Drought has taken a toll on Maine’s wild brook trout.
That’s way better than stressing the wild populations.” State officials have not placed restrictions on fishing for wild brook trout this spring, but biologists say they would not hesitate to react should the situation worsen.
“I would say the impact, particularly in stream systems, was very large,” said Jim Pellerin, a regional fisheries biologist in southern Maine.
Once ponds open across the state, biologists and fishermen will keep a close eye on the status of wild brook trout.
“The wild fish population just crashed,” said Obrey, Maine’s brook trout specialist.
“There are ponds I know that have really small spring inlets.
I did observe trout spawning in the Kennebago over Columbus Day as usual, although the water level was much lower.” Steve Heinz, a director with the Sebago Chapter of fish conservation group Trout Unlimited, said he saw many wild brook trout streams in the foothills of the White Mountains dry up last summer when he was replacing culverts.
So the Sebago chapter works to replace culverts to help the wild fish move between different waters.
He said if prolonged dry periods become more common, fishermen should just stop fishing to help wild brook trout populations.
People are delusional to think catch-and-release works 100 percent of the time.