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Maine Salmon Clave?

7K views 59 replies 14 participants last post by  gunner 
#1 ·
On Friday, June 23, 2006 - Bangor Daily News wrote:

Penobscot salmon fishing OK'd

EDDINGTON - For the past six years, salmon fishermen have gathered on opening day to rehash old fish tales rather than cast their hand-tied flies into Maine rivers.

But this fall, some skillful or lucky anglers likely will return home with new stories about the big one that got away or, better yet, the even bigger one they landed and released.

The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission voted unanimously Thursday to reopen a stretch of the Penobscot River near Bangor to Atlantic salmon fishing for one month this fall. The catch-and-release fishery will give anglers their first chance to legally hook a sea-run salmon in Maine since 1999.

The season will run from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, although the commission retains the option of closing the fishery at any time to protect the river's salmon population. The stretch of river that will be open to angling - from 150 feet below the Veazie Dam fishway downstream to the former site of the Bangor Dam - includes many of the fishing pools that made the Penobscot famous.

Fishermen will be restricted to artificial flies with single-pointed, barbless hooks and must immediately release any caught fish unharmed without removing them from the water.

"This is a great milestone and a great opportunity, and I personally hope it works," said Roland "Danny" Martin, commissioner of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and one of the ASC's three board members.

Martin's sentiment may help explain why the coming season was labeled "experimental."

The Atlantic Salmon Commission closed all Maine rivers to fishing for sea-run Atlantic salmon in December 1999 in response to precipitous population declines of the fish. The federal government later placed the distinct salmon populations in eight Maine rivers on the endangered species list.

Salmon populations in the Penobscot have since recovered somewhat, although the number of adults returning to spawn fluctuates annually. Biologists are pleased with the 650-plus adults counted in the Veazie Dam fishway so far this spring, but are hesitant to make predictions for the year.

Commission staff and board members received plenty of feedback from biologists, fishermen and conservation groups both for and against reopening the Penobscot to salmon fishing, even temporarily.

Some fishermen and scientists urged the commission to keep the river closed, arguing that even a monthlong fishery could weaken a population already teetering on the edge.

Many fishermen said they would prefer to fish in the spring when populations are higher and the fish stronger after months or years at sea. Other anglers said they would gladly take whatever fishing opportunities they can get.

In the end, the commission weighed the scientific evidence and concluded that a catch-and-release fishery held in the fall would pose no long-term danger to the Penobscot's salmon population, said board chairman Dick Ruhlin.

"This is a conservative approach and one that I ... have a lot more confidence in," Ruhlin told audience members gathered Thursday at the Eddington Salmon Club.

That didn't eliminate all of the grumbling about the spring vs. fall fishery, however.

Lou Horvath, a past president of the Penobscot, Veazie and Eddington salmon clubs, said he doesn't approve of a fall fishery. But he predicted that the fishery would provide a boost to the fishing community and the local economy.

George Chalmers, a member of the Penobscot Salmon Club, said he also would have preferred a spring season but was pleased that the commission heeded the calls of fishermen to reopen the Penobscot. Chalmers said the season would help the local clubs.

"All of the clubs are hurting for membership," he said. "No fishing, there's no membership."


Any interest in a celebration of the American salmon? I am going for sure, but I thought it might be fun to have a group check it out.

The attitude is not one of exploitation but one of support, experience and celebration.

Please reply if interested in this September event.
 
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#52 ·
Cool enjoy, I have been away fishing in BC and my mind is thinking more freshwater than salt. Are you headed to the Cape or North Shore? If the North Shore I can give you some insight. If this clave thing doesn't take of I may head up to your neck of woods to chase some brookies.... I may shoot you a PM with some questions....-Randy
 
#55 ·
Word on the street is that two fish have been landed. According to informed sources, may see some more activity with cooler water and lower light. However, latest NOAA/NFWS/Penobscot Tribe study may make this the only season. See below:

Today's KJ's article on this subject:
Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Salmon in danger

By KEITH EDWARDS
Staff Writer
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

A federal review of wild Atlantic salmon, including those in the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot rivers, indicates their population is substantially lower than historic levels.

