Try Late-Season Trout Fishing
by Tom Seymour
Two November Trout. Fall fishing means that trout become somewhat less wary and more forgiving than during clear, low-water times of late spring and summer. Given the high amounts of dissolved oxygen in the now-brisk water, trout fight longer and are harder to tame. Tom Seymour Photo.
Recent policy changes on the part of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries And Wildlife (DIF&W) fisheries division have resulted in either year-round fishing or extended fall fishing seasons on many Maine lakes, ponds and rivers.
Coupled with these new, more liberal regulations, DIF&W has boosted its fish-stocking efforts in order to present late-season anglers with many more additional trout fishing opportunities. However, these changes and new regulations do not extend across the board, but rather are implemented on an individual basis. It requires considerable scrutiny of the new fishing laws booklet in order to ascertain if any particular water offers late-season or year-round fishing. But the end result makes that effort more than worthwhile.
New Codes
In addition to a list of special rules called “S-codes,” the fishing laws booklet also contains letter codes. Let’s address Letter Codes first. Under county headings, if the rules for any water differ from general law, the water will be listed with some kind of letter code. These indicate what months of the year a water is open to fishing.
The S-codes mentioned above range from S-1 to S-33 and each tells something different about a particular body of water. Once locating the name of a body of water under the county headings, then note which S-codes apply and then refer to the S-code key in the rule book.
Again, complicated, but well worth the effort.
Here is a for-instance of how a little sleuthing in the law book can reveal useful information. Let’s assume that you would like to find an open stream or river near you and you live in Lincoln County in Mid-Coast Maine. Lincoln County falls within the listing for Southern and Eastern Counties, so begin there.
Next, after finding the Lincoln County header, scroll down, checking each entry for letter codes and S-codes. Two different rivers are listed here, but one, the Sheepscot River, is not in Lincoln County. The other, Medomak River looks promising even at first glance. It reads: “Medomak River, Waldoboro. From outlet of Medomak Pond to the head of tide: Open to open water fishing from January 1 – December 31. S-19, S-33. General Law terminal gear provisions apply year-round.
This sounds complicated, but it tells us a lot. First, we see that a well-defined section of Medomak River remains open to fishing year-round. Next, the S-codes tell us that the daily limit on trout is 2 fish (S-19) and maximum length on landlocked salmon and brown trout is 33 inches (S-33). Of course no one is going to catch either a trout or landlocked salmon that long. This regulation appears here in order to protect Atlantic salmon from accidental harvest. Finally, we learn here that we may use any type of lure, bait or fly we wish, since general law provisions apply.
Stocking Reports
So now, by spending time in the law book, we have learned that in Lincoln County, one river remains open year-round to fishing. Armed with that knowledge, we may rightly assume that DIF&W stocks it with trout for fisherman to catch. In order to learn more about that, we most go online to the DIF&W website at MEFISHWILDLIFE.COM. Once there, then click on Fishing and then click on Reports.
Next, under Reports, click on Fish Stocking Reports. This leads to an option for either Current Year Stocking Reports and Historical Stocking Reports. It makes sense to visit both of these. Here’s what the author found under Current Stocking Reports back in September, 2012. It showed that Medomak River was stocked three times thus far with brown trout and brook trout. These stockings occurred in April, May and June.
But by September or even later in the year, these fish may have either been caught or they could have headed downstream to the sea or upstream, past the year-round fishing section. A trip there at the time the author checked may or may not be productive.
However, the Historical Stocking Report could have encouraging news. And in fact it does. On last November 15, DIF&W stocked 500, 12-inch brown trout in Medomak River. And since such dates and figures are nearly the same each year, we can reason that some time this November, Medomak River will have a new batch of trout for us to fish for.
Water level becomes all-important now, since fall rains can quickly swell rivers to the point where they become difficult or impossible to fish. If water is high but fishable, artificial lures make more sense than flies, because artificials come in heavier weights and can quickly sink down to where trout lie. Tom Seymour Photo.
