Moosehead Lake region fishing report

Up in the Moosehead Lake region, they are still catching fish on the big lake.

“The lake is still holding up and we are getting some good reports from Moosehead. Over the weekend, one angler caught a 2- and .75-pound salmon,” said Inland Fisheries Wildlife fisheries biologist Tim Obrey.

Water temps are still in the low to mid-60s on Moosehead, but that could change quickly. Obrey was out on Sebec Lake last week and it was 60 degrees, three days later the water temp was 65.

This cold spring, and others like it, are helping keep down the invasive smallmouth bass population in Moosehead. Cold spring temperatures and rapidly cooling water often push adult bass off the nests in order to survive. This can leave bass fry exposed to predators or delay spawning. If spawning is delayed, it can impact the winter survival of young of the year bass as they need to reach a certain size in order to survive the winter.

With low flows and warmer temperatures on many rivers, anglers are having good luck on the Moose River, which has a deeper discharge. Also, smelt fry born this past spring are dropping through, providing plenty of feed for salmon and trout in the river.

Caddis hatches are continuing on small ponds, as well as the East Branch of the Penobscot. Anglers are also getting ready for the green drake hatch, which usually coincides with July 4.

Biologists continue to monitor the East Outlet fishway, where they measure and weigh salmon and trout in the fishway on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from June 15 through the end of July. Monitoring the fishway is an important project, it provides biologists with updates on wildlife salmon production in the east outlet.

In the 1990s when the dam was relicensed, instream habitat improvements were made in order to provide more spawning areas for landlocked salmon, and it is working.

“When we first started monitoring, we were getting a few hundred salmon,” said Obrey. “After the relicensing and creation of more spawning areas, we have tripled natural salmon production.”

Brookfield Power, who operates the dam, works with IFW to provide access for anglers and to regulate flows that allow for successful salmon spawning. The East Outlet is a very popular fishery and is open late into the season, with one section open until the end of the year.