A genetic analysis conducted as part of the review indicates the Atlantic salmon in the three larger rivers are indeed similar to the fish in eight smaller rivers in downeast Maine. The fish in those eight rivers are on the endangered species list.

The review stops short of recommending the fish in the Androscoggin, Kennebec and Penobscot rivers be added to the endangered species list. But it does say the current population is at extremely low levels and is, genetically, part of the same distinct population of Atlantic salmon in the eight other rivers.

The recently released report was compiled by a panel of biologists including federal, state, and Penobscot Nation representatives, as well as fisheries experts.

The Atlantic salmon in eight Maine rivers were designated as federal endangered species in a review released in 2000.

However, a decision regarding whether or not to include salmon that inhabited the main stems of the Kennebec River above the former site of Edwards Dam, the Penobscot River above the former site of Bangor Dam, or the Androscoggin River, was deferred during the initial listing.

Officials wanted to determine if the fish in those three rivers were genetically similar to the Atlantic salmon in the smaller rivers downeast. The most recent review concluded the fish were the same.

Fisheries advocates said the fish in the larger and smaller rivers should have been considered as one population from the beginning.

"To include some fisheries, and not others, never really made sense," said Andrew Goode of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, an international, nonprofit organization that promotes the conservation and management of wild Atlantic salmon and their environment.

In 1999, the state fought against Atlantic salmon being listed as an endangered species, with opponents claiming the designation would place too many restrictions on waterfront development.

Goode said that if the federal government considers extending the endangered species designation to Atlantic salmon in the three large rivers, he hopes the state won't challenge the designation.

He said there was fear-mongering over the endangered species designation in 1999 regarding Atlantic salmon on the eight downeast rivers. Since then, he said, collaboration between businesses, government, and conservationists on those rivers has been the norm, not the conflict opponents claimed would happen.

George LaPointe, commissioner of the state Department of Marine Resources, said he has spoken about the issue with Gov. John Baldacci, though it is too early for a decision on whether the state would challenge any efforts to add Atlantic salmon in the Androscoggin, Kennebec, and Penobscot to the endangered species list.

"The governor wants a collaborative approach," LaPointe said. "We would rather work together, as long as it is a reasonable process."

LaPointe said the review confirms what many already knew about the Atlantic salmon population: It is not doing well.

Both LaPointe and fisheries advocates said the best way to help Maine's Atlantic salmon population recover is to support the Penobscot River Restoration Project. That project seeks to provide migrating Atlantic salmon with access to upper parts of the river by removing hydroelectric dams in the lower section of the river. Ultimately, LaPointe said, the power produced by the those dams could be replaced by dams that could be built further upstream, where they wouldn't block fish returning to the river from the sea.

"The single, best thing that could happen would be to implement the Penobscot Project," Goode said. "That, to me, is a project that addresses the root of the problem."

The Penobscot River Restoration Trust is currently working to raise private, state and federal funds to pay for the ambitious project.

Atlantic salmon are anadromous, meaning they are born in freshwater, go out to sea where they undergo their greatest feeding and growth in salt water, and return as adults to spawn in native fresh water streams where the eggs hatch and juveniles grow, according to the Atlantic Salmon Federation. Adults typically weigh between eight and 15 pounds.

Keith Edwards -- 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com
 
#57 ·
I fished 2 days on the Penobby, with no success but there was at least one taken as below shows.

Jim Y




By Kevin Miller
Bangor Daily News


It took nearly two weeks, but an Atlantic salmon finally took the bait.

Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, Beau Peavey of Glenburn hooked a salmon while casting just below the Veazie dam on the Penobscot River. But unlike the fish Peavey tricked into biting a few days ago, this salmon did not get away — at least not until Peavey let it go.

