BANGOR DAILY NEWS • March 7, 2023
A fishing derby is planned on Moosehead Lake to remove lake trout to reduce pressure on the forage base: smelts. Moosehead is a native brook trout and lake trout water. It has suffered a number of nonnative fish introductions, including highly invasive smallmouth bass and white and yellow perch. Moosehead has been stocked with nonnative landlocked salmon by the State since at least 1937. Nonnative smelt were introduced sometime prior to 1944. As a native fish advocate, I struggle with removing wild native lake trout while we are stocking a nonnative fish. Why don’t we suspend the stocking of 5,000 landlocked salmon a year, and focus on removing nonnative smallmouth bass? We are contributing to our own problems at Moosehead by trying to be everything to everyone. Moosehead Lake is the largest wild native brook trout water located wholly in the United States. ~ Bob Mallard