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BY JOHN HALE
AUGUSTA - Removing Edwards Dam in 1999 did wonders for the fishing in
the 17 miles of Kennebec River between Augusta and Waterville, but not
many fishermen have discovered it yet, and the cities haven't promoted
fishing to its full potential.
That's the opinion of George Smith of Mount Vernon, who is executive
director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine. Smith thinks Augusta,
Waterville, Gardiner and other towns along the Kennebec would do well to
create better access for fishermen to get to the river, more places to
fish from and more places to launch fishing boats. They could also
participate in fish-stocking programs.
Smith said the Kennebec River communities could learn how to promote
fishing as a tourist activity by studying how the community of Oswego,
N.Y., promotes fishing.
"The fishery you've got is just fantastic," said Smith, pointing
out that striped bass running up to 30 pounds apiece are the prize game
fish of the river.
"I like to fish from Augusta to Gardiner," Smith said.
"People who know the fish are there are enjoying it. It's a
world-class fishery. The city isn't developing the fishery as they could.
You need access, fishing points, more boat launches, fishing stocks."
Smith said the area of the former Edwards textile mill is a great place to
fish but it's difficult to get to the river there.
"You can wade in a variety of places where the dam used to be and in
Hallowell," he said. "Most people congregate at the mouth of
Cobbossee Stream in Gardiner."
"I like to fish from a kayak from Waterville to Sidney. What's come
back in a big way are anadromous bait fish, the alewives and blue-backed
herring. The stripers follow them. You've extended the fishery 17 miles
from Augusta to Waterville."
Smith said the smallmouth bass population has been enhanced but the brown
trout population in the Waterville area has been lost because striped bass
eat them.
"There's not nearly enough access for fishermen," Smith said.
He said striped bass usually get to Augusta by mid-May and stay in the
area until October.
"They actually spawn here," Smith said. "We're the only
river that has its own home-grown stripers."
He said Atlantic salmon have been seen swimming up Bond Brook in Augusta
but, "They're not doing real well."
"There's a whole restoration program for shad. It's a major
program," Smith said.
"Bluefish are coming up the river again. You can catch them as far as
Wiscasset," Smith said.
He said the Kennebec River is a very interesting river from a fisherman's
point of view because you can probably catch two dozen kinds of fish from
its headwaters in Moosehead Lake to its mouth in Merrymeeting Bay.
"You start up north with rainbow trout, then brown trout," Smith
said.
Moving down to Augusta, Smith said, "Removing Edwards Dam was a
fabulous thing. At times, the river is just choked with alewives and
blue-backed herring. What hasn't happened is the city hasn't taken
advantage of the fishery."
"There's a tremendous potential there," he said.
Tom Squiers, director of the stock enhancement division in the Maine
Department of Marine Resources, backed up many of Smith's statements and
added a few more species to the list of those sighted in the Kennebec
after removal of the Edwards Dam.
"We have no way of capturing the fish, but we're monitoring the
juveniles at the end of the season," Squiers said. "We're seeing
a lot of juvenile American shad at the end of the year. Most of them are
wild."
Squiers said, "The alewife run is tremendous on the Sebasticook River
drainage around Winslow, one to two million fish. They're one of the major
attracters of striped bass."
Squiers said blue-backed herring run 10 to 12 inches long. They spawn in
the river, so they're a species that's definitely benefited from the
removal of Edwards Dam, he said.
Alewives and herring only return to spawn once every five years and the
dam has only been removed for five fish life cycles, so we may not have
seen the biggest fish runs yet on the Kennebec.
"Atlantic salmon runs are way down statewide," Squiers said.
"There could be a few on the Kennebec."
There have been sightings of both short-nosed sturgeon, which run to 3
feet long, in Waterville, and Atlantic sturgeon, which can reach 9 feet
long, in Sidney.
Squiers said sea-run rainbow smelt, the same fish that ice fishermen
catch, come up the Kennebec to spawn in shallow water. He also said that
lamprey eels, which spawn and then die, have been sighted.
"Next year, there's going to be a fish trap in Waterville. That will
give us a better idea of what's there," Squiers said.
Squiers agreed with Smith that the fishery resource along the mid-Kennebec
is underutilized.
"I can definitely say there are a lot of fish and very few
fishermen," Squiers said. n
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