Salmon are biting, but anglers not lining up

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When Ken Clark headed to the Penobscot River on Wednesday, he was prepared for a long day of fishing for Atlantic salmon.

“I came down, brought my chair and a book to read, to spend pretty much most of the day,” Clark said.

The water had finally receded from the flood level that greeted anglers on May 1, the river’s first spring opening day since 1999.

As it turned out, Clark didn’t need the entire day.

Not even close.

“I was prepared,” he said. “But 20 minutes later, I was done.”

Done, because according to the rules that regulate this year’s experimental catch-and-release season, an angler must stop fishing as soon as he hooks and releases a fish.

Clark’s fish – the first caught on the river this year – was about 27 inches long and weighed 8-10 pounds. Years ago, that first spring fish would have been the “Presidential Salmon,” and Clark would likely have headed to Washington to hand his catch to the sitting president.

Nowadays, fishermen aren’t even allowed to remove the fish from the water, and this year’s first fish was quickly released.

Clark followed the rules and sat out the rest of the day, but when he returned on Thursday, he found that he had a bit more company.

“There were probably five or six rods in the rack,” he said. “But that’s to be expected.”

Good news does travel fast.

According to one river-watcher, between five and seven fish have been caught thus far.

Norm Dube, a biologist for the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ Bureau of Sea-Run Fisheries and Habitat, said Monday that although anglers are required to report each fish, the person in Augusta who tallies the total was out of the office. Thus, an exact catch total wasn’t immediately available.

Dube said that even after the first fish was caught, the census clerks who are patrolling the salmon clubs and talking with anglers aren’t reporting much fishing pressure thus far.

“My census clerks are finding five or six people out there at a time,” Dube said. “I would have expected 50 to 60. It’s really a little bit disappointing.”

Dube said he’s also a bit surprised at how few anglers bought licenses for the monthlong season.

Dube said a total of 91 licenses have been sold. Of those, 81 were resident licenses, six were for nonresidents, two were for nonresident juniors and two more were three-day permits sold to nonresidents.

“We expected a lot more than that,” Dube said. “I think [during] the fall fishery, the first season it was run [in 2006] was more than 200 licenses.”

Dube said the salmon trap at the Veazie Dam was put in on Tuesday, and fish arrived on Wednesday. According to local fly shop owner Gayland Hachey’s Web site, 23 salmon had been trapped through Saturday.

On Monday, a handful of anglers were trying their luck on the Eddington side of the river. At one point, four fishermen worked their way down through the Eddington pool while another three anglers had rods in the riverside rack and were waiting for their turn on the water.

Across the river, the Veazie shore was virtually empty.

The parking lot at Veazie was crowded at mid-morning, but only a single angler was casting flies. The rest of the men and women were playing cribbage, socializing or taking care of few yard chores at the club.

David Worcester of Brewer decided to fish the Eddington side and had an experience similar to Clark’s.

“I was planning to [fish all day],” he said.

That didn’t happen. After about 10 minutes of fishing in front of the Eddington Salmon Club, Worcester hooked a fish that he said weighed between eight and nine pounds.

The fish was the first Worcester had caught on the Penobscot in 10 years. He said he’s one of the anglers who appreciates the chance to fish on his home river again.

“It’s great,” he said. “Now I don’t have to go up to the Matapedia.”

And hours after releasing his fish, he was still near the river, chatting with fellow anglers and hoping to see someone else catch a salmon.

One by one, the anglers took up their positions at the top of the Eddington pool, then began the process of working their way down the river.

Cast a few times, take a step. Cast a few more, take a step.

Standing by, watching the others, was Worcester.

Like Clark, he was happy to stop fishing much earlier than he’d expected. Salmon are finicky, after all, and many times, a day of salmon fishing turns out to be nothing more than an enjoyable day of casting practice.

“That’s all right [that I had to stop fishing],” he said with a grin. “We’ve got tomorrow.”

jholyoke@bangordailynews.net

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