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January 30, 2007 Ice Fishing Report Region B - Central Maine
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[font "Times New Roman"]Now that winter has become more ‘normal’ temperature-wise, opportunities for ice fishing have followed suit. Last week’s cold snap has certainly hardened up area lakes and ponds. Still, even though the cold has allowed ice to build, there are still a wide variety of conditions out there. Ice has thickened more slowly on lakes that had snow cover than those that were open water, since the snow acts as an insulating cover. I’ve heard of as much as a foot of ice on waters in the northern part of the region and as little as four inches in the central and southern areas. But I’ve also talked with anglers fishing on different parts of the same lake who’ve observed a wide range of ice thicknesses. Any where there is running water, such as inlets or outlets, will have far less ice than adjacent areas. These may transition from safe to unsafe conditions quickly, sometimes in as little as two or three feet in distance. Narrows and thoughfares remain unstable as far as ice conditions go, and will be that way all winter. So a continued word of caution to all: check ice conditions before you venture out on a water and keep on checking them as you move about on the ice.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]This office has been pretty busy lately. The fact that ice fishing got off to a slow start has not affected other facets of the fish biology business. We have been hard at it; analyzing data collected last summer and fall, reviewing and editing regulations for the upcoming year, planning field evaluations for the upcoming summer, developing regulation changes for 2008 and filling out bait permits for a short list. We spend a lot of time responding to questions, comments and requests from you all. Then there are what seem to be the constant meetings, reports and memos. There seems to never be a dull moment.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]Now that sleds are on the trails and shacks are appearing where substantial ice has formed, we are busy completing creel surveys on a number of waters throughout the region. By the looks of many of the waters I’ve been by lately, it appears that people are just starting to settle in for a winter of fishing. This fall, the region stocked over 51,000 fish in area waters. These fish are out there waiting for the skillful or lucky angler. To find out how many fish were planted and where, go to the Department’s website at [/font][url "http://www.maine.gov/ifw/pdf/fishstockingreport2006.pdf"][font "Times New Roman"][#0000ff]www.maine.gov/ifw/pdf/fishstockingreport2006.pdf[/#0000ff][/font][/url][font "Times New Roman"] to plan your next trip. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"]-Robert Van-Riper, Regional Fisheries Biologist[/font]
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