Members of the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department have been spending time on Rapid Creek investigating and documenting brown trout and other fish species to determine how they are faring since the detection of didymo (didymosphenia geminata). Didymo was discovered on the creek at least five years ago.

Some of the general things we have learned about didymo presence in our waters is it likes cool, clear, moving water. The algae essentially chokes out other life, invertebrates, that are essential to the healthy survival of fish species such as trout. If didymo continues to grow and expand, it can pretty much wipe out a fish species in those waters. Scientists are looking at ways to stop the growth and spread of the algae.

According to the Rapid City Journal, members of the Game, Fish and Parks Department have been monitoring the Rapid Creek for about 5 years. What they have learned is that the majority of brown trout found now in the creek are all of the 4-5 inch variety with very few mature adults and virtually a non existence of fish of the 6-9-12 inch range.

In the photo above, members are in the water shocking the fish. They collect them and take statistics while placing them in a holding area in part of the stream. Officials are reporting that this year the presence of didymo seems to have eased and they have found not only some larger trout but the 6-9-10-inch trout that have been missing.

In addition, scientists have been releasing nutrients, fertilizers, into parts of the stream that they think will help reduce the didymo. What they don’t know is if this apparent easing of the effects is the result of the nutrient release or a natural occurrence.

We also know that this algae in microscopic in nature and can cling to most any object. Most notably, anglers and officials have warned that felt-bottom waders or any object with a porous surface is more apt to collect and retain didymo, so it can live longer and be spread to other waters. Information has been passed around with advice and directions on how to help stop the spread.

Because of its microscopic nature, it can be spread in several ways, some of which I just mentioned. It can be spread by wind, by birds, by animals such as deer, moose or any animal that enters the water, exits and moves on to the next body of water. Another method authorities have warned about is activity within a body of water that loosens or dislodges the algae allowing it to more downstream and further spreading its devastation.

In short, once didymo takes root in a body of water, it’s nearly impossible to stop its spreading, not only in that body of water but also to other bodies nearby or anywhere in the world. Until a method to eradicate is found, our efforts are spent hoping to slow the spread.

I know that scientists are doing work in other places in the U.S. as well as in New Zealand where the algae is also prominent.

I do have one question that perhaps someone more enlightened than I can shed more light on. I’m not trying to be critical. My intention is to ask questions, learn and pass that on to others so that we can all learn more about this. Here’s my question.

If didymo can be spread further downstream by boats, animals or anything moving through and disturbing the algae, then what precautions have the biologists being shown in the photograph above taken to make sure that doesn’t happen?

Anyone can leave their comments below.

Tom Remington

If you missed the show on Skinny Moose Radio today at 3 p.m., you can now listen by streaming the audio right here or going to the Skinny Moose Radio website and downloading it as a podcast or saving it to your computer and listen at your leisure.

My guest today was Kristine Shreve, Director of Marketing for Gun Safety Innovations. We talked extensively about hunting safety and in particular tree stand safety. Gun Safety Innovations has developed a product that will not only allow you to safely raise and lower your weapon from your tree stand and to secure it and prevent it from falling out of your stand.

In addition to tree stand safety, we also discussed outdoor industry networking including bloggers and the impact this is having on hunting and the outdoor sports industry.

Click on the player below to listen to the show or go to the website to download.

[AUDIO:http://www.skinnymoose.com/downloads/openair9-27.mp3]

Tom Remington

Too often we hear about the great fishing in the west, eastern Canada, Alaska or down under but some of the best fishing can be found in the state of Maine as the below photos and captions attest.

Dennis Bolduc Photo – This picture was taken by Dennis’ brother-in-law, Don Bessey. They were fishing Wyman Lake in Bingham on Dennis’ birthday, June 11th, 2007. This beautiful rainbow trout was caught and released near the end of the day. It weighed 6.2 lbs and was 23 and a half inches long.

Dennis Bolduc Photo – This first picture was taken by Dennis on May 2nd, 2007. It is a 6 and a half pound ( 25 inches long ) landlocked salmon caught by Steve Day of Madison. It was caught in Sebago Lake.

Tom Remington

I want to take a moment to remind readers that a brand new broadcast of “Open Air With Tom Remington” will air today at 3 p.m. on Skinny Moose Radio.

Today’s show features an in depth interview with Kristine Shreve, Director of Marketing for Gun Safety Innovations, maker of the new tree stand safety device the Gun Slinger. Kristine and I discuss hunter safety with a focus on tree stand safety.

