02-01-2007, 12:09 PM
[font "Times New Roman"]After a delay of nearly 4 weeks, winter finally arrived in Maine with long-awaited icy blasts laying down sheets of ice on eastern Maine’s lakes and ponds like a natural Zamboni resurfacing an ice rink. Winter anglers, families, and kids were out in force punching holes through 4-12” of ice with everything from chisels and hand augers to chain saws and power ice auger. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Many anglers were surprised and thrilled to land brook trout in the 15-18” range adding to the action from 7-10” trout at ponds like Indian Lake in Whiting (10-12” of ice), Keene’s Lake in Calais, Montegail Pond in Centerville, and Goulding Lake in Robbinston. Hancock County anglers experienced similar catches at Lower Hadlock Pond in Northeast Harbor, Bubble Pond in Bar Harbor, Jacob Buck Pond in Bucksport, and Craig Pond in Orland. Winter creel survey clerk Joe Overlock reported seeing numerous kids having the time of their lives catching some big brook trout. Some of these fisheries are drawing in anglers from miles away to join in the action.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Biologist Greg Burr checked anglers on 3 lakes. At Long Pond in Mount Desert, anglers caught several landlocked salmon while fishing on 4-10” of ice. Most of the salmon had been released to catch again on another day! At Pleasant River Lake in Beddington, anglers fished on 8-10” of ice and caught splake from 12-16” long, along with a few large salmon (>20”) stocked after the fall “egg take” at the Grand Lake Stream Hatchery. And at Hopkins Pond in Mariaville, there was a lot of fishing effort directed at last fall’s stocking of 6,000 7-9” brook trout, while other anglers targeted lake trout in the 20-24” range.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Angler checks at Jones Pond in Gouldsboro showed numerous anglers fishing on 8-12” of ice with reports of brown trout in addition to pickerel and perch. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Splake were biting at Fitts Pond (8” of ice) in Eddington and biting well at Heart’s Pond (7-9” of ice) in Orland, where some splake over 16” were caught.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Craig Pond provided a mixed bag of action, with anglers catching brook trout, salmon, and a togue while fishing on 7-12” of ice.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Anglers are cautioned to use great care in where they travel on the lakes. Ice thickness is notably less over deep water than along the shallow coves and near shore.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]West Grand Lake opens to fishing on February 1. While some of the coves like Farm Cove and Dyer Cove are reported to have areas with 10-12” of ice, a big part of West Grand from Munson Island to the Beartrap Shore was the last section of the lake to freeze, so ice thickness is unknown. Anglers should use extreme caution on selecting areas of West Grand for fishing and travel until more information is available.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]-Rick Jordan, Regional Fishery Biologist[/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"]Many anglers were surprised and thrilled to land brook trout in the 15-18” range adding to the action from 7-10” trout at ponds like Indian Lake in Whiting (10-12” of ice), Keene’s Lake in Calais, Montegail Pond in Centerville, and Goulding Lake in Robbinston. Hancock County anglers experienced similar catches at Lower Hadlock Pond in Northeast Harbor, Bubble Pond in Bar Harbor, Jacob Buck Pond in Bucksport, and Craig Pond in Orland. Winter creel survey clerk Joe Overlock reported seeing numerous kids having the time of their lives catching some big brook trout. Some of these fisheries are drawing in anglers from miles away to join in the action.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Biologist Greg Burr checked anglers on 3 lakes. At Long Pond in Mount Desert, anglers caught several landlocked salmon while fishing on 4-10” of ice. Most of the salmon had been released to catch again on another day! At Pleasant River Lake in Beddington, anglers fished on 8-10” of ice and caught splake from 12-16” long, along with a few large salmon (>20”) stocked after the fall “egg take” at the Grand Lake Stream Hatchery. And at Hopkins Pond in Mariaville, there was a lot of fishing effort directed at last fall’s stocking of 6,000 7-9” brook trout, while other anglers targeted lake trout in the 20-24” range.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Angler checks at Jones Pond in Gouldsboro showed numerous anglers fishing on 8-12” of ice with reports of brown trout in addition to pickerel and perch. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Splake were biting at Fitts Pond (8” of ice) in Eddington and biting well at Heart’s Pond (7-9” of ice) in Orland, where some splake over 16” were caught.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Craig Pond provided a mixed bag of action, with anglers catching brook trout, salmon, and a togue while fishing on 7-12” of ice.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Anglers are cautioned to use great care in where they travel on the lakes. Ice thickness is notably less over deep water than along the shallow coves and near shore.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]West Grand Lake opens to fishing on February 1. While some of the coves like Farm Cove and Dyer Cove are reported to have areas with 10-12” of ice, a big part of West Grand from Munson Island to the Beartrap Shore was the last section of the lake to freeze, so ice thickness is unknown. Anglers should use extreme caution on selecting areas of West Grand for fishing and travel until more information is available.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]-Rick Jordan, Regional Fishery Biologist[/font]
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