The 12-pounder is the first reported catch since the catch-and-release salmon fishery opened on the Penobscot on Sept. 15 — and the first sea-run salmon legally hooked in Maine waters since 1999.

To be precise, the 22-year-old Peavey wasn’t using bait on the end of his line. That would be illegal under the highly restrictive rules of Maine’s first salmon fishing season in more than six years.

Peavey is no newcomer to salmon fishing, having caught his first "Atlantic" at age 4 and dozens more since. In fact, he landed one of the last salmon in the same exact spot — known as the "B pool" — in 1999 before state officials decided the fish population was too fragile to allow even catch-and-release angling.

That did not diminish the thrill, however, of landing the first Penobscot salmon, Peavey said.

"It was the river I grew up on, and getting back there was great," he said during an interview Wednesday evening.

The monthlong season opened on the banks of the Penobscot near Bangor on Sept. 15 amid considerable fanfare. Maine, and the Penobscot River in particular, harbors the last sizeable population of wild Atlantic salmon in the United States.

More than 200 fishermen have purchased salmon fishing permits. But while anglers can still be seen casting flies into the Penobscot’s famous salmon pools many mornings and evenings, the fish have been less willing to participate in a tradition that once drew fly fishermen from around the world to Maine.

Richard Dill, a biologist with the Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, said he has heard a handful of reports of salmon biting but wriggling free before fishermen could reel in the powerful fish known for its fight. The state requires all salmon anglers to use tied flies on barbless, single-pointed hooks to minimize damage, which could account for some lost fish.

Dill said he would have expected a few more lucky fishermen by now. But he attributed the slower fishing activity to warmer water temperatures during the first week and the fact that the vast majority of Penobscot salmon return from the ocean to spawn during the spring, not the fall.

"There aren’t a lot of fish out there, and everybody knew that," Dill said. "But as it gets warm the fish become less active."

Peavey, for one, said he does not mind the hours of fruitless casting.

Each morning he rises early and heads down to the pools near the Veazie Salmon Club, where he is a member of the board of directors. Peavey estimated he has spent at least 60 hours fishing since the season opened on the 15th while still attending classes at the University College of Bangor.

He first saw his salmon rise out of the water about an hour before he hooked it Wednesday. After some unsuccessful casts, Peavey said, he let the pool rest for a while before returning.

The fish bit Peavey’s "pink ent" fly on his fifth cast and immediately took off, forcing the fisherman to move downstream about 200 yards because he was just about out of fly line.

"And it wasn’t a walk; it was more of a dead-heat sprint," he recounted.

But about 15 minutes later — a good fight for this time of year, he said — Peavey had brought the salmon into the shallows.

Two fishermen from Vermont who came to Maine to try salmon fishing were there to watch the fight and document the catch with a picture. Peavey then released the fish, as required. He’s still waiting for a copy of the photo.

Despite having caught a salmon and the dozens of hours on the water, Peavey said he has no intention of hanging up his rod for the season.

"I’ll be out there again at 5:30," he said.
 
#58 ·
Penobscot Salmon

I am one of those mysterious two "Vermont Fishermen" who was privileged to witness the first legal salmon in the U S in 7 years, and I will tell you it was a real trip. It could only have been better if it had been me. Beau is a fine young lad , and a credit to the future of our sport. He had put in a lot of time and the fish chose well when it picked Beau .He had seen the fish roll and after casting to it without any response , offered me a turn. I made my attempt, but no luck. Beau took another turn and after only a few casts -- SHAZAM! The fish went over the lip of the pool and through another smaller pool and into a larger pool with a large backwater eddy, with Beau leaping through the rocks and brush in chase. I move a lot slower and by the time I caught up with the action he had the salmon within a dozen yards or so. The fish was quickly brought to hand and released. I did get a few photos, which while I think they are nice attractive photos , unfortunately they were not close enough to do the fish justice.
Although I have chased the LL Salmon out of Champlain , this was my first outing for sea run salmon. Although we were total strangers, all the folks at the Veazie Salmon Club accepted us into their clubhouse like we were old lost members, and were wonderfully generous with local knowledge and wisdom.
The "Vermont Fishermen" didn't catch a salmon but we had the time of our lives.
If they have an open season next year we will be back.
AgMD
 