Following that, we spend some time talking about the importance of the outdoor blogoshere and how this is becoming a rapidly growing resource for all outdoor sportsmen. I hope you tune in.

If you can’t listen to the show at 3 p.m., as always we will provide a link to our website so you can listen to the show and all the shows at your leisure. I hope you will join me today at 3.

Tom Remington

From Mark Latti of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife:

The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has a Fisheries Research Section that is located in Bangor. These fisheries research biologists focus on issues that have statewide significance. The following report details two of the summer research projects conducted by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Research Section.

Stream Surveys and the Eastern Brook Trout Joint Venture

The summer of 2007 has been quite an exciting time for Maine streams and wild brook trout! Thanks to the support of the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, Trout Unlimited’s Embrace-A-Stream program, and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), we have had five field crews (ten surveyors) stationed in our regional offices dedicated to conducting stream surveys. This effort is allowing us to quickly add trout status and fish habitat information for about 175 watersheds statewide by surveying close to 1200 individual stream sites! This effort greatly increases our knowledge of streams by documenting all fish species encountered, the condition of the stream, potential passage barriers, and the quality of fish habitat. These factors are all vital for sound fisheries management. In order to maintain, improve or restore wild trout fisheries, managers need to have a basic understanding of what species inhabit certain areas, what their relative abundance is, what is the quality of the habitat for trout, and the condition and stability of the stream’s physical aspects.

The importance of accurate species identification
One task we needed to complete in order to get the most out of our statewide brook trout surveying efforts was the compiling of a Identification key for all the freshwater fishes of Maine. Previous guides to the freshwater fish of Maine did not include all of the state’s native species, sometimes focusing on sport fishes at the expense of some minnow species. Additionally, new species introduced into Maine need to be identified so that we can track their spread through the state.

In conjunction with Dave Halliwell of Maine DEP, we compiled a list of native and introduced fish species in Maine. We also included a few species that were not yet known to occur in Maine, but are likely to in the near future due to their proximity to the border. Using several guidebooks for the region (Freshwater Fishes of Northeastern US, Freshwater Fishes of New York, Freshwater Fishes of Canada, Freshwater Fishes of Massachusetts), we compiled an identification key that allows field crews to identify all Maine’s species using just one guide. Additionally, distribution maps for each species in Maine were included, using existing data from lake and stream surveys.

A recent review of Maine’s threatened and endangered species listing required that we review the status and distribution of all native freshwater fish in Maine. In several cases, it was difficult to discern whether a particular species was actually rare, or if it was a lack of survey information that made them appear to be uncommon. Using the species occurrence data from our surveys over the summers of 2007-08, we will be able to accurately and confidently expand our knowledge of many of the less obvious fish species in our state. It will also give us some baseline information on these species, so it might be possible in the future to assess increases or declines in their populations.

The importance of habitat quality
All fish species have habitat preferences where growth and survival are maximized. There is also a range of habitat conditions where individuals can survive and grow, but perhaps not to the best of their abilities. By cataloguing and assessing habitat conditions, we can identify areas or streams where optimal conditions exist, and hence manage those areas for maintaining optimal trout conditions as well as undertake strategies to maintain optimal habitat conditions. Large-scale survey efforts also document what streams may benefit from some habitat ‘tweaking’ to make conditions a little better for wild trout and hence, improve population size or condition.

Fish habitat includes all physical, chemical and biological aspects of stream ecosystems that are vital to sustaining fish populations. This includes everything from water quality (like temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen content) the physical aspects of the stream (such as pools, riffles, and in-stream cover like boulders and large woody debris) and co-habitating species that can be food resources, predators, or competitors. Streams are systems that are constantly fluctuating based upon the continual changes of all aspects always working toward a dynamic balance. Therefore, ‘habitat improvement’ or ‘restoration’ can take on many forms. Most are familiar with typical habitat improvement projects such as improving fish passage, stabilizing eroding stream banks or replanting riparian zones. These are strategies that attempt to mitigate or control certain aspects that contribute to substandard fish habitat. Many times, relatively simple actions, like replanting a riparian zone, can greatly improve stream shading as well as assist with reducing bank erosion and sediment inputs.

