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Fall Fishing is a Treat

September 28, 2007 - The openwater fishing season is coming to an end, but Maine's fall fishing opportunities can be fantastic for trout and salmon. There's nothing like catching a beautiful male brookie in the fall with colors that rival our foliage or a feisty landlocked salmon. The Sebago Region is blessed vvith some great fall fishing opportunities, most lakes and ponds are open to catch and release fishing until the end of November and a fair number of rivers are open to year round fishing. Be sure to consult your law book for further details.

Fall fishing can be very productive and successful. Trout and salmon become more active as surface temperatures begin to cool and they become concentrated in specific areas as the spawning season approaches. Anglers that target larger tributaries, dam outlets, and thoroughfares in October and November can have some great days of fishing. It is not uncommon for us to hear from anglers catching some beautiful mature landlocks, browns, and other salmonids on lakes like Thompson (Oxford), Aubum (Aubum), and Long Lake (Harrison). In addition, fall anglers also get the first crack at decent sized fall stocked fish (12-14"), which the hatcheries typically have out by the end of October. These fall stocked fish, as well as a few holdover trout have been producing a fantastic fall fishery at Crystal Lake in Gray. While this fishery has been in place for quite some time, anglers have had exceptional fishing off the town beach in recent years. Some good fall river fishing opportunities include the Presumpscot River in Windham, the Pleasant River in Windham, the Royal River (Yarmouth), the Saco River (below most of the dams), and of course the tide water fisheries (the Mousam, Salmon Falls, and Ogunquit Rivers). The only had thing about fall fishing is that it can compete with our time for other great fall activities like hunting.

Over the past couple of weeks the regional staff has been conducting quite a bit of stream electrofishing, and it appears to have been a great year for brook trout and salmon. The abundance of juvenile wild trout and salmon appears to be up, particularly on the Crooked River. We are quite pleased at the number of young-of-the-year and parr salmon observed at our four index sites on the Crooked River system, which is related to the recent improvements we have seen in the Sebago fishery, as well as favorable stream conditions this summer. For those that know the river, we expect the Crooked River will provide some decent fall fishing providing vve get some rain to draw in the fish prior to the close of the season. Good luck!

American Journal
9.20.2007

Lakes: Thompson Lake
Regions: Sebago


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