Moosehead Lake, ME

[Fishin' Finn]

Moosehead Lake, ME

Has anyone on here fished Moosehead Lake in Maine for lake trout and/or landlocked salmon?  I have watched a few youtube videos and it looks like most guys troll for lake trout but I was thinking about trying to jig for them as well.  I have fished for trout and salmon a lot on the Great Lakes and I'm pretty sure the same techniques that are used on the Great Lakes will work up there too but any tips would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks in advance.

[Xxx]

I fished moose head lodge in Quebec, not the answers your looking for but I do remember that they were fussy with blade size, so be sure to take a variety of different size blades. Not just the size of LakeO but lake trolls like on the fingers and smaller scale lakes also. Just thought I would throw that out there??

[Fishin' Finn]

Thanks Pap!  I have only fished big water for lake trout so I was thinking that downsizing baits might be needed.  I am going to bring my walleye spoons with me just in case.  I have ice fished lakes in New England for lake trout and was able to jig some up with spoons and big bucktail jigs so I was thinking that might work for open water as well.  I will definitely post a report after the trip, hope to have pics of fish to go along with the report.  Lol

[Time Out]

Try a local guide. They are very reasonable rate wise and will take the learning curve out of it. My buddy runs a guide service out of Greenville and the style technique ive seen in Maine is different than on lake O fishing for lakers.

 

http://www.youngsguideservice.com/moose.html

[Fishin' Finn]

Thanks for the contact Time Out but I don't really want to spend the extra $250 on this trip (have a new baby coming in October).  Going with a local guide is definitely the best way to go when fishing new water.  I used to live and Vermont and saw how guys fished for lake trout there but I wasn't able to do any open water trolling because I didn't own a boat at the time.  There they would troll flies behind small dodgers using riggers or lead core.  The flies that they would use were more like streamers that one would fly fish with, not the big flashy flies like we use on the big lakes.  Moosehead seems like a big body of water compared to the small lakes in Vermont, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be more like the great lakes or the smaller ponds/lakes when it came to technique.  Years ago I did a couple of fly-in trips to Canadian shield lakes in northern Ontario and we were able to pick up some suspended lake trout on big heavy spoons and deep diving plugs.

[fishfearme]

Troll Mooselook wobblers in orange/black, red/white,florescent orange. These will catch salmon and lake trout. Bring different sizes I prefer the juniors but some days they want the larger sizes. Trolling streamer flies either singles or tandems. Gray ghost, wardens worry, mickey finn. The fish should be close to the surface early am and drop as the day gets brighter. Bring lead cores and use them 

[border_angler]

fishfearme, how many colors of leadcore do you run?

Edited July 5, 2017 by border_angler

[JDK]

While I do not fish Moosehead specifically, I fish that general area.  Jigging works and well at times.  Tubes, Fin-s-fish, swimbaits, etc. We also three-way flatfish, swimbaits, and live bait.  

 

Not sure about Lake Ontario techniques, but I use Michigan Stinger and other Lake O. type spoons successfully.  (I want to try a Gambler rig at some point in time and have caught togue on peanuts stacked above a Davis rig.)   As a resident of Maine, I grew up being told that the only way to catch togue was to troll flatfish or Murray spoons slowly (1.0 mph) and right on the bottom.  It works but guess what, so does trolling stickbaits, spoons and other things a little faster and higher.  Togue suspend in Moosehead and the Allagash Chain.

 

Good luck and have fun.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2017 by JDK

[Firechief48]

I used to fish Maine a lot years ago, fishfearme is right on with Mooselook Wobblers and the colors we used. I ran 2 poles, 1- 4 color and 1 - 5 color. The last few years I ran wire out 100 and 130, better fight from the fish with that. Good luck. 

[Fishin' Finn]

Thanks for all the info guys!!!  I'm really looking forward to this trip to Moosehead and fishing new water.

[JDK]

Mooselooks, Speedy Shiners, DB Smelt, Top Guns, and others are the go-to's no doubt, mainly due to bait size and type..  All I was saying is don't be afraid to use Lake O. type spoons (maybe not the magnum size).  They work.  

[Lucky13]

Sutton 44's also work great anywhere that Mooselooks are used.

[Fishin' Finn]

Our trip to Moosehead was great! We caught a bunch of cookie cutter 15 to 20 inch lake trout, but didn't get into any salmon. Mooselook wobblers and Michigan stinger scorpions behind a small dodger caught all of the fish. We stayed at at a great place on Brassua Lake in Rockwook, ME. 

 

BRASSUALAKECAMPS.com

[Firechief48]

Looks like a great trip. Someday I hope to get back there myself. 

[relaxer]

Fished there a few times around 2000.  Those cookie cutters are actually the normal size of the fish there....20" is a good one.  Looks like you were fishing behind Mount Kineo.  We caught loads of lakers there down 65'-75' on brass mooselooks with gold taped backs.  Out of close to 100 lakers, I think the biggest we took was 21".  Biggest salmon we took was 16".  Most of our salmon came off the Moose River mouth, Rockwood point, and around Moody Islands this time of year when we fished.  A side trip to Roach Pond produced our best salmon and brookie.  While Moosehead is a beautiful lake and the surrounding scenery and moose population alone are worth traveling too, the fishing (size wise) are very disappointing and have been for a very long time.

[Trouthunter]

Go to the Rangely Lakes better fishing & the area is just as nice