Maine’s land use history has left scars on our stream systems. All too often we see the hallmarks of degraded stream channels – overwidened channels with little to no instream structure, such as boulders or pools. These conditions contribute to degraded fish habitat because in an overwidened channel, the water tends to be not as deep and has a greater surface area that is generally less shaded than a properly sized channel. In addition, these streams usually have fewer pools and boulders that provide hiding areas and deep water refuges that trout need to access during stressful times, like the summer months when flows are generally lower and temperatures are higher. Techniques for improving these conditions towards a restored stream system differ depending on such factors as the degree of degradation, the position within the watershed, the surrounding land use, etc. It is important to note, however, that not every degraded stream is a candidate for restoration. Sometimes the stream is so ‘out of whack’ that it simply is not a candidate for restoration because the chance of success, coupled with the high costs involved, is quite low.

Hence, continuing our stream survey and assessment efforts is a high priority. We have to increase our baseline knowledge of our streams and fish habitats in a relatively short period of time. Then we’ll have a much better idea of where existing conditions are optimal for management goals, which areas are candidates for habitat restoration or improvement, or streams that may not offer many opportunities for improving fish habitat or are too unstable for effective restorative efforts.

· Merry Gallagher, Research Fishery Biologist and Chip Wick, Fishery Biology Specialist – Streams Research Group

Not According to Plan……

Every time a study is developed, there is always a keen interest in having everything proceed as planned with reams of useful data collected. Unfortunately things don’t always work out that way. Our recent endeavor with radio tagging round whitefish in the Kennebec River is such an example. A little background first though. During last winter an opportunity came about allowing IFW fisheries research staff, FPL Energy biologists, and UMO professor Dr. Stephen Coghlan to collaborate on a telemetry study focusing on habitat use and spawning of round whitefish inhabiting the Kennebec River between Wyman Dam in Bingham downstream to the Williams Dam in Solon. The FPL biologists and IFW biologists have recently teamed on a telemetry study in 2005 of lake trout in Moosehead Lake and another study in 2006 of stocked landlocked salmon and wild brook trout in the Moose River upstream of Brassua Lake. Each of these studies proceeded smoothly and we as a group had high hopes of success in our newest endeavor.

As much of the specifics are not known about the species life history in Maine, a detailed survey of worldwide literature was undertaken. What we found was there is not much in the literature about the species and most of the recent work was from eastern Siberia. I also focused on talking with researchers who have recently performed studies of riverine populations of other whitefish species here in North America. My efforts yielded two contacts, an Idaho Fish and Game biologist who recently studied mountain whitefish and a US Fish and Wildlife Service research biologist in Alaska who studied humpback whitefish. Unfortunately the Idaho study faired poorly, with all of the tagged fish perishing within a month. The study members were stymied as to why this occurred. The researcher in Alaska had excellent success with that study and provided some helpful suggests as we compared surgical techniques and the details of study design.

By spring we had a solid study team, a detailed plan of how the study was to be conducted, and all necessary telemetry equipment, which was generously provided by FPL Energy. In 2006, IFW biologists had sampled the Kennebec River one night with one of the department’s electrofishing boats and collected 16 whitefish, along with good numbers of rainbow trout and landlocked salmon, all of them in about two hours. As we launched the boat in late June our hopes were high that we would be able to quickly collect the 12 whitefish, implant the tags, and release them back to the river. Over the course of the night we collected everything but whitefish! We waited two weeks and returned, this time with the electrofishing raft in order to access pocket water in the shallow riffles. No luck again. A third trip ensued but we focused on a downstream area. Within five minutes of starting our first whitefish was collected! The surgery went flawlessly and the fish quickly swam away when released. Several more hours of sampling yielded no further whitefish. We tracked the tagged fish over the course of a week then had disappointment; the tag started emitting the mortality code. We recovered the tag in a pile of fish bones below a bald eagle’s nest along the river; all under the watchful eyes of two eaglets perched high above in the white pine. Back we went the following week and collected, tagged, and released four more whitefish one evening, hoping that the untimely demise of the first fish was a fluke. We followed these fish for a week. The day of our next collection event, we arrived early to track the fish before dark. One tag was heard down river near the eagle’s nest emitting the mortality code, a second fish was located in its original collection area, and two could not be found. We split up, one group floating the river to check on the one located fish and search for the other two and the other group heading down to the eagle’s nest to collect the tag. After a lot of walking around in 6 inches of water and 2 feet of mud in a shallow cove next to the eagle’s nest the tag was finally found. The two unheard tags were not located and the presumed “alive” fish’s tag was found in a fresh pile of eagle whitewash along the river’s edge. The biologists actually watched the eagle fly from a perch above when they approached the signal! Given our results we decided to halt our study activities for this year and rethink our approach to the study over the winter. Our efforts demonstrated that round whitefish were proving to be much more of a challenge compared to the myriad of other fish species we had collective performed telemetry studies with.

