Highland Lake - Windham

[HighlandLK]

Has anyone been out to Highland Lake in Windham/Falmouth?

I am wondering if the ice is safe. Thanks a lot for any info.

[tkmoney_99]

What are you fishing for? Bass/Pickerel. Better options than Highland close by with easier access. I wouldn't waste my time with that lake after they discontinued stocking. Let the home owners association have it!

[HighlandLK]

I'm sure you're right, but I also need to cross it to get to the snowmobile trail system.

[woodchip]

Highland has some spring holes that do not freeze in the coldest of winters, I fished a lake north from highland and only had 4 inches out from shore, and around shore the ice was thinner with about 4 inches of slush, I saw a four wheeler running the shoreline   out in the slush I believe  it was taking a very risky chance.  we need a week of colder weather to freeze the open slush....

[umoguy]

Someone took their sled on it Sunday down on the southern end near Suckfish Brook to the outlet. The tracks looked incredibly slushy. I drilled test holes Saturday and found about 3-4" solid black ice and an 1-2" snow ice on top of it.

[rude the dude]

 

[blackjacks]

What are you fishing for? Bass/Pickerel. Better options than Highland close by with easier access. I wouldn't waste my time with that lake after they discontinued stocking. Let the home owners association have it!

we dont have to re live this. it wasnt the home owners who voted the boat launch down. it was the town council of Falmouth who had the sole vote on this. the Highland Lake association had some input as well as a few Falmouth residence 

[HighlandLK]

Blackjacks- do you still have the shack I gave to you 8 years ago?!

I assume with this cold snap we will have enough ice to take a sled on the lower portion of the lake. I will find out.

[tkmoney_99]

we dont have to re live this. it wasnt the home owners who voted the boat launch down. it was the town council of Falmouth who had the sole vote on this. the Highland Lake association had some input as well as a few Falmouth residence

Didn't mean "Home Owners" I meant "Highland Lake Association" . And I have to disagree about reliving it. I think anyone with an interest should relive it with their Town representatives every year like I do. I keep the e-mails every year and send them to the Falmouth Town Councilors to let them know my disapproval each and every year.
Just one guy's opinion...

[thedirtydirtyfisherman]

I agree TK... we have to keep the pressure on.  Highland could be a great opportunity for all for some put and take opportunity,  since most of the trout were stocked it wouldnt take much to get it back to what it was.

[umoguy]

Is there any avenue to put pressure on the state? In terms of angling, the lake seems fairly open to the public. In my entire life I only caught 1 brown during open water season and it was in a canoe. The ice fishing is where the stocked fish were really caught. I don't know what the laws say specifically on access requirements.

[tkmoney_99]

Is there any avenue to put pressure on the state? In terms of angling, the lake seems fairly open to the public. In my entire life I only caught 1 brown during open water season and it was in a canoe. The ice fishing is where the stocked fish were really caught. I don't know what the laws say specifically on access requirements.

MIFW does not stock waters with out a boat launch. Highland Lake Assoc. did some back room politics and talked the Falmouth Town Council in to denying the MIFW access to expand the boat launch on Mast Road. No launch= No stocking. Francis at MIFW has complete knowledge of this and put a lot of time and effort in to getting the launch upgraded. However, a few Lake Association members thought the waves would cause beach erosion and affect the "swimmers" of the lake. Hahahahaha.... Send a letter to the Falmouth town Council or do some reading of past council meetings and newspaper articles. You will have the same feeling as when you finished watching " Making a Murderer". Complete railroad...

[GasBlaster]

Is there any avenue to put pressure on the state? In terms of angling, the lake seems fairly open to the public. In my entire life I only caught 1 brown during open water season and it was in a canoe. The ice fishing is where the stocked fish were really caught. I don't know what the laws say specifically on access requirements.

