How and why we age fish

By Fisheries Biologist Kevin Gallant

Having the ability to age a fish is a valuable tool for fishery managers.  Stocked fish often have clipped fins that tell us what age they are (by knowing the year the certain fin was clipped).  With wild fish (and unmarked hatchery fish), we have a few other options to give us the age of a given fish. 

A Home for Woody

By Regional Wildlife Biologist Chuck Hulsey

Smelt Research on Moosehead Lake

By Fisheries Biologist Tim Obrey The Moosehead Lake Region, as designated by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, is big…some might say wicked big.  It stretches from Dover-Foxcroft in the south to Allagash Lake in the north, Rainbow Lake to the east and the thriving metropolis of Skinner to the west. The land area covers 4,391 square miles with 4,125 miles of flowing water and over a quarter million acres of Great Ponds (there’s also another 2,160 acres of not so Great Ponds. i.e.

Use of Prescribed Fire on Wildlife Management Areas

By Wildlife Biologist Mark Caron Increasingly MDIFW Regional Wildlife Biologists have been conducting prescribed burns on some of the wildlife management areas (WMAs) found throughout the state.  Also known as ‘controlled burns’, this habitat managemen

Spring smelt spawn!

By Regional Fisheries Biologist Liz Thorndike Smelt dipping in Maine is a springtime tradition for many, and depending on where you go and the conditions, these smelt runs can be sparse, or if you are lucky, the brook can run black with smelts. One night a few years ago, I captured this video of rainbow smelts spawning, when the brook ran black with smelts. Smelts are widely utilized and highly valued here in Maine.

Lake Trout No-Harvest Slot Limits Helping Produce More Larger Fish in Downeast Lakes

By Regional Fisheries Biologist Gregory Burr [caption id="attachment_3442" align="alignright" width="400"] Jim Hogan, Beech Hill Pond – 37 ½ inches, 22 pounds[/caption] For years, many of the famed trophy lake trout (also known as “togue”) waters Downeast languished in small fish obscurity.  Lakes like West Grand, West Musquash, Tunk, Branch and the current lake trout state record ho

Tree Marking for Wildlife Management

By Lands Management Biologist Eric Hoar Inland Fisheries and Wildlife manages for all wildlife, both game and non-game species.  One of the tools the Lands Program employs to create or enhance wildlife habitat is timber harvesting.

Good News For Anglers Who Enjoy Ice Fishing On Swan Lake

By Fisheries Biologist Jason Seiders When listing the waters I would consider the “gems” within the Belgrade Lakes Management Region (Region B), the list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Swan Lake

The Porcupine's Foe

By Regional Widlife Biologist Scott McLellan Obviously, a porcupine has few predators because of how well-armed with quills it is (approximately 30,000), but one of the more fascinating prey/predator interactions exists between the porcupine and fisher.  The fisher, which is a member of the weasel family, has carved out a hunting strategy that enables it to seek out and suc

New Rules Proposed Regarding Use Of Bait In Northern Maine

By Tim Obrey, Regional Fisheries Biologist, Moosehead Lake Region [caption id="attachment_3403" align="alignright" width="333"] A fine Arctic charr caught in the Moosehead Lake Region[/caption] If you keep your ear to the tracks regarding fishing in Maine, then you’ve probably heard about the Department’s proposal to change rules pertaining to the use of live fish as