A recent flight by FPL biologists gave them an opportunity to look for the two missing tags. Nothing heard within a mile of the river corridor!

On the positive side, we did learn that:

1. bald eagle’s nesting along this section of river feed on fish in the river (be they dead, injured, or healthy);
2. river water temperature directly influences the use of shallow water habitat by whitefish;

and we also gathered length, weight, and age data was from whitefish as well as the same information from several dozen rainbow trout, landlocked salmon, and brook trout.

Joe Dembeck, Research Fisheries Biologist, Bangor Office.

Posted by Tom Remington

Yesterday’s broadcast on Skinny Moose Radio of “Open Air with Tom Remington”, went off pretty much without a hitch. With each successive broadcast, I get a little more comfortable and putting the show together becomes a bit more easy.

My guest yesterday was, once again, my son Steven, as we both work together to work the kinks out of the show but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have anything to talk about. We covered a little bit of baseball, in particular some Red Sox and Yankees coverage, football and the Patriots and Bill Belicheat, along with a host of other topics.

The focus of the show centered around the topic of wolves in the west and the title to a recent article about killing wolves, where the author of that article said that killing wolves violated the public trust. I spend ample time explaining why that is not true and that the fact is the when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, et. al. turned wolves loose in the Yellowstone area, that was a violation of the public trust. I share some history and information of how the U.S. was lied to about the reintroduction.

This topic will be expanded in future shows to show how much of what all hunters and outdoorsmen face today in battling the animal lovers, animal rights groups and anti-hunters is a direct relation to the reintroduction of wolves and continuing debate about their protection over the property rights of U.S. citizens.

I think you will enjoy the show. You can either click here and download or listen to the broadcast with your own media player, or click on the player below and listen now!. Thank you.

[AUDIO:http://www.skinnymoose.com/downloads/openair2.mp3]

Tom Remington

I usually do not post articles here that are “off topic” but I was sent this story via email and I just thought it was a great story and one that I was not knowledgeable of. I hope you enjoy it.

A GREAT STORY OF LATE-FOUND HONOR AND ITS RESULTS.

Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago. Capone wasn’t famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.

Capone had a lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” He was Capone’s lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but also, Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.

Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.

Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object.

And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.

Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son; he couldn’t pass on a good name or a good example.

One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.

He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great.

So, he testified.

Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street.

But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine. The poem read:

The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own.
Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time, for the clock may soon be still.

World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare.

He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.

One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.

He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.

His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

As he was returning to the mother ship he saw something that turned his blood cold: a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.

The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet.

Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly.

Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.

Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.

Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet.

He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.

This took place on February 20, 1942, and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.

A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His hometown would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.

So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.

SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?

Butch O’Hare was “Easy Eddie’s” son.

Posted by Tom Remington

Hey! Don’t forget to tune in to the broadcast of “Open Air with Tom Remington” on Skinny Moose Radio starting at 3 p.m. today. Today my guest was again my son Steve and we talked about a variety of subjects but the main topic of conversation was about wolves in the west and my response to an article I read titled, “Killing Wolves Violates The Public Trust”. The basis of my rebuttal was clarification that the public trust was violated when we the citizens were lied to by our own government and others when wolves were forced upon the people from reintroduction.

I hope you’ll tune in. After the program has aired, we’ll list the show with a link for you to listen to at your leisure.

Tom Remington

Region A- Southwestern Maine

This morning’s light frost serves as a reminder of one of the many reasons why I will always live in Maine. Seasonal change here in northern New England keeps things fresh and new and ensures there is always something to do in the outdoors. In fact, if we narrow things down to our angling pursuits, there is always something to do outdoors and if we wish, it can almost always be as different as our seasons. Some folks actually divide their open water fishing season into as many as ten individual fishing seasons depending on their angling preferences and the best opportunities available at the time. For instance, your open water schedule could run a follows: early brook trout fishing, Sebago Lake salmon fishing at ice out, springtime smallmouth bass fishing, fly-fishing striped bass in rivers, bass and panfish in summer, off shore groundfish fishing, back to Sebago in the early fall for more salmon, and rainbow trout during the fall extended season. Those were just a fraction of the possibilities available in just one of our two major fishing seasons. The angling possibilities in this State are truly far above and beyond what most of us have for free time.