I caught way more of those stocked fish with a boat then I did through the ice . The bottom line is the boat launch needs to be improved to accept a boat equal in size to the average boat use by residents of the lake . the state says that's an 18 foot boat . Until that happens no stocking . 

The lake association thought they were going to self stock the lake But the state turned them down . I guess they thought they were going to have the best of both worlds .  Only a small percentage of residents are fishermen so they are not bothered by no stocking program. 90% of the boating out there are pleasure boaters and out of the few fishermen most are bass fishermen.

[HighlandLK]

I grew up fishing this lake. It was always known for bass fishing.

[woodchip]

A lake like Highland with so many shoulder to shoulder camps the water quality will go down each year with out state help this action will speed up like a snowball rolling down hill.

[tkmoney_99]

I grew up fishing this lake. It was always known for bass fishing.

Yup, and stocked salmon and some monster Hold Over Browns. Now simply Bass and Slime Darts.

[spinzer]

I've always had luck with good size bass there.

[GasBlaster]

A lake like Highland with so many shoulder to shoulder camps the water quality will go down each year with out state help this action will speed up like a snowball rolling down hill.

Water quality is way up over the past 10 years and continues to get better . The lake association and its volunteers are taking great care of the lake . That is there big driver to keep the launch as it is and not improve it . They feel the extra traffic would not be good for the lake . As a fishermen that would like to see it get stocked with fish it sucks ,But its not just selfishness making them turn down the upgrades to the launch.

[thedirtydirtyfisherman]

here is my thing, name a lake that had its "swimming" and "boating" greatly affected by fishing... I understand the thought process but take Crystal Lake in Grey.  Great little beach, tons of boat traffic, plenty of fish and people seem to have a great time.

[HighlandLK]

Yup, and stocked salmon and some monster Hold Over Browns. Now simply Bass and Slime Darts.

Yup and now back to the way it always was.

[tkmoney_99]

Water quality is way up over the past 10 years and continues to get better . The lake association and its volunteers are taking great care of the lake . That is there big driver to keep the launch as it is and not improve it . They feel the extra traffic would not be good for the lake . As a fishermen that would like to see it get stocked with fish it sucks ,But its not just selfishness making them turn down the upgrades to the launch.

According to a Highland Lake Assoc member, last year was an aweful year for water quality. They though high temps caused a large algae bloom. However 3 miles up the road Little Sebago and Pettengill had no such bloom.I agree that the water quality is better than the past. I disagree that widening the launch to allow 18' boats will affect the water quality. How many boats are we really talking about? 5 - 10 per weekend, maybe.

[Bottle_O_Moxie]

we dont have to re live this. it wasnt the home owners who voted the boat launch down. it was the town council of Falmouth who had the sole vote on this. the Highland Lake association had some input as well as a few Falmouth residence

The town of Windham also had a considerable voice in this decision.   Highland didn't have milfoil in it and they wanted to help keep it from getting introduced.  Windham has at least four ponds with milfoil that they have to help pay for the mitigation efforts. (Sebago, Little Sebago, Mill, Collins) 
A couple more homeowners in Windham spoke at the public hearing against the boat ramp than Falmouth residents did. 
The costs of controlling and monitoring the impact of milfoil are something that a town budget often won't easily cover or get support for. 
At the time both towns only had to look over towards Lake Arrowhead to see what they were facing for a challenge. 
Four years later and the many costs of milfoil (and other fast growing invasive plants) is still a headache for towns, the county water conservation districts, and the lake associations.

.

[blacktrap]

What are the towns paying for with this?  Where does all the money from the boat/weed stickers go?

[tkmoney_99]

The town of Windham also had a considerable voice in this decision.   Highland didn't have milfoil in it and they wanted to help keep it from getting introduced.  Windham has at least four ponds with milfoil that they have to help pay for the mitigation efforts. (Sebago, Little Sebago, Mill, Collins) 
A couple more homeowners in Windham spoke at the public hearing against the boat ramp than Falmouth residents did. 
The costs of controlling and monitoring the impact of milfoil are something that a town budget often won't easily cover or get support for. 
At the time both towns only had to look over towards Lake Arrowhead to see what they were facing for a challenge. 
Four years later and the many costs of milfoil (and other fast growing invasive plants) is still a headache for towns, the county water conservation districts, and the lake associations.

