Togue like to eat smelts

[joefishmore]

Got 2 very fat Togue from Sebago yesterday that had been eating smelts.
A 22  inch fish had consumed 58 while the 21 incher had eaten only 38.

[TwoLightsKid]

Sounds like most of the togue I've kept this year.  Interesting how some areas of the lake seem to be all smelt, and others all alewife.

[woodchip]

Must be fishing near a spawning run stream.

[MG39]

I've fished that lake for many years, way before the togue were put in there. Since their introduction, I've caught hundreds of them & never had a togue under 16". I see the latest pics of small togue, it will be interesting to see what the salmon population will be in a couple of years. I don't see any sign of the BIG togue eating the little ones, as mentioned in the change of regulations, so we'll see who prevails in eating the smelts & alewives. Only time will tell.

[fishless12]

It seems to me that the average togue size has increased in recent years, but I'm afraid it's going to plateau at about 25" Either way, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of smelts in there, so aside from bigger togue eating salmon, as we know they do, I think that food wise, the salmon should be doing alright.

[fishingsurveyor]

I have put my fair share of time on the lake this past ice season and all of the fish caught have been extremely healthy. The skinniest fish I have seen was the Derby winner to be truthful  , which I suspect that there was something wrong with it. Over the past few years yes the average size of the fish I have caught have increased dramatically in length and weight. I disagree with your thinking that the average size will plateau at 25", seems to me that its dam close to that now. Unless something happens to the feed or the regs change I don't think there will be a avg size I think your going to see what we are seeing now with the exception of more larger fish in the 10-15 lb range. Once those fish hit 16lbs + I suspect that they will be over 33" and harvested if caught.

[sebagosalmo]

I've fished that lake for many years, way before the togue were put in there. Since their introduction, I've caught hundreds of them & never had a togue under 16". I see the latest pics of small togue, it will be interesting to see what the salmon population will be in a couple of years. I don't see any sign of the BIG togue eating the little ones, as mentioned in the change of regulations, so we'll see who prevails in eating the smelts & alewives. Only time will tell.
[/



If a fishery is healthy , you should have multiple age class fish which Sebago does now ! Unlike 5 years ago when the majority of fish were 17-23 inches, if you go out on Sebago today you can catch Lakers ranging from 14-30 inches and most fish will average 23-26 inches.  The other key point besides the bigger Lakers eating thier own is the Human factor that was part of the reg changes , that's killing all Lake trout under 23 inches and unlimited bag limits ! Only time will tell,  but from observations by the Wardens & Biologist that patrol  Sebago and the  fisherman that fish Sebago regularly the regs are working !!, not only for the Lakers but the Salmon population as well as the smelt population are healthy and thriving   

[fishless12]

I couldn't agree more! It definitely is working, I think the million dollar question is how big will they get? Togue grow very slowly and are very long lived, so it just remains to be seen how large the average size will get. It's going to take at least another 5 years before we really get a sense of what this style of management will do regarding size. I'm confident that there isn't a shortage of food in Sebago, so the potential for big fish is definitely there.

We'll just have to wait and see, and keep catching 'em.

[joefishmore]

Fished there yesterday. For the first 10 minutes my fishfinder would only register 34 feet when it was actually 100. Gradually cleared
up....think it was big school of smelts blocking the sound waves.  other excitment was eagle snatching up a Togue off the ice.

[pegasus]

Brown Trout seem to love smelts also.