Moosehead Region fishing report
By Stephen Seeback, fisheries resource technician
Where to fish: The past few years we have seen a slow start to the season on our large hardwater fisheries that open on Jan. 1. Not due to the lack of fish, but the lack of ice!
Last year was the first time in my 24 years of conducting winter creel census on Moosehead Lake that I did not venture north of the back side of Mt. Kineo due to bad ice conditions. It was also the first time during my tenure the snowmobile trail that transverses the ice from the Rockwood parking lot over to Mt. Kineo, then to the Birches Resort, so to divert snowmobile traffic north of the inlet of the Moose River in Rockwood, was not marked due to poor ice. The ice conditions seen the last few years should be of concern to those anglers enjoying the improvements in the fishery we have experienced the last decade on Moosehead Lake. Bad ice conditions reduce the winter use and in turn results in a lower harvest rate of lake trout during the winter.
To compound these recent shortened seasons due to bad ice conditions, during the 2024 ice fishing season we estimated that anglers released 70 percent or 4,100 small lake trout less than 18 inches that they caught. Based on decades of creel census surveys and harvest estimates, we need anglers to harvest 3,000 to 4,000 of these lake trout less than 18 inches during the ice fishing season so we can continue, at a minimum, to see stable growth rates on our landlocked salmon and brook trout and to maintain an adequate forage base (a.k.a. smelt) that will maintain this growth. Even with a 5-fish daily bag limit on lake trout under 18 inches, anglers only harvested an estimated 1,800 fish under 18 inches during the 2024 ice fishing season on Moosehead Lake. The bottom line is Moosehead Lake needs help from the “Angling Public.” If anglers want to continue to see quality landlocked salmon and those monster brook trout, then anglers need to harvest more lake trout from Moosehead Lake!
Fishing tips: The hardwater season is the best time for anglers to help achieve this request by regional fisheries biologists to harvest more lake trout from Moosehead Lake. The average winter lake trout harvest on Moosehead Lake is roughly 72 percent of the total annual harvest. Lake trout are most susceptible to angler harvest during the ice fishing season. The novice hardwater angler can have relatively good success at catching lake trout on Moosehead Lake. With easy public access points located around the lake at Greenville Junction, Rockwood Landing, and Lily Bay State Park anglers have secure starting points to start their hardwater journey on Moosehead Lake.
Reminders: The Natural Resource Education Center at Moosehead will be holding its 18th Moosehead Lake Togue Derby Jan. 31 to Feb. 2. This is a great opportunity for anglers to come visit Moosehead Lake, support NREC’s mission of providing resource-based programming to visitors and residents of the region and to support the local community. While at the same time aiding in the request to harvest more lake trout. Who knows, maybe you could walk away with a nice door prize or that winning check for the largest togue of the weekend. More details for this event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/people/Moosehead-Lake-Togue-Derby/100085294253192/. Hope to see you on the ice!
Now that you have harvested a limit of Moosehead Lake togue what’s next? The following options are a few ideas to deal with your harvest. In Maine, an angler’s daily bag limit is their possession limit. So, once an angler reaches their possession limit, they will need to decrease their possession limit before any additional harvest of lake trout is allowed.
One option is to consume your catch. Need some recipe ideas? The Moosehead Lake Fisheries Coalition and their members have comprised a lake trout cookbook with numerous recipes that will make your mouth water, https://mooseheadlakecoalition.org/mlfc-lake-trout-cookbook/.
Another legal option would be to gift your catch to a family member, friend, or neighbor that doesn’t possess a valid fishing license but might enjoy some fresh fish. If you pick this option, make sure to plainly label the lake trout with the name of the person who gifted the fish and the year, month, and day the lake trout was caught by that person.
Lastly, you might check with your local food pantries to see if they would be interested in some donated lake trout. Whichever option you decide on you will be making a positive contribution to the Moosehead Lake Fishery, while allowing yourself more time to get back out on the ice and harvest another limit of lake trout from Maine’s largest lake.