Sad Day In Maine

[gamefisher]

They put on the pounds in a hurry.

[Left Handed Model]

From what I have read, they can be that size in about 5 years,  they get 20-24" in 2.

[GrandLaker]

just like any fish it depend's on the feed base, if they where to take hold in sebago the first thing they would do is wipe out the smelt base like they did in long pond which would in turn wipe out the touge and salmon which in turn would be an absolute disaster, I would like to see the jerk who dumped the first one in sebago be caught, and I feel bad for the first one to get caught, he will be the example of all examples. the dept. plan's on throwing the book at the first one they catch.

[Left Handed Model]

I looked at some stomach contents from a fish from Long Pond and it was full of smelt.  So I don't think it's completely wiped out.

[CircleHook]

I didnt mean any offence to Pike fishermen.Fish for what you want. We are all sportsman.I just thought it should have stayed a Togue tourney.The Belgrade lake deal is just horrible. Just pray it doesnt happen to Sebago!!!

[billditrite]

i will not feel bad at all i hope they do make an example out of anyone caught ! but even then you can do life in jail or even executed for killing someone and it happens every day.

[billditrite]

I didnt mean any offence to Pike fishermen.Fish for what you want. We are all sportsman.I just thought it should have stayed a Togue tourney.The Belgrade lake deal is just horrible. Just pray it doesnt happen to Sebago!!!

no offense taken Circlehook , and please let me welcome you to iceshanty!!    this thread erupts anytime someone says the "P" word in maine LOL . we are all sportsman, and we do have a common goal in mind. however individually we are all different with differing opinions. thats what makes america such a great place to live. as long as we can still respect each other wether we agree or not, positive progress can be made. when it gets personal then the real issue at hand gets clouded

[fshnfool]

well said billditrite, and welcome to the shanty circlehook.

the way I see it is....If we want to hunt grizzly bear....do we bring them to Maine so we don't have to travel so far???...no..we go to where they are...if you wanna catch pike.....go to where they are. people shouldn't ruin a good cold water lake just to make it more convenient for them....where's the sport in that?....2 more cents from me..

[goneicefishin]

okay that is probably the best well rounded statement i have heard on the subject and agree whole heartedly    i have always wanted to catch a grayling and will be doing it this year but will be going to where they are at

the way I see it is....If we want to hunt grizzly bear....do we bring them to Maine so we don't have to travel so far???...no..we go to where they are...if you wanna catch pike.....go to where they are. people shouldn't ruin a good cold water lake just to make it more convenient for them....where's the sport in that?....2 more cents from me..
[/quote]

[GrandLaker]

well put fishnfool, I guide people all spring and summer long who come hear for our world class landlock salmon and smallmouth bass fishing, they come from all over the country, some from Dallas Texas, some from California, they come to Maine every year religiously.

[PIKEGUY]

just like any fish it depend's on the feed base, if they where to take hold in sebago the first thing they would do is wipe out the smelt base like they did in long pond which would in turn wipe out the touge and salmon which in turn would be an absolute disaster

So why not just stock smelt?

[pin smelt]

Just my 0.02 worth.  I caught a 6.75lb togue at the Sebago berby in  2004, it had a nine inch salmon in its belly when I got it home and opened it up.  Not much of fight.  I caught a 8.2 lb pike on Long pond saturday fishing the Derby.  It was a gravid female with nine whole 4-inch alewives in her belly and the remains of more in it's intestine.   Not much of a fight either.  Three years ago I caught a three pound salmon under the ice on Thompson, man that was fun, good eating too.  There may not be smelt left in Long pond, but the alewife population is there.  I hope the salmon make it back to both Sebago and Long Pond, hell I hope the salmon fisheries come back in the State.

I've caught a couple of togue and pike in the past, they don't fight much.   Largemouth bass and salmon make me smile. 