Fall Techniques
The Medomak River is just an example of what is available out there. Other counties offer far more options for late-season and year-round fishing. So after finding a place open to fishing, what’s the best way to go about it?
First, water level becomes all-important now, since fall rains can quickly swell rivers to the point where they become difficult or impossible to fish. If water is high but fishable, artificial lures make more sense than flies, because artificials come in heavier weights and can quickly sink down to where trout lie.
So where permitted, artificial lures make the most sense. Certain types of lures perform better than others now and spinners sit right there at the top. But even so, it makes sense to begin with very small spinners first, since smaller lures take more fish now. This makes sense when we consider that the most predominant baitfish are young-of-the-year, or ones born this year. Consequently, they are smaller than the adults. The only reason for using a larger spinner would be because it casts further and sinks deeper. But do begin with a smaller spinner.
Cast upstream, let the spinner sink and reel it back in just fast enough to make the spinner blade turn. Many modern spinners utilize in-line blades, meaning that instead of being attached to the spinner shank by a clevis, the shank actually perforates the blade via a specially-designed hole. These take very little water friction to come alive and are especially useful for slow, deep fishing techniques.
For fall fishing, then, it’s hard to beat a small spinner. But sometimes a little lure called Trout Magnet does just that, and in a big way. Trout Magnets have slowly found a following in Maine, thanks primarily to the author of this article who also writes for The Maine Sportsman Magazine as well as newspapers and other publications. Ask your tackle dealer if they stock Trout Magnets and if they don’t, ask them to get some in.
Magnet Fishing
Trout Magnets consist of a thin, round, plastic body with twin tails and a tapered jig head with a single hook. The body slides on the hook and abuts the narrow end of the head. The entire lure measures about 1.2 inches and weighs perhaps 1-1/6 of an ounce.
However, this tiny offering sinks like a bullet and casts well when matched with an ultralight spinning outfit and 2 or 3-pound test line. And in fact, a thin, light line is key to successful Trout Magnet fishing, since only then does the lure work as intended. And boy, does it work. Fish sometimes try and outdistance each other to nail a Trout Magnet.
Cast a Magnet upstream and let it swing downstream on a tight line. Be watchful for any slight pressure. Sometimes a strike comes as a little “tic” and at that point, it’s time to raise the rod and set the hook.
Another thing about these lures is that with very few exceptions, trout get hooked in the roof of the mouth. This makes for easy hook removal and little physical harm to the fish. It also increases survival odds for any released fish.
Spinners and Trout Magnets make up the best combination of trout lures for fall fishing. Other lures work too, but not as well as these.
On last November 15, DIF&W stocked 500, 12-inch brown trout in Medomak River. And since such dates and figures are nearly the same each year, we can reason that some time this November, Medomak River will have a new batch of trout for us to fish for. Tom Seymour Photo.
Forgiving Trout
Fall fishing also means that trout become somewhat less wary and more forgiving than during clear, low-water times of late spring and summer. A botched cast that would scare every fish in a pool in summer now has every chance of resulting in a hookup.
When this fall fishing began, the author was of the mind that fish might be somewhat lethargic given the cold water of fall. In fact, the opposite is true. Trout become supercharged now and fight harder than at any other time. And given the high amounts of dissolved oxygen in the now-brisk water, trout fight longer and are harder to tame. This was shown last year when DIF&W released some 16- to 17-inch brook trout in a Mid-Coast river.
Not only did the trout lunge for the lure, once hooked they were extremely energized and nearly impossible to tire. Cold temperatures represent the only drawback to late-season fishing. Chilly fingers make handling the rod difficult, as does holding on to ice-cold fish in order to remove the hook. But these drawbacks are more than offset by a lack of biting insects, eager fish and a noticeable lack of other fishermen.
Now that you know the secrets to this new Maine sport, why not get out and try some fall trout fishing? It sure beats sitting home by the woodstove.