Anglers who love to target salmon, especially wild salmon, will want to fish Maine's Sebago Lake this summer.

According to Francis Brautigam, a Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Region A fisheries biologist, angler surveys indicate that, next to brook trout, landlocked salmon are the most sought-after fish in the Pine Tree State.

Sebago Lake, the state's second largest lake, covers 30,513 acres, and supports one of the four known indigenous populations of landlocked Atlantic salmon in Maine. The big lake also gave up the state's largest salmon, a 22.5-pound fish caught by Edward Blakely back in 1907.

Historically, wild salmon production has accounted for 25 to 30 percent of Sebago's lake fishery, which is supplemented with hatchery-raised fish.

Recent MDIWF angler data indicates that about 70 percent of the legal salmon catch on Sebago consists of wild fish. Better yet, reported angler catch rates and gains in salmon size quality over the past couple of years are some of the best recorded on the lake over the past 40 years!

"In the late 1980s, Sebago experienced quite a decline in smelt population due to a burgeoning lake trout population," Brautigam said. "Stocked salmon had also been introduced into the lake during the decade spanning 1972 to 1982, with heavy stocking continuing into the late '80s. The combination of rapid growth for lake trout and too many salmon resulted in a crash of the smelt population, which remained low until four or five years ago.

"We undertook a number of regulation changes and stocking changes to help rebuild the smelt stock," Brautigam noted. "We reduced salmon stocking, liberalized lake trout regulations and participated in experimental smelt egg transfers to help bolster the smelt population, plus other research efforts to obtain information for future management."

Those efforts are paying big dividends now.

"This past season and the one before have been two of the best years for fishing for salmon on Sebago in recent memory," Brautigam said. "In the past, salmon have averaged up to 4 pounds, with some bigger fish," he continued, adding that in 2007 and 2008, "there were a fairly high percentage in the 4- to 7-pound class. Anglers hook and land half a dozen to a dozen salmon per trip, which is really outstanding for this part of the state."

Brautigam said the smelt population seemed to be down a bit in 2008.

"I'm still fairly optimistic that this spring will be another good season," he said. "I'm not sure anglers will see quite as many 5- to 8-pound salmon, though they certainly will see some. Overall, the outlook is good for spring 2009."

In an effort to reduce lake trout numbers, the MDIFW put forth legislation last fall allowing Sebago Lake to remain open to fishing from October through December and allows the harvest of lake trout.

SPRING IS BEST
"April, May and early June are prime times to go out and catch salmon," he said. "For a lot of anglers, that's the only time they go out there fishing for salmon.