[TroutKing]

Hello all,

I don't want to fuel the fire of anti-pike sentiment, but I have to say that they are really spreading beyond the shores of Sabattus Lake. I am a resident of Lewiston, a neighboring town of Sabattus, and I love to fish in the area. I know the State probably screwed up with the introduction of togue in Sebago and other lakes, but I think that comparing them to pike is like comparing apples and oranges. Sure, they are both predatory fish, but from all I've read or heard, pike are an eating machine that eat all they can find, including each other. Read the thread Bluefin posted earlier this month on theh article published in the Kennebec Journal. It is interesting to read about how the introduction of pike has posed a threat to rainbow/salmon waters in Alaska. Besides, togue and salmon thrive together in many lakes around the State. Take Moosehead, Kezar, Sebec, West Grand, and the list goes on and on. When pike hit a water, however, they decimate the populations of coldwater game fish (e.g. the Belgrades). I think the main point of emphasis is to focus on stopping "bucket biology" as the term has been coined. There has got to be a better way to stop this. PIke are not only in Sabattus. Here are a list of reported "pike waters" in Southern and central Maine.

Wilson Pond - Monmouth (I've seen one from here)
Cobbossee Lake - Monmouth (my uncle's seen on from here)
Annabassacook Lake - Monmouth
Beals Pond - Turner
Bear Pond - Hartford (seen plenty from here)
Long Pond - Livermore
The Androscoggin River - Lewiston

I am sure there are others I haven't listed.

I am worried, as a few of these ponds and lakes were once great trout fishing. I'd hate to see them fall by the wayside. Any suggestions as to how to stop "bucket bios"?

TroutKing

[fshnfool]

Any suggestions as to how to stop "bucket bios"?

yeah...have them read all these threads....

[freezing fred]

Wait until Pike get into the Kennebec. New fishery in the brackish water of Meerymeeting Bay. Good bye Stiper breeding population.
Fred B.

[Left Handed Model]

I don't think most of those bucket guys can read, cause if they could they would understand more than they do...

[Corso]

Thank's Stanimal, The salmon are coming back in sebago, they are not wiped out like in the belgrades, keep taking the touge out and we will acheive the delicate balance between lake trout and salmon, like east grand, west grand, tunk, donnell, and so many other's.

East Grand? delicated balance? betweenst the lakers and cusk maybe...even the locals are going to Deering for consistent salmonoids  

[MikeMunn]

yeah...have them read all these threads....

LOL....best idea today!

[GrandLaker]

sorry Corso, unless they fished all the salmon out of east grand this winter you are wrong! , I guide there all spring and summer and 30 fish day's on streamer fly's are not uncommon, and on september 31 we landed over 20 all on flies, We slay all day long and watch many people catch nothing, east grand is very clear and you have to no what you are doing to consistently catch fish there, no it is not like it was back in the 80's but is still some of the better landlock fishing this state has to offer

[Niner]

Wait until Pike get into the Kennebec. New fishery in the brackish water of Meerymeeting Bay. Good bye Stiper breeding population.
Fred B.

Stipers would survive a pike boom in the kennebec.  They swim among the heartiest of predators.  Bluefish, tunoids, shark, seals, and the like.

They breed in the Hudson, Chesapeake, and North carolina area's anyway.   

Now to really stir the stew.....

Awesome pic I have to admit.

http://www.stripersonline.com/ubb547/ultimatebb.php/topic/10/22639.html

[Bluefinforme]

They breed in the Hudson, Chesapeake, and North carolina area's anyway.   

