A Maine Lake With Too Many Salmon? An Anglers Dream Come True
It sounds too good to be true. Too many salmon in Maine's third largest lake? Is this for real? According to an article on BangorDailyNews.com it IS real! And state biologists in the Moosehead Lake region want us to fish 'em out.
Chesuncook Lake is known as a starting point for whitewater rafting on the Penobscot River and for the landlocked salmon fishery in the West Branch of the Penobscot. The lake takes up 26,200 acres and at it's deepest is about 150 feet.
So what do you do with a lake that has too many salmon? You hold a fishing derby. That's exactly what they're doing. Next weekend is the second annual Chesuncook Lake Salmon Derby. Because there are too many fish in the lake, growth is suffering, according to Tim Obrey, the regional fisheries biologist for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Region E, the BDN reports. So they're having a derby to clear out some of the smaller salmon.
Next weekend, May 25th and 26th you can fish your heart out for the landlocked salmon and win prizes while doing it. First prize is $500 for the angler who catches the largest salmon, and each registered fish smaller than 16 inches will get the fisherman a ticket that will be entered into a drawing for a variety of prizes, and someone will also win $500.
Tickets for the derby are available for $20 at NRECmoosehead.org. And remember, a bad day fishin' is still better than a good day workin'!