Daylight Savings Time has kicked in for another year, so that means that March is nearly over and with it ends rabbit hunting and ice fishing seasons. While snowshoe hare hunting has been top rate with the most advantageous conditions in several winters, it’s been an often treacherous and only moderately conducive season for hard water anglers. There are a couple of weeks remaining however and a few regional lakes really deserve one last effort from Aroostook ice drillers.
March has always been my favorite ice fishing month, with it longer daylight hours, warmer weather and often sunny days with less snow on the lake surface. Oddly, fish species must sense the impending thaw as well as they seem to perk up and become more active. I’ve enjoyed some truly fast action during the Ides of March and pulled a few bragging size brutes through my tip-up holes.
This year especially, it would behoove sportsmen to check with area wardens, fisheries biologists or other local anglers familiar with specific waterways regarding ice thickness and safety considerations. Don’t take anything for granted — use an ice spud or auger to make sample holes and assure a safe depth of ice. This is a great time of year to visit lakes known for big fish, and I’ve got a few ideas where to visit for a season ending outing.
For a chance to hook into a unique quarry and perhaps even catch a new state record I’d suggest a trip north to Glazier Lake in search of muskellunge, Aroostook’s toothy variety of water wolf. Glazier is a border water, actually a wide spot in the St. Francis River which lies half in Canada and half in the US. Maine sportsmen may fish the entire waterway, but should not broach land on the New Brunswick shoreline if they have not gone through a Canadian customs and immigration checkpoint.
Better road and faster access to Glazier Lake can be enjoyed on maritime roads by crossing from Fort Kent into Claire, N.B., but you have got to remember your passport and there are some sticky regulations regarding live bait entering Canada. Various sizes and type of minnows as well as suckers, a much favored musky bait, may be found at a couple of live bait dealers along the route. To avoid all the hassle, most winter anglers prefer to stay in Maine and utilize roads or snowmobile trails beyond Allagash village, Dickey and the Little Black Checkpoint.
Make sure tip-ups are rigged with sturdy reels, heavy-duty line, and at least an 8-inch wire leader. Circle hooks are becoming more popular for sure hook-ups and 8- to 12-inch, lively suckers offer a tasty incentive for prowling musky. Several state records have been caught from this waterway during winter months and a 30-lb. specimen isn’t out of the question. But even if you hook into a 10-pounder full of sharp teeth and bad attitude, the trip will be well worth it.
Aroostook’s other double-digit trophy size fish is the togue. Also called lake trout, there are several Crown of Maine frozen gems offering dependable togue fishing, such as St. Froid, Nickerson, the Musquacooks and Carr Pond to name a few. For ease of access, size, and least chance of over-crowding, I’d suggest Eagle Lake of the Fish River chain for a March visit in hopes of hooking a large lake trout. In the last two years togue surpassing the 20-pound mark have been hauled through almost too small auger holes on this lake.
Four- to six- pound togue are a handful to fight on just a handline, and the double-digit, 10-pound plus trophy every angler hopes for are fairly common and true memory makers. Just a couple of weeks ago Vaughn Plourde of Eagle Lake pulled a 39-inch, 23.5 pound monster onto the ice. Now you know that’s not the only brute finning around the lake. Perhaps there‘s a larger one waiting for your bait.
If landlock salmon are your prize quarry, turn your attention to Long Lake. While there’s great handlining for smelt and a fair number of husky brook trout, hooking and landing a five-pound slab of silver occurs fairly frequently. Less common, but a far from rare occurrence, is the feat of catching a salmon in the 6- to 8-pound range. The 7 lb., 13 oz. trophy adorning my game room wall came from Van Buren Cove and is the largest of my career and I relive the adrenaline filled tug-of-war and grin every time I view it.
Last but not least, and most sought out by a large percentage of serious fishermen, is a breathtakingly spotted trophy brook trout. For many Maine anglers, a three-pound brookie is certainly considered wall worthy, anything larger perhaps the trophy of a lifetime. Square Lake would be my winter destination to hook such a specimen, It’s convenient to reach, seldom crowded and gives up many good-sized trout each winter. Smelt and salmon provide steady action as well, while we wait and hope for a big brookie to flip a flag.
Pick a sunny, warm day pack your ice fishing gear in the truck and shed that cabin fever shroud for a few hours. The ice fishing season is quickly melting away, literally, and while I’m anxious for spring and open water fishing, it’s hard to pass up some late-season ice drilling. Have some fun and be safe.