I was gonna say that people don't think before they type.........gee will the Bluefin's and Mako's survive if Pike become sea-run lol   SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UP 

[PIKEGUY]

I was gonna say that people don't think before they type.........gee will the Bluefin's and Mako's survive if Pike become sea-run lol   SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUT UP 

Hell no! The pike will eat everything. Including the boats. Nasty mean pike

[Corso]

sorry Corso, unless they fished all the salmon out of east grand this winter you are wrong! , I guide there all spring and summer and 30 fish day's on streamer fly's are not uncommon, and on september 31 we landed over 20 all on flies, We slay all day long and watch many people catch nothing, east grand is very clear and you have to no what you are doing to consistently catch fish there, no it is not like it was back in the 80's but is still some of the better landlock fishing this state has to offer

Well maybe thats the problem...you experts that are slaying em? you putting any back for us idiots to catch? like YOU said..not the fishery it was in the 80s!
The bottom line is..the derby was open statewide..you chose to fish where you wanted..and didnt get a big fish..isnt that your real problem? 

[salmon44]

Corso, try reading the 1st post of this thread where GrandLaker was frustrated that an ILLEGAL SPECIES was going to win 1st, 2nd & 3rd place in the Sebago tournament which was always dedicated to Lake Trout.  As for E. Grand all of this fish are caught & released.

[GrandLaker]

we keep one fish a day for lunch, that is if the client likes fish many do not, in which case we release everything, Lodge policy is to also release all salmon over four pounds unless they die, I guess we are doing our part.

[Swampbucks1]

I bet in 10-years the Sebago derby will be a Togue/Pike derby.  The pike in sebago, 'that have been caught.' were well over 35"+ and double digit #'s.  So, if there are some like that now, I'm sure the boom is just waiting to happen.

So, my ignorant statement of the day goes to this fella.'

I live on Sebago and to say the salmon fishery has been ruined here is a bit of an ignorant statement, all lakes have their up & down cycles, salmon will one day come back here, but never at Belgrade

Sebago/Belgrade =same results in time, bye bye salmon. 

So much arguing amongst each other, when all we really care about is fishing.  Each likes to fish for different species, that's what makes the world go round.

Me thinks those complaining are similar to those, 'fly-fishing elitist.'  You can do nothing to satisfy them type!
You know those close minded, their way or no way attitude.     Snobs like bluefin.   

Just kidding.Ben.  I think you've accused me of that before. 

[salmon44]

Sounds like you're looking forward to it.  I have heard of 2 confermed pike caught out of Sebago in the shallow sections of the lake and they were not very large.  Where did you get your info.?  As for my statement of the day, maybe if you lived on the lake and fished it often while talking to many others who are starting to catch salmon again you could take that Pike out of your ---

[king salmon]

There is nothing any body can do about the spread of pike including DIFW.Bucket biologists who are too cheap to pay for gas to get to pike waters would rather go to Sabbatus once and bring a cooler full of fish closer to home, so what makes you think they would by a computer or even be smart enough to read these threads?As for Sebago and other infested waters you can just mark them down as future pike waters.Youll never get rid of them just like millfoil,invasive.As for the introduction of lakers,it probably wasnt the states best moves but they can co exist with salmon ect.What thrives in pike waters?Pike.As for pike disturbing stripers,I hope not.I make my living guiding and tuna fishing and am doing salt water charters this year.Pike wont affect stripers,not if these hogs have a say in the matter.

[Swampbucks1]

Sounds like you're looking forward to it.

And so what if I am?  I have no control over mother nature. Just stating the obvious.

I target trophy fish, and in 10-years if there are trophy pike in Sebago, I'll be all over it.

 

As for my statement of the day, maybe if you lived on the lake and fished it often while talking to many others who are starting to catch salmon again you could take that Pike out of your ---

I live 5-miles from the watershed, mr. salmon, so if you'd like to meet in person and discuss it, i'm sure we could have a nice conversation in person.  You let me know.

You know, sounds like you have all the complaints and none of the solutions.   You come to this site and start bashing us, like we have or created the problem. 

[billditrite]

we are all sportsman, and we do have a common goal in mind. however individually we are all different with differing opinions. thats what makes america such a great place to live. as long as we can still respect each other wether we agree or not, positive progress can be made. when it gets personal then the real issue at hand gets clouded