Recent sampling efforts at Lower Range Pond in Poland revealed yet another high quality angling opportunity. Our efforts resulted in the capture of good numbers of white perch averaging about 13 inches in length and about a pound in weight. No small perch were captured. Also found were a fair number of brown trout, the largest of which exceeded 5 pounds. The general law open water fishing season is quickly coming to a close but don’t forget the many opportunities available during the extended seasons through October and in some cases through November. Since we’re looking ahead, just consider the wide range of possibilities the ice fishing season can offer!

-Brian Lewis, Fisheries Biologist Specialist

Region B – Central Maine

The beautifully warm sunny days followed by progressively cooler nights we’ve experienced lately will result in increased opportunities for fishing for cold water fish species over the coming weeks. It is the perfect time to get out and enjoy some of the season’s best fishing for these species.

Over the past week, I’ve received several calls asking ‘why’ the fishing for trout and salmon seems to get ‘better’ in the fall. The answer is relatively simple – the water is cooling with the season, making it more of it much more to the liking of these species.

As the summer progresses, our lakes and ponds receive an increasing amount of sunlight. Most of that sunlight is received from a high sun-angle. The more shallow depths warm the most, of course. As a result, in many cases the water tends to form layers called thermal strata. Trout and salmon, being adapted to cooler water conditions, tend to gravitate to the layer that best suits their requirements for temperature and oxygen levels. Often the height of this layer is only one or two feet vertically. Many other species prefer the cool water layer too, so salmon and trout tend to forage there for the most part. They do move in and out of the preferred layer, but this is often of short duration.

With the approach of fall, the days shorten, average daily temperatures begin to drop, and the sun angle decreases. All of these factors play a role in a process called turnover.

The upper strata of the water begin to cool. Cooler water is slightly denser than the now warmer layers beneath and it slowly begins to break down the thermal layering effect.

The warming and cooling of the atmosphere creates winds that push the surface water in one direction until it ‘piles up’ on the downwind shore. Water stacks up until gravity pushes it back, creating a net reverse movement. The waves observed on the downwind shore on a windy day are akin to mixing water in the bathtub to get the right temperature.

Working together, these natural forces mix the water until temperatures, now cooler, are close to the same temperature. Since the water is cooler, it is more in line with the habitat requirements for trout. So the ‘better fishing’ suggested above is a result of fish being able to utilize a variety of depths to forage rather than concentrating in a relatively narrow layer of water.

General Law open water season runs through September 30, less than 2 weeks away. However many lakes and ponds, as well as several rivers and streams are open through parts of October through the end of the year. For example, lakes and ponds in Androscoggin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Waldo counties are open through November 30 with all trout, salmon, togue and bass to be released alive at once. For rivers, the Kennebec River is open through December 31 from Weston Dam in Skowhegan to tidewater. Tackle restrictions apply in some sections. To find a complete listing of what is open for angling and the regulations for those waters, consult the 2007 Open Water Fishing Regulations booklet.

-Robert Van-Riper, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region C – Downeast

Surface water temperatures have cooled down to around 60 degrees and soon will be in the mid 50’s, which is perfect to summon trout and salmon back to the surface. As these fish feed on the surface and near shore, its spring fishing all over again, except that most anglers will have lakes and ponds all to themselves and also be able to enjoy the spectacular fall colors.

I recommend trolling brightly colored streamers and lures for landlocked salmon such as the Montreal, Barnes Special, Cathance Special, Marabou Muddler and the orange beaded Gray Ghost for flies and the chartreuse, orange and silver Rapalas in sizes 5 and 7 as well as the purple and silver and the rainbow colored Yozori Pin Minnow in the 3 inch size for lures.

Best lakes for salmon this fall are: West Grand Lake – Grand Lake Stream, Cathance Lake – Cooper, Pocumcus Lake – T 6 ND, Phillips Lake – Dedham, Gardner’s Lake – East Machias and Long Pond – Mount Desert.

Don’t forget to fish Grand Lake Stream, which is opened to fly fishing only catch and release to October 20th. This stream is fantastic landlocked salmon fishing as the fish move into the stream to spawn from West Grand and Big Lakes. Currently the West Grand Dam is running plenty of water to bring salmon into the stream and with the water cooling down the fishing is going to get good fast. Don’t miss it! Brightly colored streamers work the best or olive and yellow bead-head nymphs if you prefer.

