Maine's Atlantic Salmon Season

AKSkim · #1 (**permalink**) 09-15-2007

Salmon season not a big lure for area anglers

By Kevin Miller
Friday, September 14, 2007 - Bangor Daily News

Beginning Saturday, the Penobscot River near Bangor will be open to Atlantic salmon fishing for only the second time in nearly a decade.
But if early indications hold true, there may be longer lines for food at the popular opening day breakfast than at the traditional salmon fishing holes.
This is the second consecutive year that Maine will allow fly-fishing for sea-run Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot between the site of the former Bangor dam and 150 feet below the Veazie dam. The pool just below the former Bangor dam site will remain closed to fishing, however.
The fishery is catch-and-release only, and anglers are restricted to using single-pointed, barbless flies.
While more than 200 anglers purchased special salmon-fishing licenses for last season — the first since 1999 — interest in this year’s fall fishery has been tepid to date. Only 30 licenses had been sold as of Monday evening.
Officials are hoping that, like last year, there will be a flurry of last-minute purchases.
Maine once was a premier destination for salmon fishing because of the strong runs of sea-run fish returning to the Penobscot, Machias and other rivers to spawn. But the fishery was closed in 1999 after salmon populations crashed.
Today, the Penobscot is the only river in New England that still boasts a sizable run of Atlantic salmon because of an aggressive, multimillion-dollar hatchery and restoration program. But the number of adult salmon returning to the Penobscot is still a fraction of what would be needed for a viable, self-sustaining population, according to biologists.
As of Wednesday, 877 adult salmon had been counted at the fish trap on the Veazie dam, the majority of which were shipped to the Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery in East Orland to become part of the hatchery’s brood stock.
That is nearly 150 fish fewer than this time last year and 90 fewer than in 2005.
Joan Trial, a biologist with the Maine Department of Marine Resources’ Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, said the adults started returning a bit later than normal this year. The majority of fish return in late spring and early summer.
But most other river conditions are about the same, leading Trial to speculate that fewer adult salmon are surviving in the ocean.
"We don’t expect to catch a lot more fish between now and November," Trial said.
Rules allow the DMR to close the Penobscot to anglers this fall if at any point biologists feel fishing poses a threat to the well-being of the fragile salmon population. One factor that biologists will watch is water temperature. Biologists likely would choose to close the river to salmon fishing if temperatures reach about 70 degrees because fish mortality increases in warmer waters.
Trial said the temperature should not be a problem this weekend.
Only one fisherman hooked and landed a salmon during last fall’s season. But Dick Ruhlin, chairman of the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, said Thursday that salmon fishing is about more than catching fish.
"It’s about angling for Atlantic salmon," Ruhlin said. "It’s about getting out there and being on the river. It’s about the camaraderie and the scenery."
The Penobscot, Eddington and Veazie salmon clubs will hold a joint breakfast Saturday morning to mark opening day. The breakfast will be held at the Eddington Salmon Club from 6 to 10 a.m.
Salmon fishing licenses are $15 for Maine residents, plus a $2 dealer fee, and are available at dealers statewide or online at www5.informe.org/online/moses.

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