According to Maine tradition, Wednesday, April 1, will mark the beginning of open-water fishing season.
According to Mother Nature — and at least one fisheries biologist — it’s still ice fishing season on specified lakes and ponds that remain open to the activity as long as there’s still a safe winter coat of ice present.
“I think we’re still making ice at this point,” biologist Tim Obrey of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said this week in response to an email. “So don’t look for any open-water fishing on our ponds until at least mid-April.”
Obrey, regional biologist for the area that includes Greenville and Moosehead Lake, said even finding flowing-water options will be tough.
“The uppermost section of the East Outlet of the Kennebec is open, as [is] the entire West Outlet,” he wrote. “Fishing can be tricky with a lot of shell ice along the edge of the rivers, so use extreme caution. Fly fishing is very spotty this time of year, but a warm day can spark some activity.”
Luckily for diehard anglers, there are still several fishing options in Obrey’s neck of the woods — as long as you haven’t packed your ice auger away.
“It looks like we will have very good conditions for an extended winter season on our Group A waters [where ice fishing is allowed after April 1],” he wrote. “The best places to hit near Greenville are Fitzgerald (Mountain View) Pond and Prong Pond. Both are stocked heavily with brook trout in the spring and fall. Harlow/Manhanock and Brann’s Mill ponds are good bets in the Dover-Foxcroft/Guilford area. Both ponds are stocked with trout and also have perch, bass and pickerel to keep the flags flying.”
Up in Enfield, regional biologist Gordon “Nels” Kramer echoed Obrey’s observation.
“It has been a very long winter, and conventional wisdom says we’re not going to see any open water on our lakes and ponds any time soon,” Kramer wrote.
That “conventional wisdom” has its doubters, he said, including some who say the amount of snow that fell on a fairly thin ice sheet on lakes has insulated those waters and resulted in less ice than might otherwise be there.
“We’re talking 18 to 24 inches of ice in many places around the region,” he wrote. “So if we get a couple of days of rain and warm weather to melt the snow the ice may go out, if not earlier than normal, at least around the average ice-out date. For Cold Stream Pond here in Enfield that would be around April 24. We’ll have to wait and see.”
The good news: Ice fishing in his region has picked up.
“Anglers are out in higher numbers than anytime this winter, and some fish are being iced in all the usual places,” he wrote. “East Grand is producing togue and cusk to beat the band, Junior [Lake] has produced some whitefish this winter, Pleasant Pond in Island Falls has also given up some salmon and Schoodic [Lake] has been pretty productive of late for togue and some larger salmon. Everywhere else [there] has been such a low number of anglers that it’s tough to say too much.”
Down East, regional biologist Greg Burr said the heavy snow created conditions that were tough on anglers for most of the winter. Now might be the best time to check out some of those lakes, as long as you’re careful and check conditions often.
“As safe ice persists and snow banks shrink, lakes that were previously almost inaccessible will become much easier to get to and find parking [at],” Burr wrote. “So as access conditions improve, a window of opportunity avails itself for anglers to take advantage of April ice fishing that could be some of the best of the year.”
Among Burr’s choices for good fishing into April: Tilden Pond, Rainbow Pond and Spring River Lake in T10 SD, Mopang Lake in Devereaux Township, Alligator Lake in T34 MD, Lakewood Pond in Bar Harbor, Cathance Lake and Vining Lake in Cooper, West Musquash Lake in Talmadge, Little Tunk Pond in Sullivan and Ackley Pond in Cutler.
As for open-water opportunities, the old favorites might be the only options.
“Finding open water come April 1 will be a challenge in the Down East region, but I do recommend three flowing-water areas where fishing for early spring landlocked salmon can be successful,” Burr wrote. “The are Grand Lake Stream in the village of Grand Lake Stream, the St. Croix River below the Vanceboro Dam in the village of Vanceboro and the St. Croix River below the Kellyland Power House in Baileyville.”
Burr said he expects lakes and ponds along the coast to lose their winter ice between April 18 and April 22, midregion waters to go out between April 24 and April 28, and big lakes such as West Grand to be ice-free by May 1.