For brook trout in the lakes and ponds the same brightly colored arsenal as above works very well.

Best brook trout waters to try are: Upper Hadlock Pond – Northeast Harbor, Lower Hadlock Pond – Northeast Harbor, Echo Lake – Southwest Harbor, Billings Pond – Blue Hill, Little Tunk Pond – Sullivan, Narraguagus Lake – T 9 SD, Long Pond – Great Pond Plt., Rift Pond – Great Pond Plt., Alligator Lake – T 34 MD, West Pike Brook Pond – T 18 MD, Vining Lake – Cooper, Shattack Lake – Calais, Pork Barrel Lake – T 6 R1 and Monroe Lake – T 43 MD.

Also don’t forget to try these lures and flies for fall splake, as I have found they work great this time of year as the splake return to the surface to feed in the cool surface waters.

Best splake waters to try are: Peaked Mtn. Pond – Centerville, Lower Springy Pond – Otis, Second Old Stream Lake – T 37 MD, Hosea Pug Lake – T 26 ED, Mopang Lake – T 29 MD, Hearts Pond – Orland, Jacob-Buck Pond – Bucksport and Fitts Pond – Clifton.

We also want to make anglers aware that region C biologists are proposing two new stockings for this fall.

The first is Lower Patten Pond in Surry, where many years of low water conditions in the tributaries and recent illegal introductions of both smallmouth and largemouth bass have taken a toll on a wild brown trout population that was started by the Department in the 40’s and 50’s. Our proposal is to stock 200 fall yearling 10 to 12 inch brown trout annually to augment the wild population and provide a more constant fishery for anglers in both the open water and ice fishing seasons. These browns will likely live to older ages and large sizes, making some trophy brown trout catches possible again.

The second proposal is stock Blunts Pond in Lamoine for the first time ever with 125 fall yearling 11 to 13 inch brook trout. This small kettle-hole pond (no inlet or outlet) is a wonderfully clear spring fed pond with great public access. This first time ever stocking of any species would provide terrific fishing opportunity in the late fall and winter seasons in an area that has little fishing possibilities.

Please think about these two new stockings and feel free to e-mail or call us if you have any comments or questions (207) 434-5925.

Enjoy Maine’s fall fishing opportunities, as this is a great time of year to be out and about!

-Greg Burr, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region D – Western Mountains

With the appearance of red and golden leaves and threats of frost comes a drop in water temperatures, which has already sent trout and salmon on their way towards the spawning grounds. Although they won’t be dropping their eggs until October, they make prespawning runs triggered by shorter days and colder water temperatures. If that doesn’t do it, a good flush of water from a rainstorm will. And so it is that we have reports of nice trout being caught in the Rapid, Magalloway, and Kennebago rivers; presumably others as well. There’s also good fishing in lakes and ponds the last week of September.

We’ve pretty much completed our summer work of sampling lakes and streams. Dave Boucher and several fishery consultants have been working on the bass problem on the Rapid River and on the Dead Cambridge River as of late. We completed several stream restoration projects in western Maine this summer, including an experimental technique called “chop and drop”, in which tree stems are added to stream channels to slow the rate of runoff and to trap organic nutrients.

With the help of volunteers, we recently completed the annual monitoring of our stream restoration projects. It is in that regard that we sadly note the passing of a longtime and enthusiastic stream volunteer from Rangeley. Patty Silvia helped survey the Magalloway River, South Bog Stream, Bemis Stream, Cupsuptic River, South Branch of the Dead River, and Allagash Stream. She also helped every year with the monitoring of stream restoration work on the Cupsuptic River, South Bog Stream, and the Sandy River. Anyone who knew Patty also knew how much she enjoyed the outdoors and how much fun she was to have around. Our condolences to her family.

-Forrest Bonney, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region E – Moosehead Region

Fall fishing is well underway and we have had good reports from most of our major river fisheries in the region. We were able to crack the gate at First Roach a few more inches last Friday, which means the flow has increased from around 160 to 240 cfs. That should translate into some excellent trout and salmon fishing for the next two weeks. The weather forecast is perfect for the rest of the week, so get out and enjoy the best time of the year to fish.

