April 1 is a great day for hunters and fishermen

By Julie Harris, Bangor Daily News Staff

If you love hunting or fishing or both, April 1 is a good day for you.

The application period for Maine’s annual moose lottery opens, it’s the first day of open water fishing and the list of the ponds and lakes in the state where ice-out has occurred is growing fast.

Hunting and fishing add millions of dollars to the state’s economy each year. A state report 10 years ago estimated those activities added $375 million to the Maine gross domestic product. Both have grown since then and the group Hunting Works for ME, a stakeholders group of primarily businesses that profit from hunting, lists hunting’s contribution to the economy at $363 million now, without adding fishing.

Maine’s popular moose permit lottery will close one minute before midnight on May 15. Applications will be accepted online only, and the successful hunters will be drawn on June  21 during the High Peaks Outdoor Heritage Festival at the Farmington Fairgrounds. 

Hunters who were awarded moose permits in the last three years should submit applications for points only. Accumulated points increase hunters’ chances of being drawn for a future permit. 

Last year, the state received 72,126 applications, a little more than a third of which came from non-residents. A total of 4,105 permits were issued, including 1,460 antlerless permits. Of the total, 3,712 permits were issued to Maine residents. Hunters killed 2,595 moose in the 2024 seasons, including the adaptive hunt.

After Maine’s best winter ice fishing season in recent memory, anglers are turning their attention toward getting their boats and fishing gear ready for the open-water season.

In the North Zone, which basically is western and northern Maine, open water fishing in lakes and ponds runs from April 1 until Sept. 30 and is closed Oct. 1-March 31. Rivers, streams and brooks are open April 1-Aug. 15 for any bait and from Aug. 16-Sept. 30 for artificial lures and flies only. It is closed to all fishing in those waters Oct. 1-March 31.

The South Zone lakes and ponds are open to fishing year-round, while rivers, streams and brooks follow the same rules as in the North Zone.

There are always exceptions to the rules on specific water bodies, so be sure to check the laws for wherever you are fishing.

And ponds and lakes are getting ready for open water fishing. The list of lakes and ponds on the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website where ice-out has occurred is growing. There were about nine on the list at the end of last week and by Tuesday, a total of 20 had been reported.

Ice fishing season officially closed on March 31 and fishermen must have their ice shacks off the lakes and ponds by the end of April 3, according to the law.