.

The Town of Gray seemed to figure out how to handle Milfoil on Crystal Lake(I get checked coming and going with my boat every time). There is a cost with everything. If we don't do things because of all the thing that could go wrong, then nothing will ever get done.

As a side note, I also spoke with Windham's Town Manager Tony Plante.Here are his comments:

"I can’t speak for Falmouth or Westbrook, but we had no contact with IF&W on the launch closure and there has been no contact from Windham residents expressing concern about it, and no action by the council or voters."

Bottom line is this. If you want something done the only way to get some attention is a petition handed to the Town of Falmouth. Even that is a long shot.

[Bottle_O_Moxie]

TK, you are right.
Some voices heard in the right places might get some action.

The ice fishermen lost the most when the state stopped stocking Highland.  The timing of the trout/salmon stocking was mostly in the fall after the open water season was over, so the hard water anglers were benefiting from the program the most. 
And they didn't need a boat ramp to fish for them cause you don't pack a boat in your ice trap basket.  The spring fishermen lost too.

Both Windham and Falmouth town councils have other concerns to deal with than a recreational perk in the far-off corner of their towns. Unlikely that anyone on a council would be moved to go up against both the Dept of Conservation Bureau of Parks and Lands and I.F.W. to get a rule or policy changed.

The strange move by the state to selectively target Highland by imposing  'inequitable fishing access' still makes me scratch my head five year later.  And that lake successfully had improved it's water quality in the years right before this - Highland was the poster child for the state as far as proving that people can reverse pollution trends through erosion reduction and good watershed practices.   The state hasn't used the 'equitable access' approach since 2011 for any body of water that I know that anyone from the public can still manage to get on a pond either by walking onto the ice/carrying a jon-boat or canoe a short distance.   Really strange.   
Pettingill pond in Windham is a good local example, it has minimal access yet still gets stocked.  I'm sure some folks on here can name other bodies of water that have camp owner boats bigger than what you can get in via the public access place.  But the stocking continues on them thankfully. 

If the ice and open water fishermen contacted Parks and Lands to explain their policy and how it's tied to IFW stocking programs it might help shed some light on what their future plans are. 
What happened in 2011 took away a real good coldwater species fishing opportunity nearest to the largest city in the state. 

I think it's still a relevant topic on this fishing topic board because without knowing why they did what they did, it could happen elsewhere.

.

[Bottle_O_Moxie]

What are the towns paying for with this?  Where does all the money from the boat/weed stickers go?

Mostly it goes to education programs right here in Maine to train over 1,000 unpaid volunteers to identify invasive plants and report it.  Just about every lake and pond in Maine has one or two people already trained and actively checking water in their immediate area. The money also goes to a small group of paid staff and part timers who monitor boat ramps and do trailer checks.  Also goes towards laboratory work to verify the samples people send in and devise ways to kill it off without harming native water plants.  Divers who pull up the plants get paid too.
In my opinion the small amount of money that is collected from the total cost of registering a boat (or seaplane) is used pretty wisely and frugally and has gotten good results dollar for dollar.  Every summer for the last 10 years the volunteers have found milfoil and other nasty in ponds, rivers and brooks that would have gotten out of control if nobody spotted it so quickly.  It hardly makes the news cause they knock it out fast and move on to the next area without any excitement.  A humble group who have probably saved many a pond from being choked with weeds.    The pickerel don't like them though!! 
Check out www.mainevlmp.org if you want to see where the money goes. 

[joefishmore]

You want to close all lakes and ponds because they might get millfoil or just your personal pond ?
While you are free to use any other lake and pond ?