This will be the last weekly fishing report until sometime in December. We have had a great fishing year in the Moosehead Lake Region. The winter got off to a slow start with the poor ice conditions but the fishing was very good for the remainder of the season. We checked some very handsome fish on Chamberlain Lake. We spent quite a bit of time on our brook trout telemetry study on the Chamberlain system last winter and this spring. The Natural Resource Education Center in Greenville will be sponsoring a presentation in Greenville and possibly the Bangor area this winter to discuss the results. The Greenville meeting will be the evening of Dec 7th.

There were numerous reports of big brookies from Moosehead Lake this summer. The salmon fishing was also pretty good by most accounts. The river fisheries, in particular the East Outlet, were very good this summer according to anglers. Lake trout still appear to be abundant but we should thin them down in the near future with the new regulations starting in January. The hatches on the trout ponds were a little sporadic. We did hear the hex hatch was slow to get started, probably from the cool spring, but it did extend late into the summer on some ponds. You shoulda’ been there! September can be hit or miss with trout ponds. There are good midge hatches this time of year and streamers can be effective at catching pre-spawn trout some days, but other days the fish seem to be sulking and can’t be coaxed to the rod. October can offer some great pond fishing as hatchery trout and salmon become aggressive and take streamers and lures quite well. Many of our best hatchery waters are open during the extended season, but few anglers take advantage of the extra month. I suspect most have put away the rod and picked up the shotgun.

Thanks for taking the time to read our reports and please visit our web page at http://www.maine.gov/ifw/fishing/reports/weekly_biologist/photos_regione/index.htm

to view some of the photos from the Moosehead Lake Region in 2007.

-Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region F, Penobscot Region

Although another general law open water fishing season is drawing to a close, there still is time to enjoy the remainder of a productive season and get ready for some fall action on selected waters. With surface waters cooling down, salmon, trout, and togue are coming to the surface and providing some good top-water action. Anglers have reported good action for salmon on East Grand Lake, Pleasant Pond and Cold Stream Pond. Both salmon and splake have been very active in Seboeis Lake. Baxter State Park waters are very productive for brook trout during this part of the season.

Don’t put the fish poles away yet. There are two categories of waters open during the extended fall season. First are waters with a special S-23 designation. These waters are open to fishing from October 1 – October 31 using artificial lures only and all fish caught must be released alive at once. This regulation generally applies to coldwater lakes that are stocked with salmon or trout and allows an angler to fish for these species through October. Some good Penobscot Regional waters are West Lake, Pleasant Lake, Deering Lake, Millinocket Lake, Millinocket Stream (in T1 R8 andT3 IP, from Millinocket Lake Dam downstream to the town line) and the Pemadumcook Chain of Lakes.

The other category is S-24, in which the waters are open from October 1 – November 30. In these waters all trout, salmon togue and bass must be released alive but an angler may keep perch and pickerel. These are generally warmwater lakes and ponds that have good perch and pickerel populations that are productive through the fall season. Some Region F waters in this category are Seboeis Lake, South Branch Pond, Saponac Pond and the Penobscot River from Medway to the Veazie Dam.

Please consult the 2007 Open Water Fishing Law Book for complete regulations on all Maine waters, or direct your browser to http://www.maine.gov/ifw/laws_rules/fishing/index.htm

-Nels Kramer, Assistant Regional Fisheries Biologist

Region G – Aroostook County

With fall fast approaching, staff in the Fish River Lakes region will be setting trap nets in Long Lake to sample landlocked salmon and brook trout. These nets are designed to capture fish that are traveling the shoreline as the water cools. Trap nets are not effective in the summer because the shallow water is too warm for salmonids to be present.

The nets are designed to capture fish alive and act much as a herring weir on the coast. A lead that consists of a fine mesh net 50-100 feet in length is stretched from shore and tied to a net that somewhat resembles a minnow trap. That is it has a funnel that the fish swim through guided by a set of “wings” into the holding box of the net that is generally 4 ft x 4 ft or larger. All fish captured stay in the holding box until fisheries personnel arrive to process the fish.

Processing consists of netting the fish and separating the game fish from non-game species. Game fish are held in a tub of water and anesthetized with a sedative to prevent injury. One anesthetized, the salmon will be checked for missing fins indicating year of stocking, measured, weighed and released into another tub of water to recover from the sedative. Brook trout will also be checked for missing fins because although the sport fishery in Long Lake is from wild fish, an occasional hatchery trout will migrate into the lake from another water. The trout will be measured, weighed and a scale sample removed from female and immature fish prior to being put in the recovery tub. This scale sample will be examined under a microscope at a later date for age determination. Scale samples are also taken from female and immature wild salmon. Changes in the external physical character of sexually mature male brook trout and salmon make it difficult to collect a scale sample from these fish. Prior to release into the lake, a piece of the tail is clipped to identify the fish as having been processed should it be recaptured again at a later date.