#60 ·
end of season summary

Salmon season deemed a success

By Kevin Miller
Saturday, October 21, 2006 -
Bangor Daily News

The fish may not have been biting, but Maine’s first salmon season of the millennium was enough of a success that state officials already are mulling the possibility of allowing anglers back on the Penobscot River this spring.

More than 200 anglers from throughout New England — and several from across the country — purchased licenses for the monthlong Atlantic salmon fishing season that ended Oct. 15.

Very few anglers managed to even entice a salmon into striking, much less land one, according to preliminary reports.

The Maine Atlantic Salmon Commission, which administered the "experimental" season, has only one confirmed catch. But commission chairman Dick Ruhlin said he has heard at least two other claims of salmon being landed. Anglers were required to release the fish immediately.

Regardless of the number, Ruhlin said he believes the season was a success because it put Maine "back on the Atlantic salmon map" and, it is hoped, revived interest in the proud sport.

"Salmon fishing is about fishing; it’s not about catching," said Ruhlin, who has 50-plus years of salmon fishing experience. "A dedicated salmon angler is more interested in fishing over a piece of water where there is a good probability of a fish being there and presenting a good cast." It’s also about camaraderie, he said.

ASC staff will not know for sure how many fish were caught — or the number that were hooked but not landed — until they tally the detailed reports all anglers were required to keep for every fishing expedition.

Staff are expected to formally present the data to the commission board in December. Commission members then will consider those trip reports as well as the post-season assessments of ASC biologists when choosing their next steps.

"If we can see that everything is a positive, then right now I think … that we may want to go ahead with a spring season," Ruhlin said Thursday night.

Speaking on his own behalf, not for the commission, Ruhlin said he likely would support a temporary season beginning in mid- to late May unless the reports end up showing the fall fishery harmed fish. The commission likely would hold public hearings before approving a spring season, he said.

A spectacular and powerful fish beloved by anglers, Atlantic salmon once numbered in the hundreds of thousands in New England rivers before dams, pollution and humans devastated the stocks. Today, Maine is the only U.S. state where wild, sea-run salmon still return to their home rivers to spawn.

Maine banned all fishing for sea-run salmon in 1999 in order to protect the dwindling numbers of returning adults. With Penobscot adult returns consistently numbering around 1,000, commission members decided earlier this year to go ahead with an experimental fishery in the fall when fewer adult fish are still in the water.

Patrick Keliher, the ASC’s executive director, said biologists inspected every adult captured in the fish trap at the Veazie dam for signs of injury or fatigue from fishermen. The fish appeared healthy, he said. The trap is located upriver of where anglers were allowed to catch and release fish.

"From a fishery standpoint, I think the salmon community has proven we can have a fishery without harming the resource," he said.

Gary Arsenault was one of the local salmon fishermen who supported a fall fishery as long as it erred on the side of protecting the fish. A past president of the Maine Council of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, Arsenault and other council members successfully argued to lower the daily catch limit from two fish to one.

Arsenault believes a spring fishery could be successful, as long as the ASC and anglers follow the same conservative philosophy.

Like Ruhlin, Arsenault joined his fly-fishing buddies several times on the Penobscot during the salmon season. Although he didn’t catch a salmon, he called the season a "booming success."

"The people came from everywhere," he said. "We were fishing with people from all over the U.S."

Kevin Miller
kmiller@bangordailynews.net



John/Titleguy -- next year we will have to figure out how to manage some time in the rotation and maybe get Juro and a few other speycasters up there for a mini-clave.
Joe
 
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