “So there is truly the chance of catching a 12- to 16-inch brook trout in some of these rivers and streams. That’s something I’ve never been able to say in my career.”

And that’s saying something: Jordan’s career at the DIF&W spans 36 years.

Jordan said coastal streams provide another option, and anglers may catch sea-run brook trout, also called “salters.”

“I know a lot of people catch them on April 1, even in a year like this,” Jordan said.

Farther south, reader Frank Richards suggests the open water at the outlet of Webber Pond in Vassalboro. There’s a parking lot, he said, and plenty of water.

“No guarantees on results, but it’s a good spot,” Richards wrote.

The St. George River, which meanders through several midcoast towns, is another good bet to find open water.

And up north? Well, there are options … but they’re not as plentiful.

Campbell, who works out of Enfield, said Millinocket Stream is one option.

“We did stock that in the fall, and it’s open year-round,” he said. Nesowadnehunk Deadwater on the West Branch of the Penobscot River is another popular destination, according to Campbell.

And some anglers will head to the open water between South Twin and Quakish lakes, outside of Millinocket.

“That’s open, and that’s pretty good fishing,” Campbell said.

Over toward Moosehead, Legere said both the East Outlet and West Outlet of the Kennebec River sport open water.

A personal choice: The East Outlet is much bigger water, and can be dangerous on a summer day. Legere said flows on the East Outlet have been very high lately. The smaller, more manageable West Outlet might be a tamer (and safer) opening-day choice.

Anglers often fish at West Outlet’s small dam on Moosehead Lake and haul nice brook trout and salmon out of the little pool.

Whatever you decide on opening day, have fun. And most importantly, be safe.

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

990-8214

OPEN WATER

. Washington County: Grand Lake Stream.

. Mount Desert Island: Echo Lake, Long Pond.

. The West Branch of the Union River off Tannery Loop in Amherst.

. The Route 9 bridges over the Narraguagus River in Beddington, the Machias River in Township 31 and the East Machias River in Crawford.

. The outlet of Webber Pond in Vassalboro.

. The St. George River.

. Nesowadnehunk Deadwater on the West Branch of the Penobscot River.

. The area of water between South Twin and Quakish lakes, outside of Millinocket.

. Toward Moosehead, the East Outlet and West Outlet of the Kennebec River.