Trap net data allow biologists to follow age and growth of stocked fish in those waters annually stocked with salmonids. These data in conjunction with any creel survey information can be used to make necessary adjustments in stocking programs. Data from waters with wild salmonid fisheries can assist in evaluating the effectiveness of regulations in maintaining suitable growth rate and abundance of these wild populations.

-Dave Basley, Regional Fisheries Biologist

Posted by Tom Remington

If you missed the original broadcast of “Open Air with Tom Remington”, you can get that broadcast right here. The first show featured an interview with my son, President of Skinny Moose Media, Steven Remington. We talked about our media network, the launching of Skinny Moose Radio and related topics, as well as the Skinny Moose bloggers network. Don’t miss the show. It’s filled with lots of information about our plans for the future and how you can become a Skinny Moose Radio personality.

You have two options. You can Download Open Air here, or you can just click on the start button below and play it right here and listen while you browse about and check your mail, etc.

[AUDIO:http://www.skinnymoose.com/downloads/tomshow9-13.mp3]

Don’t forget that Skinny Moose Media has our very own tool bar that you can download for your browser. Not only will you get a Skinny Moose Radio network player, you also get direct links to all the latest posts of the Skinny Moose Media blog network. Click here to download the tool bar now. At the top of the page is a sample of the tool bar. Just click on “Download Our Free Toolbar”.

Tom Remington

In a scientific and genetic manipulation that is sure to raise an eyebrow or two, Japanese scientists have figured out how to reproduce a trout using a salmon as a surrogate. American scientists in Idaho will attempt the same feat in order to find a better way to preserve the sockeye salmon.

From the Associated Press:

First, Yoshizaki’s team started with “salmonids,” a family that includes both salmon and trout, and one of concern to biologists because several species are endangered or extinct.

Initial attempts to transplant sperm-producing cells into normal masu salmon mostly produced hybrids of the two species that didn’t survive.

This time, Yoshizaki engineered salmon to be sterile. He then injected newly hatched salmon with stem cells destined to grow into sperm that he had culled from male rainbow trout.

Once they were grown, 10 of 29 male salmon who got the injections produced trout sperm, called milt.

Here’s the bigger surprise: Injecting the male cells into female salmon sometimes worked, too, prompting five female salmon to ovulate trout eggs. That’s a scientific first, Yoshizaki said.

The stem cells were still primitive enough to switch gears from sperm-producers to egg-producers when they wound up inside female organs, explained Idaho’s Cloud.

Then Yoshizaki used the salmon-grown trout sperm to fertilize both wild trout eggs and the salmon-grown trout eggs. DNA testing confirmed that all of the dozens of resulting baby fish were pure trout, he reported.

Moreover, those new trout grew up able to reproduce.

Unbelievable!!

Tom Remington

It seems that not all the news coming out about the declining number of hunters and fishermen nationwide is bad. I reported last week that Maine was bucking the national trend of reduced numbers but someone forget to tell Texans there seems to be a lack of interest.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that hunting and fishing license sales are extraordinarily rapid paced.

Over the five-day period Aug. 30-Sept. 3, Texans purchased a little more than 385,000 hunting and fishing licenses, pumping about $12 million into TPWD accounts used exclusively for wildlife and fisheries programs.

Aug. 31 — the day old licenses expired and the day before the start of dove hunting season in most of the state — saw more than 136,000 licenses and other documents (public hunting permits, special-use stamps, etc.) purchased.

“That’s the biggest single day (of license sales) we’ve ever had,” Newton said.

Texans spent about $4.6 million on hunting and fishing licenses that day, Newton said.

And at the peak of sales, Texans were buying almost 250 licenses every minute — more than 14,000 an hour.

What’s also interesting is that officials are estimating that they will exceed license sales from last year, which was a record year.

This past year, TPWD issued a record 3.2 million hunting and fishing licenses.

And the state seems on a road to improve those numbers this license year.

“Last year was our best year,” Newton said. “So far this year, we’re about 2 percent ahead of where we were at this time a year ago.”

Is there something going on in Texas that other states should be looking at?

Tom Remington