IFW Ice Fishing Report for March 15, 2014

For Immediate Release                                                                     March 15, 2014

IFW Ice Fishing Report For March 15, 2014

Compiled By Mark Latti with IFW Fisheries Biologists

Region A – Sebago Lakes Region

Anglers on Mousam Lake and the Range Pond chain did well this past weekend, as the weather warmed up if only for a short period of time.

Notable catches on Mousam included an 11-pound lake trout as well as a four-pound salmon.

“There still are some nice fish to be caught this season,” said IFW Fisheries Biologist Francis Brautigam. “This past weekend, we saw some nice coldwater fish landed.”

Along with the salmon, trout and togue, anglers are catching bass as well.

“There’s a much higher incidence of bass this time of year, and many of them are larger bass,” said Brautigam.

Anglers on Sebago are fishing throughout the lake, as the big bay has set up firmly. Anglers are catching lake trout, but many are finding that the lakers have been somewhat difficult to entice.

“They are seeing togue and a lot of bait on their fish finders, but most are saying that the lake trout are finicky,” said Brautigam.

Brautigam also wanted to remind anglers that with the weather we have been experiencing, anglers may very well be ice fishing into April.

Under the county rules section of the fishing law book, if there is still ice on the waterway and the body of water is open to ice fishing, anglers can continue to ice fish into April.

 

Region B – Central and Midcoast Area 

This time of year is a great time to target bass under the ice.

“Messalonskee Lake has good numbers of smallmouth bass,” says IFW fisheries biologist Jason Seiders, “There are good numbers of fish, you need to find that rocky habitat that is 20-30 feet deep and you should have success.”

Last week, a group fishing Messalonskee caught a number of smallmouth bass, averaging about 16” in length, with some up to 19”.

“They were in great condition as well, feeding heavily on baitfish. They were very fat,” said Seiders, who added that many anglers are still landing splake on Messalonskee as well.

Anglers are still catching lake trout on Maranacook, as well as smelts.

“We saw a 15 pound togue caught on Maranacook last week, and they seem to be averaging in the 5-6 pound range,” said Seiders.

Smelt fishing continues to be good, as anglers are getting them in deeper water using small tackle. Smelts are in the 5-6 inch range.

“They are catching them throughout the south basin, at depths of around 40 feet. There are good numbers of fish, but it can be tricky,” said Seiders who added that many jigging for smelts will also get an occasional white perch.

 

Region C -- Downeast

Even though fishing appeared to slow down a bit this month, last weekend’s nice weather enticed quite a few anglers.

“Ice fisherman were out in droves last weekend,” said IFW fisheries biologist Greg Burr. “Usually it slows down, but the weather was good and the travel conditions were excellent.”

According to Burr, they are still getting some salmon and togue on West Grand, but the fishing for bass and perch is really starting to come on

“Big bass are starting to get active this time of year, and people are catching some really nice fish,” said Burr, who added the recent storm may hamper travel conditions a bit, but there is still 22-28 inches of ice.

Many anglers who target salmon and trout early in the season, now focus on warmwater fish this time of year.

“It’s a great time to be out, it’s beautiful and warm. One group I know fishes hard for salmon and trout, but when March comes around, they shift to bass and are very successful,” said Burr.

While many anglers will drill holes and set up a number of traps, some anglers are more mobile, out with just a jig rod, searching for open holes, and are having quite a bit of success.

 

Region D – Rangeley Lakes 

In the Rangeley Lakes Region, anglers are still catching salmon and lake trout.

“I was out on Saturday on Clearwater and Porter Lakes, and anglers had caught a bunch of fish which is unusual as salmon fishing usually drops towards the end of March,” said IFW fisheries biologist Dave Howatt.

“I saw eight nice salmon on Saturday and a smattering of togue, brook trout and even some large bass,” said Howatt.

While many of the salmon were in the 16 inch range, there was one 20 inch salmon. Howatt did say travel was difficult on the lake with the frozen tracks, ruts and banks in the plowed areas but should smooth out with the recent snow.

In other parts of the region, there are still close to 50 shacks out on Webb Lake, and just north of Flagstaff Lake, they are still catching some trout on Spring Lake.

Speaking of Flagstaff, Howatt said he has heard some rumors of large salmon caught on the lake. He added that the lake is fairly underfished, but there are certain spots that some of the locals frequent and the do quite well catching cusk as well.

 

Region E – Moosehead Region

“Bring you auger extension,” are the words of wisdom emanating from IFW regional fisheries biologist Tim Obrey in the Moosehead Region. The recent storm dumped over 20 inches of snow in the region and Obrey added that the snow now reaches the top of his windows in his office.

Anglers have been busy on Moosehead, and Obrey said it has been a fairly typical winter with good catches of togue, a few salmon and good catches of trout early on in the season.

Obrey has visited Sebec Lake the last two weekends, surveying anglers. The fishing was very good to start the season, but has since slowed. Obrey said he saw mostly lake trout and a few salmon. The largest lake trout was seven pounds and there were a bunch in the four pound range.

While Obrey hasn’t been on Chesuncook for two weeks, it still offers some good salmon fishing.

Obrey did mention that if anyone still had ice shacks on area lakes, it would be prudent to jack them up and put them on blocks, as the recent snow and likely slush might freeze them in deep if they don’t.

 

Region F – Penobscot Region

If you want to fish the Penobscot region, Schoodic Lake is the place to be.

“I talked with one angler yesterday. He and a friend were on Schoodic and caught 24 togue. Three of them went out the following day and caught 36 togue. Most were in that 18-24” range along with a few larger ones,” said IFW fisheries biologist Nels Kramer.

Kramer did add that anglers are also having success handlining smelts on Schoodic as well.

“You can set a few traps, and jig some smelts while you wait for flags,” suggested Kramer.

Access onto Schoodic is very good with ample parking at the IFW boat ramp in Lakeview, and another ramp in Brownville. Kramer believes travel on the lake will be good since the winds blew hard during the storm, and much of the snow that fell on the lake drifted into the woods.