By Wayne Hooper
Moosehead Lake in Maine is a beautiful lake, spanning 74,890 acres with a maximum depth of 246 feet. It is between 35 and 40 miles long and between 2 and 10 miles wide, depending on where you are in the lake. It has a shoreline of 400 miles. It is the largest mountain lake in the eastern United States.
The most sought-after fish to be found in Moosehead Lake are: Landlocked salmon, lake trout, brook trout, and burbot, (cusk). However, the lake also has plenty of round whitefish, rainbow smelt, white perch, yellow perch, longnose sucker, white sucker, rompout, (bullhead), threespine stickleback, pumpkinseed sunfish, slimy sculpin, minnows, lake chub, golden shiner, common shiner, redbelly dace, finescale dace, Fathead minnow, blacknose dace, creek chub, fallfish, pearl dace and the fish they are trying to get rid ofâthe smallmouth bass.
The Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department has, for years, blamed fishermen for illegally stocking smallmouth bass in the lake, which they consider to be the Jewel of the East.
There is no argument that Moosehead is a good fishery, but it has been years since it was a fantastic fishery. The reasons are not all known as to why the fishery has decreased, but the following information gives us an idea of what has happened to the lake.
Yellow perch were introduced to Moosehead Lake in the mid 1950s, smallmouth bass in the mid-1970s, and white perch in 1984. The establishment of these three species severely compromises the lakeâs potential to sustain a high quality wild brook trout fishery. Lake whitefish once occurred in Moosehead Lake but have disappeared. A few persisted until the early 1970s. Eels were present in Moosehead Lake prior to the construction of Harris Dam at the outlet of Indian Pond on the Kennebec River.
The fishery at Moosehead Lake is influenced by the abundance of togue, (lake trout). When their numbers increase, togue out compete salmon for the available forage: smelts. Salmon abundance and growth rates decrease. Survival and growth conditions for salmon improve as togue abundance decreases. These changes occur over periods of several years.
The success of the three major river fisheries (Roach, Moose, East Outlet rivers) associated with Moosehead Lake is directly related to the lake’s adult salmon and brook trout. These are fisheries of great regional and statewide significance. Lake management must consider any potential impacts to the river fisheries.
Unique because of its size, wide-open expanses of water, scenic views, and miles of relatively undeveloped shoreline, Moosehead Lake is a true gem in a state that contains untold numbers of scenic wonders.
Moosehead Lake has been a famous sport-fishing destination for more than a century and a half. The lake’s deep, cold, well-oxygenated water is ideal habitat for salmon, togue, and brook trout.
Several tributaries and the outlet provide habitat for the natural reproduction of salmon and brook trout. Lake trout utilize the lake’s many rocky shoals and boulder shoreline for spawning.
The reason that I would like to fish it is the smallmouth bass roaming the lake.
The Maine IF&W will not allow bass tournaments on the lake and actually encourage fishermen to catch and kill all smallmouths. They still think that this lake is, or can be, the tour and salmon fishery that it once was.
Talk to the motel, hotel and restaurant owners and all youâll hear is that the lake hasnât been a âGemâ for a long, long time. Oh, itâs still a great fishery, depending on what species youâre after, but the days of big brook trout or salmon are gone. There are too many fish competing for the minnows, dace and smelt and not enough of the rainbow smelt to go around. Of course, the way the IF&W see it, it is the smallmouths fault.
I think Moosehead has been mismanaged for years and all you have to do is look over the border at nearby Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire to see all the same fish that Moosehead has plus largemouth bass and pickerel all surviving nicely even with over 150 bass tournaments a year and two major open water fishing tournaments for trout and salmon taking place.
I want to fish it so I can catch four-pound smallmouths on just about every cast. I want to be able to have five smallmouths that weigh over 20-pounds. Iâm greedy for a boatload of these fish that try to tear the rod out of your hand.
For information about Moosehead Lake and its hotels, motels, inns, restaurants and recreational opportunities please contact: http://www.mooseheadlake.org/: or at: 1-888-876-2778
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