The latest news about Maine lakes and ponds.

Paltry Catches Sound Alarm Bells for Sebago Lake`s Togue Fleet

July 16, 2008 - CASCO — Sebago Lake`s story has been one of uncertainty for more than three decades -- ever since 1972, when a biologist with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife decided to stock togue in the second largest Maine lake, known for its salmon fishing.

Some local fishermen who fish the lake weekly, if not daily, think they finally see an ending to this fish tale -- and it`s not happy.

Last year`s fishing season was believed to be a good one, and maybe even signaled the start of a new era on Sebago with 5- and 6-pound salmon caught regularly. But so far this year, reports coming into the local anglers association suggest that Sebago`s game fishery is not on the rise -- or ever will be again.

``It`s going to hell. Without the smelts, you don`t have salmon,`` said George Mannette, 81, of the lack of baitfish swimming in the lake this year.

This is why Don Allen of Casco and Jim Hathaway of Naples were fishing the east side of Sebago Lake last week for togue, while other members of ``the Togue Fleet`` were fishing the west.

The Togue Fleet are members of the Sebago Anglers Association who fish for togue to help cull the population of fish that has out-competed the salmon for food and consequently decreased the salmon`s numbers.

The larger togue can live on many sources of food; however, landlocked salmon require smelts in their diet to grow and survive. When the togue beat out the salmon for the smelts, the salmon suffer.

Allen and Hathaway fished for four hours last Monday and caught nothing. That happens, said Allen, president of the anglers association.

But Hathaway paints a different picture.

He said he normally averages seven to eight fish a day. But this year, it has been one to three fish.

``Fishing on Sebago this year is down. It has not been as productive,`` said Hathaway as he studied his three still lines streaming from Allen`s boat.

``I`d much rather catch a 5-pound salmon than a 10-pound togue,`` Hathaway said. ``But there aren`t that many salmon in the lake anymore.``

Both men say the lake`s smelt population, the chief food of the salmon and togue, is way down, and that has hurt the salmon`s numbers.

That was the feeling even before Allen and Hathaway got talking about Sebago`s latest, more dangerous threat: the northern pike, an enormous invasive species that also eats smelts -- as well as salmon.

``That`s savage,`` Allen said of the large, voracious fish.

But whether the slow fishing is a result of the northern pike eating all the baitfish or the overwhelming numbers of togue, the feeling among anglers is that fishing Sebago Lake is different from what it once was.

Longtime students of Sebago, such as Mannette, who has fished it for 70 years and founded the Sebago Anglers Association in 1993, feel they know the reasons for the sudden slump.

Mannette said the best year he fished Sebago was in 1992, the year he retired and caught 500 salmon. From there, it`s gone downhill.

There was some hope from 2003 to 2005 when the association stocked sea-run smelts, he said. Mannette credits the club`s stocking program with last year`s positive season.

But Mannette said the association decided the program was a waste when last year`s banner fishing season did not continue into this spring. Now, fishermen cannot find smelts in the stomachs of the togue they catch, and they have not seen schools of the baitfish running in the lake.

``The togue ate them all this winter,`` Mannette said. ``The fishery is going downhill. Mother Nature will have to sort it out on her own.``

Francis Brautigam, the state`s regional fisheries biologist in southern Maine, disagrees. Brautigam said the smelt population has not vanished, it`s just decreased temporarily.

``The smelt run this year was not as robust as the last two years... The smelt population is pretty volatile. It`s up and down in most of the lakes and ponds,`` Brautigam said.

In fact, Brautigam said, the salmon fishing in Sebago last year was the best in 40 years, and that is a sign Sebago still has the potential to be a great salmon fishery.

However, he adds that the department`s decision in 1972 to introduce togue from upstate New York into Sebago Lake was short-sighted.

``In certain respects, that was successful. The downside with the introduction was that at the time, there was a lack of awareness that the new introduction would have an impact on the smelt and subsequently on the salmon population,`` Brautigam said.

Allen called it a big mistake.

But like some fishermen, the 71-year-old said he will continue to fish Sebago for another 10 or 15 years, regardless what kind of fishery it becomes.

Does he expect the salmon, the ``king fish,`` will still be there for him to catch?

``Oh sure. It`s a cyclical thing,`` Allen said, hopefully. ``It`ll change.``

Others in the Togue Fleet are doubtful.

``Who knows?`` Hathaway said as the two men motored home after four hours of fishing without a fish to show.

``If they don`t do anything and let the northern pike run its course? Probably no.``

By DEIRDRE FLEMING, Portland Press Herald, July 13, 2008


Lakes: Sebago Lake
Regions: Sebago


Print this story

Email this story

return to Lake News